The Elkmont Red Devils varsity basketball team attended the University of Alabama basketball team camp on Friday. Our new coach, Dennis Black and assistant coach, Duane Wales spent the time getting to know what the 2015/2016 Red Devils' potential is for upcoming season. The players that attended the camp were Aron Moss, Nathan Teeples, Travis Riggs, Chance Bailey, Eli Hobbs, Brady Garris, Jordan Nelson, Peyton McCown. The two remaining Red Devils on the team weren't able to make the camp. They were Colby Holt and Noah Sharp.
Friday's Results:
Win: 39 to 31 vs Southern Choctow
Loss: Sheffield
Win: 40-33 vs Trinity, Mississippi
Loss: In overtime, 51-50 to Cornerstone
Ben Wiley’s
basketball career began in Elkmont, took him to southeast Alabama, east
Tennessee and back to Limestone County where he finished at Athens
State. For an outstanding basketball career, Wiley is part of the 2015
class to be inducted into the Limestone County Sports Hall of Fame June
20 at the Limestone County Event Center.
Wiley
played at Elkmont from 1985-87 during a time when Limestone County
basketball was at an all-time high. The competition was so good,
Elkmont’s area and county opponents — Tanner and East Limestone — played
one another in the 3A state championship game in 1986.
“He
was a hardworking basketball player,” said former Elkmont teammate
Garth Garris. “He really didn’t turn it loose until his senior year (at
Elkmont). There were lots of good basketball players in the county at
that time and he could play against any of them.”
Tanner
went on to win the state championship that season along with the area
tournament, but not without a fight. Wiley and the Red Devils pushed
Tanner in a 62-59 loss in the area semifinals.
“I
remember that night he stepped up against Tanner,” said Garris. “He
dominated the game inside the paint. That’s really when Ben became a
dominant force. He was blocking shots, taking it to the glass. He was
such a hard worker, he didn’t think anything about it.”
After
he was named Elkmont’s first All-State first-team selection his senior
year, Wiley signed with Southern Union Community College. Wiley excelled
at Southern Union, averaging 26 points and 11 rebounds per game and was
named the Alabama Junior College Player of the Year in 1989. After junior college, he signed with the
University of Tennessee-Chattanooga where he played one season for the
Mocs before finishing his career at Athens State College.
Wiley lives in Athens where he is director at Athens Parks and Recreation.
