Adair County Coaching legends Mark Fudge and Keith Young were inducted last night into the 5th Region Hall of Fame. The ceremony was at halftime of the Boys Regional Basketball Championship game at Hart County.
(Bios below)
Mark Fudge
Coach Fudge inherited a basketball program that had made one trip to the regional tournament in 10 years before taking over as the head coach. During Fudge's 12 year's as the Indians head coach the Tribe appeared in six regional tournaments, capturing the fifth region crown in both 2007 and 2009 and district titles in 2007 and 2008. Fudge's teams won nearly 60% of their games during his seasons at the helm with a 214–148 record.
Fudge also coached women's softball at Adair County when the sport transitioned from slow pitch to fast pitch. During his six seasons as the fast pitch head coach his teams had winning records winning over 60% of their games. They captured two district titles and advanced to the semifinals of the region on two different occasions.
As an athlete, Fudge earned 10 varsity letters at Adair County high school while participating in basketball, baseball, cross country, and track. He was the cross country individual regional champion and won the 2-mile event at the regional track and field competition in 1978. He was a member of the 1979 district champion and regional semifinal basketball team.
After retiring from coaching and teaching, Fudge is very active in his local church serving as worship team leader and Deacon. He and his wife Denise serve a five County area as Area Coordinator for Samaritan Purse's Operation Christmas Child which is a global ministry. Mark serves a six County area on the FCA board of directors. He and Denise love spending time with their two and soon to be three grandchildren.
Adair County Record
214 wins
148 losses
59% win pct
2 district titles 2007 & 2008
2 5th region titles 2007 & 2009
03-04: 9-17
04-05: 15-12
05-06: 20-7
06-07: 24-10 district champ, region champ, state elite 8
07-08: 27-6 district champ
08-09: 26-8 district runner-up, region champ,
09-10: 11-18
10-11: 16-12
11-12: 19-12
12-13: 18-13 district runner up
13-14: 17-14 district runner up
14-15: 12-19 district runner up
Keith Young
Keith Young was head coach at Adair County High School for 12 seasons. During his tenure his record was 253-108 for a 70% winning percentage. His 253 wins ranks 2nd in school history and his 29 wins in the 1989 season is 2nd in single game wins in a season in school history. Adair won the region in 1994-95 and finished runner up 3 times during his career. See Coaching records below. Coach also had a successful playing career at Adair Co from 1968-71 finishing with a career 77-41 record and went on to play college basketball at Lindsey Wilson College. At LWC he was a member of the 1972 National Championship team. He finished his coaching career at 5th region member Green County where he finished with a record of 102-89 and 3 All-A region championships. He won his 400th career game on February 5, 2021.
Adair County Coaching Career:
83-84 12-14
84-85 16-13 district runner up/region runner up
85-86 13-13 district runner up
86-87 14-14 district runner up
87-88 24-7 district champ
88-89 29-4 district runner up/region runner up
89-90 28-5 district champ/region semi
90-91 27-5 district champ/region semi
91-92 23-8 district runner up/region semi
92-93 20-9
93-94 25-7 district champ/region runner up
94-95 22-9 district champ/region champ
Overall: 253-108 70%
5 district titles (1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995)
3 region runners-up (1985, 1989, 1994)
1 region title (1995)
5 SKAC tournament championships
6 SKAC season champions
2 heartland conference championships
1995 heartland conference coach of the year
1989 runner up coach of the year (Lexington herald for state of KY)
4 SKAC coach of the year (1992, 1991, 1989, 1988)
1989 5th region coach of the year
1990 chosen to coach Kentucky west all stars.
Green Co. Coaching Career:
13-14: 18-12 district champion
14-15: 11-18 district runner up
15-16: 21-10 district runner up
16-17: 15-13
17-18: 12-16
20-21: 11-7
21-22: 14-13
3 All-A region championships (2014, 2016, 2018)
Overall: 102-89 53%
Total 355-197 64% (5th Region)