Julius Wistar "Pinky" Babb (born in Princeton, South Carolina) is one of the nation's most storied high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 coaches. He coached for 39 seasons (1943-81) at Greenwood High School in Greenwood, South Carolina, amassing 336 victories and nine state titles.

Background

Babb played college football at Furman University

Furman University

Furman University is a selective, private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is one of the oldest, and more selective private institutions in South Carolina...

 and was named all-state in 1936. He is a member of the Furman University Hall of Fame, having played on the very last Furman football team to beat in-state rival Clemson. Using the motto "Winners never quit and quitters never win," Babb's reputation and success as a coach at Greenwood High earned him a spot in the state athletic hall of fame and the National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame, in 1996, the first year for inductees.

At Greenwood High

Babb led the Emeralds (now called the Eagles) to an overall record of 336 wins, 81 losses and 23 ties. He is often mentioned alongside other South Carolina football coaching legends such as John McKissick (Summerville) and Willie Varner (Woodruff). McKissick, Varner and Babb are all among the top 20 in the nation in overall football victories. McKissick, who was born in Greenwood, has the most victories of all coaches nationally. Babb was a South Carolina Shrine Bowl coach, a North-South Game coach and the coach of numerous players who went on to play collegiately and in the professional ranks. One famous player was W.W. "Hootie" Johnson (1945-48). Johnson is the former chairman of The Augusta National golf course, where the Master's tournament is played each year.

Other successes

Babb led the baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 team to the 1966 state championship, and he was also a successful American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

baseball coach for Post 20. For his football efforts, he received some great praise when legendary Clemson football coach Frank Howard gave his introduction speech for Ara Parseghian, former Notre Dame coach, when Parseghian was named coach of the year. Howard told Parseghian at a special event, which Babb attended: "You and me are lucky to be on the same program with Pinky Babb. We sure as heck can't coach like him." In 1982, a year after Babb retired and the year before his death, the stadium at Greenwood High was named in his honor. The Greenwood Touchdown Club and The Index-Journal Newspaper in Greenwood have named a J.W. "Pinky" Babb Coach of the Year every year since 1996, the first year of the All-Lakelands Team, which honors players from four counties.

Links to "Pinky" accomplishments

• http://ghs.gwd50.org/HALL_OF_FAME_AUG27_2004_PICS_PG_1.htm
• http://indexjournal.simplepc.net/mm2001b.html