'Too weird:' Hamby, Herbert wind up on opposite sides in Davidson Classic

Dec. 10—OXFORD — Basketball's thumped and sneakers squeaked on the Oxford Sports Arena hardwood Saturday morning, and there stood Daryl Hamby, in a white Jacksonville pullover, right next to an opposing head coach, Marcus Herbert, in a dark gray B.B. Comer hoodie.

Cathy Hamby, Daryl's wife, sat torn in the stands behind the scorer's table, perfectly centered between the two benches.

Back on the playing floor, as teams warmed up, conversation quickly turned to the elephant in the room.

"Coach Hamby said, 'Is this is the first time ever that you're not sitting next to me?'" Herbert said. "I said, 'I think so, coach.'

"He said, 'This is too weird.'"

Two former Weaver coaches and two men with lots of history together met on opposite sides for the first time during the first game of the third and final day of the Larry & Connie Davidson Classic on Saturday.

Hamby, the former Weaver head football and boys' basketball coach, now serves as a Jacksonville assistant, under Tres Buzan, This after Hamby spent a stint working at Haralson County (Ga.) High School.

Herbert, a former Weaver multi-sport standout who spent years as one of Hamby's assistants after graduating in 2005, succeeded Hamby as head boys' basketball coach in 2018. He also served as the head track coach and a football assistant.

Herbert would probably still be coaching at his alma mater, but the Calhoun County Board of Education cracked down on hourly employees coaching in 2020.

Twists and turns of Herbert's career took him through assistant jobs at Rome, Ga., then Oxford while he completed his undergraduate degree at Jacksonville State University, He's Comer's first-year head boys' basketball coach.

That Comer and Jacksonville ended up playing Saturday came about because of a last-minute change in the Davidson Classic. Carrollton (Ga) High School in a state-football final Saturday and could not play its scheduled game against Jacksonville.

Comer, who played in the Alabama Class 2A football final, wound up opening its basketball season against Alabama's reigning Class 4A champion, which returned most of its contributors and has been playing for nearly a month.

The outcome was predictable. Jacksonville scored the first 15 points and won 95-59.

South Alabama signee John Broom tied B.B. Comer's Kamore Harris with a game-high 22 points, but Jacksonville had three more players in double figures: Caden Johnson with 20 points, Cam Johnson with 19 and Jaquan Ervin with 10.

Guard Devin Barksdale, a key contributor from Jacksonville's 2022 championship run, sat out with a protective boot on his right foot. Buzan said the ankle injury is not serious, and Barksdale should return to action soon.

Harris, a star linebacker and running back who looks like he swallowed a weight room, is one of 11 football players on Comer's 15-man basketball roster.

"I knew this was going to happen because we just got done playing football a week ago," Herbert said. "Coach Van (Oxford's Joel Van Meter) texted me about playing, and the kids wanted to play. They wanted to go out there and compete.

"That's what we did today. That's a good team we just played. They're champs for a reason."

Not surprisingly, Herbert's former coach and boss stands firmly in his corner, calling him "like my son and part of my family."

"I'm really proud of Marcus," Hamby said. "That team's going to do well. I mean, coming out of the playoffs and just played a state-championship game last week, and they've got to play us, they showed a lot of energy.

"There are some big guys on that team. They have a great weight program at B.B. Comer."

Hamby became part of Jacksonville's staff after Buzan switched from being Jacksonville's girls' head coach to the boys' team, replacing Shane Morrow. The semi-retired Hamby has personal connections to Buzan like he has with Herbert.

Hamby called Buzan "like my nephew" and gladly came, when called to help on Buzan's staff.

"Tommy, his dad, is my best friend," Hamby said. "Tommy and I are like brothers, and I've known Tres ever since he took a poop on his dad."

Buzan called having Hamby on his staff "amazing."

"When I say I'm the luckiest coach in Alabama, I'm not kidding," Buzan said. "I have coach Hamby with me and other great guys in the program, so, whatever I lack, I surround myself with a lot of smart people."

So many career moves and happenstances wound up pitting Hamby and Herbert on opposite sides.

"It was a weird feeling, but, at the end of the day, it's competition," Herbert said. "I can't worry about that. I'm B.B. Comer, and that's what it's all about right now."

Sports Writer Joe Medley: 256-236-1551. On Twitter: @jmedley_star.