Zeke Kimbrough

W. H. Kimbrough played basketball for the University of Alabama in the early thirties and was the leading scorer on the Crimson Tide team that won the 1934 Southeastern Conference basketball tournament. He was leading the SEC in scoring in 1934 until a broken jaw suffered in practice ended his season prematurely.

Kimbrough arrived in Piedmont in the fall of 1934, following his graduation from Alabama. At Piedmont, he was the head basketball coach for three years and assisted Clair Strickland with the football team.

His first Piedmont basketball team was the Sixth District tournament runner-up to Oxford and advanced to the Alabama High School Athletic Association state tournament.  In the 1935-36 season, Piedmont was again Sixth District runner-up. In their second trip to the state tournament, Kimbrough’s Bulldogs finished second, losing in the championship game to Sardis.

In the fall of 1937, Kimbrough became head coach in football and basketball at Sylacauga. He returned to Piedmont in 1942 as the high school principal and superintendent of the Piedmont city schools. In 1945, with no one else available to serve as coach, he coached the Bulldogs to an 8-0-0 record in football.

As an administrator Kimbrough helped establish the legendary Calhoun County basketball tournament.

written by Joe Estep