Fairdale High School prepares for its first King of the Bluegrass without Stanley Hardin
Even in the worst of times, Stanley Hardin could put a smile on your face.
Gregg Longacre, now the athletic director at Fairdale High School, recalled the moments following an embarrassing loss at the King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic when he was the Bulldogs boys basketball head coach.
“We were sitting there and feeling sorry for ourselves, and he put his arm around me and said, ‘You don’t think that’s going to be your last ass kicking, do you?’” Longacre said with a laugh. “I was like, ‘Well, that puts things in perspective.’
“He just had a way, even after you lost. When you saw him, it was going to be all right.”
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As Fairdale prepares for its signature event — the King of the Bluegrass tips off Friday — the community still is mourning Hardin’s death. Hardin died Nov. 9 after being diagnosed with lung cancer just weeks earlier. He was 84.
This will be the first KOB without Hardin, who co-founded the tournament with Lloyd Gardner.
The story gets repeated every year about this time: Hardin was Fairdale’s head coach and Gardner an assistant coach in December of 1980 when the Bulldogs traveled to Ocala, Fla., for the Kingdom of the Sun tournament.
On the bus ride home, Hardin and Gardner had a vision.
“We said, ‘If this thing can go in Florida, it’s got to go in Kentucky,’” Gardner said. “Florida’s a football state. … We came home and followed the exact same format.”
In December of 1981, the King of the Bluegrass was born and remains what many consider the top regular-season boys basketball tournament in Kentucky.
Male coach Tim Haworth took it a step further.
“It’s the best tournament in America in my opinion,” Haworth said. “I don’t think anything comes close to it. It’s good people in there, working hard, friendly. Nobody’s in a bad mood. They greet you, welcome you. And you have great competition with the basketball. The atmosphere is unreal because it seems like the gym is packed every game.”
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About 25 volunteers gathered Sunday night at the Fairdale gym that bears Hardin’s name, preparing for the five-day King of the Bluegrass.
Fairdale coach David Hicks said Hardin’s absence was palpable.
“It was kind of like the elephant in the room,” Hicks said. “Once or twice somebody said something about Coach not being there, but we all felt it. We all knew it. But we really didn’t want to talk about it. It’s really emotional. … Coach Hardin was a part of us in everything we did that night.”
In recent years, Hardin was in charge of securing scorekeepers, clock operators and announcers for all 28 of the KOB’s games.
Longacre said Hardin’s contacts were invaluable.
“Coach was a magnet,” Longacre said. “People wanted to work for him. People wanted to be around him. He could get people to volunteer because he treated people right. … That’s been a huge void to fill. He’d been around so much and knew everybody. In today’s world, people don’t want to do anything without getting paid. But they liked Stanley so much they would do it for him.”
Hardin also was in charge of morale — whether it be a story in the renowned hospitality room or a pat on the back for a player or coach.
“Stanley was the voice of reason,” Hicks said. “He didn’t want any accolades. He didn’t want any recognition. He was the humble one. He kept it light, telling jokes and stories. He kept us all grounded.”
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This will be the 41st King of the Bluegrass, interrupted only by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Gardner said he’ll keep a seat open for Hardin at one of the baseline tables, including his name tag and photo. Hardin’s spot in the Fairdale parking lot also will remain open.
The King of the Bluegrass goes on, but it won’t be the same without Hardin’s smile and laugh.
“We’re going to honor him throughout this season, but we have to continue to move on,” Gardner said. “He’d be very, very upset. “Why’d you stop? You lazy? Why aren’t you in there working?’
“That’s the way he was.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: High school basketball: First King of Bluegrass without Stanley Hardin
