The history of sports in Northern Kentucky goes back a long way. A very long way. Decades. Centuries.
We know you’ve seen these lists before, but this is a different and unique way of presenting our “50 sports icons in Northern Kentucky” as we’ll provide you one per day over the next 50 days.
Hall of Fames are everywhere in NKY, the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, NKU, Thomas More and local high schools all have something to recognize their past.
We’ll preface this series by saying this, some of you may disagree with who should or shouldn’t be in the top 50 and that’s fine. Plenty are in the Hall of Very Good, but we feel these 50 are the one’s who stuck out to us.
Sports Editor Evan Dennison spoke and conferred with several local NKY sports history buffs to get their opinions and lists of their own and who should be “locks” for the 50 sports icons. We compiled each list and came up with the 50 of our own (maybe cheated a little by putting families in as one) to present over the next 50 days.
Hope you enjoy as summer time rolls on!
The 27th of the 50 sports icons is Mote “Martin” Hils, the pioneer of NKU basketball.
MARTIN “MOTE” HILS
Martin “Mote” Hils played a leading role in shaping basketball in Northern Kentucky. Before Northern Kentucky University even had a campus, it had a coach. Hils was asked in early 1971 to build a men’s basketball program from scratch. There were no players, no schedule, no gym, and very little time. Hils said it could be done, and it was.
He had already built a powerhouse at Covington Catholic, winning five straight Ninth Region championships and consistently sending players on to the college level. His success there made him the obvious choice to launch the program at the then-Northern Kentucky State College.
His first NKU team won its debut game 109-65 and finished with a 12-15 record. Over the next nine seasons, Hils compiled a 119-118 record, despite often playing without a true center and with no starter taller than 6-foot-2. In 1978, NKU earned its first win over a Division I opponent, defeating Xavier 59-58 in Cincinnati. That team went 20-8, reached the NCAA Division II Tournament, and finished ranked sixth in the nation.
Hils delivered NKU’s first winning season and led the program to some of its most important early victories. After retiring from coaching in 1980, he stayed on campus for more than 20 years, serving as an academic advisor and testing coordinator until 2003.
Hils passed away in 2016 at the age of 81. His legacy is forever part of the foundation of northern Kentucky basketball.
See the 50 sports icons on a day-to-day basis over the next 50 days
— Day 1: Dave Cowens
— Day 2: Shaun Alexander
— Day 3: Homer Rice
— Day 4: Dicky Beal
— Day 5: Jared Lorenzen
— Day 6: Jim Bunning
— Day 7: Tom Ellis
— Day 8: Nate Dusing
— Day 9: Jim Connor
— Day 10: Steve Cauthen
— Day 11: Irv Goode
— Day 12: Stan Steidel
— Day 13: Kenney Shields
— Day 14: David Justice
— Day 15: Morgan Hentz
— Day 16: Eddie Arcaro
— Day 17: Nancy Winstel
— Day 18: Steve Flesch
— Day 19: Donna Murphy
— Day 20: Randy Marsh
— Day 21: Mike Yeagle
— Day 22: Derrick Barnes
— Day 23: Dale Mueller
— Day 24: Dave Faust
— Day 25: Kirsten Allen
— Day 26: The Oldendick family
— Day 27: Martin “Mote” Hils
— Day 28: Nell Fookes
— Day 29: Owen Hauck
— Day 30: Becky Ruehl
— Day 31: Tom Thacker
— Day 32: Sydney Moss
— Day 33: Bob Schneider
— Day 34: The Walz family
— Day 35: John Toebben
— Day 36: Pat Scott
— Day 37: Bob Arnzen
— Day 38: Joan Mazzaro
— Day 39: Frank Jacobs
— Day 40: Adrienne Hundemer
— Day 41: The Draud family
— Day 42: Bill Krumpelbeck
— Day 43: The Molony family
— Day 44: Allen Feldhaus
— Day 45: The Maile family
— Day 46: Maureen Egan Corl
— Day 47: Bill Aker
— Day 48: Maureen Kaiser
— Day 49: John Brannen
— Day 50: Mike Bankemper