In Scooba, it will be Bill Buckner Drive
Posted on: October 01,2014
SCOOBA — William “Bill” Buckner Memorial Drive will be dedicated Saturday at 11 a.m. before No. 1 ranked East Mississippi
Bill Buckner
Community College’s 2 p.m. homecoming game against Jones Junior College.
Alumni, friends and family should gather near the road in front of Sullivan-Windham Field, near Highway 16, where the ceremony will take place.
The late Bill Buckner, a Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer (Class of 2013) was instrumental in establishing the Bull Sullivan Division of the EMCC Development Foundation and served as its co-chairman for many years, ever-present at EMCC events, lending his support and leadership. He passed away on May 23 from complications associated with leukemia.
Bill Buckner had the unusual honor of being named the most valuable player for three different teams in four out of five years. He was the MVP at Starkville High in 1962, at EMJC in 1963 and 1964 and at Delta State University in 1966. At EMJC Bill was named to the All-State team and he was an All-American in 1963 and 1964. After leaving EMJC, Bill went to Mississippi State on an athletic scholarship; he was named to the All-SEC Scholastic team in 1965 and he was a Dean’s List scholar.
After one year at State Bill transferred to Delta State where he rewrote the passing record book. In addition to being the MVP at Delta State, Bill was the Most Valuable Back and he won the Jackson Touchdown Club Award in 1966. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 1967. He played for two years with the Falcon farm team the Huntsville Hawks.
Bill’s coaching career began in Huntsville, Ala., in 1968. He was an assistant coach to the team that was the runner-up Alabama State Championship. In 1969 he was an assistant at Kosciusko again his team was a conference runner-up. Bill began his head-coaching career at EMJC in 1973. That first team was the North division runner-up. The 1974 team was the North Division champion. Bill again left EMJC for Delta State and Mississippi State as an assistant coach. In 1978, he went to Hinds Community College as the head football coach. He was later became the Director of Development and was named to the President’s Cabinet.
While still an EMJC student, in 1965, Buckner had established the first Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle at the college. He became the State Director of the FCA in 1987, the only FCA employee in the state. In 2001, he also became an FCA Regional Director for Mississippi, Alabama and Northwest Florida.
When he passed away earlier this year, after 27 years as a state director, FCA’s staff had grown to 31, with five volunteers and was reaching 350 campuses in Mississippi.
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