Charles Homer Spain, Union University Class of 1962, received a four year basketball scholarship after lettering in basketball all four years of his high school career at Clarksburg High School. Mr. Spain also completed the Masters Degree in Education Administration at Murray State University and the Masters Degree in Marketing at the University of Memphis.
During his athletic career at Union, Mr. Spain was “All Conference” for three years, led the conference in scoring for two years, was captain of the basketball team for two years and as a senior was the recipient of the first “Fred Delay Trophy” as the Outstanding Athlete at Union University. He was also named an “Alpha Tau Omega All-American”.
Mr. Spain was also drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association, the only Union University basketball stand-out drafted by the N.B.A. Mr. Spain is the only Union basketball player to have retired his jersey, No. 12.
In addition to his stellar basketball career, Mr. Spain was an educator and community leader. He served as teacher, basketball coach, and assistant principal at Grove High School, Paris, Tennessee, for 8 ½ years. While coaching at Grove, the team won five conference championship, four district championships, two regional championships and went all the way to the “Sweet 16” at the State Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Mr. Spain had a very success career in life insurance for thirty plus years, serving as an agent, regional directors, and vice-president of marketing. While in sales, he qualified for the “Million-Dollar Round Table” for seven consecutive years and was appointed a life member of the “Million Dollar Round Table”.
After returning to Paris in 1992, Mr. Spain was inducted into the Paris-Henry County Sports Hall of Fame, the Henry County Coaches Hall of Fame and the Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame. Mr. Spain is a member of First Baptist Church, Paris, Tennessee.
