Being inducted into The Brown and Brown Adair County Athletics Hall of Fame is a great accomplishment as an athlete. The Hall of Fame inductees are an elite group who have outstanding performances in their athletic careers at Adair County.
Last weekend, the 2025 Brown and Brown Hall of Fame held its annual induction ceremony. The inductees included six individuals and one team.
A tailgating event was held Friday night at Indian Field with food and fellowship for the inductees. They were then recognized at half time of the game.
Saturday morning was a brunch and the official induction ceremony by the Adair County Letterwinners Club. Past President Randy Burns introduced each of the inductees and President Craig Biggs presented them with their certificates.
The first inductee was Chris “Bus” Caldwell, ACHS Class of 1995. Caldwell had stellar performances in his career in both football and basketball. He could not attend the ceremony so his father, Greg Caldwell, accepted the award on his behalf.
The next inductee was Micah Harvey, ACHS Class of 1971. Harvey played for the Indians from 1969-1971 and was considered one of the best in Kentucky high school basketball winning numerous honors.
Harvey said “Thank you for this award. I am truly honored and will cherish it always”.
“I did find a secret, the principles I learned playing ball are the same ones that you apply in life and it’s make life easier” he said.
Jeff Luttrell, ACHS Class of 1989, was the third inductee to be introduced. Successful in both basketball and baseball, it was his performance on the mound that earned him a spot in the hall of fame. He delivered one of the finest single seasons in school history. He compiled 9-2 record with 102 strikeouts against only 16 walks in the 1989 season.
“First of all, this a very humbling award” said Luttrell. “I could play, but I played with much better athletes.”
“When I made the basketball team, they used to post in the old gym that list [who made the team]. When I got in the truck that afternoon, and dad said, ‘well, is your name on that list.’ I said yes, sir.” said Luttrell.
Luttrell remembers his dad saying, “That coach [Keith Young] is pretty tough. I am going to tell you one thing and I don’t want to hear no more about it. If he tells you to kiss that wall, you better pucker up.”
Luttrell said, “Coach Young instilled something in me that’s true today, I don’t believe in excuses; you find a way”.
The fourth inductee was Michael Thompson, ACHS Class of 1993. Thompson excelled in basketball, track, cross country and football. His football performance helped start one of the most successful era’s in school history. Thompson and his teammates went 30-14 over a four-year span which is still the best four-year winning percentage in Indian football history.
Thompson said “All those yards that I accumulated were easier when you are running behind players like Bus, Chris Cowan, and players that could block the way for you.”
Ralph Willis, ACHS Class of 1969, was inducted into the hall of fame next. On behalf of his father, who is deceased, Ralphie Willis accepted the certificate. Both Ralphie and Willis’ daughter, Deirdre Bridgewaters, spoke about their dad.
“His teammates that I have talked to said your daddy was a good ball player. We enjoyed playing with him. They used to call him pig because he was the biggest, and the strongest, and he could jump,” said Bridgewaters.
She handed the microphone to her brother to speak next.
“First of all, we would like to thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for this opportunity. On behalf of our father, Ralph Willis, we would like to thank the committee for inducting him into the hall of fame” said Ralphie. “I didn’t get to watch him play ball, but I had the pleasure of having him as a father.”
The last individual to be inducted was Keith Young, ACHS Class of 1971. Young was a standout athlete and also one of the Adair County’s most successful coaches. He was the head coach for twelve seasons and led the team to their first appearance in the Sweet Sixteen in 40 years.
“I don’t know what I expected out of this weekend, but it’s been a whole lot more. I’ve enjoyed seeing all my former players together, people I’ve worked with” said Young.
“I came to Adair County in 1981, got the head coaching job in 1983,” said Young. “We didn’t have any outdoor courts, kids didn’t play much. I was one of the first coaches in the area to do summer basketball. That was one way to get our kids to play”
“Seeing your players be successful. I’ve got players that are doctors, lawyers, one that’s an athletic director at Western,” he said. “I had a lot of good kids and a lot of great parents.”
The final inductee into the Brown and Brown Hall of Fame is the 1995 boys’ basketball team. This team was one of the most dominate teams in school history. The team led by Coach Young finished the season with 22-8 record, won the district championship, and the 5th Region Championship. After a 40 year wait, this team made the Sweet Sixteen.
Team members were Chad Bell, Chris “Bus” Caldwell, Marcus Caldwell, Mike Compton, Toby Curry, Jacob Feese, Rodney Ford, Mark Graham, Tim Hardwick, Patrick Higginbotham, Brett Reliford, Adam Rogers, BJ Schnepp, Shane Smith, Jason Upchurch and Jay Wilson.
“This team showed Adair County that Adair County can go to the state tournament,” said Young. “We won the district tournament, and they didn’t want to cut the nets down. Guy’s here’s the scissors, let’s go cut them down and they said no, we want the big one. We want the regional nets”.
“Mark Graham had an unbelievable game with 17 points. We were up one point with ten seconds left and he gets fouled. Graham comes over at the time out and says ‘Don’t worry Coach, I got it’ and he did. We won the regional tournament” said Young.
“We went to Rupp. Had a big send off, all the schools came out. We had 19 pep busses,” Young said.
Each of the team members present were given the opportunity to speak.
“It’s been a lot of fun as I’ve gotten older to watch some other Adair County teams go to the state tournament,” said Higginbotham. “When you walk into Rupp Arena, even if I am going to watch UK play, but to go sit down in Rupp Arena and remember how excited you were for a week of the state tournament that you get to participate in is something that you don’t really forget so I’m forever grateful that I got to do it.”
By Amy Pike
amy@adairvoice.com
