Chancellor to speak at C Spire banquets

Hall of Fame basketball coach Van Chancellor will be the keynote speaker at the C Spire Wireless Howell and Gillom Awards luncheon set for March 11 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.
The Howell Trophy, which goes to the most outstanding men’s basketball player in Mississippi, is named for Bailey Howell, a two-time All American at Mississippi State University and a six-time NBA All-Star who played on Boston Celtics world championship teams in 1968 and 1969. Howell, a 1977 inductee to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the first male Mississippi player inducted in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, still holds nearly a dozen season and career records at Mississippi State.
The Gillom Trophy , which goes to the most outstanding women’s player, is named after Abbeville native Peggie Gillom-Granderson, Ole Miss’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder. She has coached not only in college basketball but in the WNBA and the Olympics.
Chancellor, known for his downhome humor, called the opportunity to speak at the banquet “a tremendous honor.”
“As a young boy growing up in Louisville, Bailey Howell was my hero,” Chancellor said. “When I became a coach and got to know Bailey, I realized he was not only a great player but an outstanding person.”
Chancellor’s ties to Gillom-Granderson are even closer. “Basketball has given me many opportunities in my life and many of them are because of the Gillom sisters,” Chancellor said. “Peggie and Jennifer made me a better coach as players and Peggie put out fires for me many years as my most trusted assistant coach.”
Arnett Moultrie of Mississippi State and Veronica Walker of Delta State were last year’s winners.
Tickets are on sale for the C Spire Howell and Gillom luncheon (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.) through the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Call 601 982-8264 for details.