35 years of great memories for Hatchett

Despite winning a pair of state championships in 1992 and 2009 and being named coach of the year in both seasons, retiring Vestavia Hills High School basketball coach George Hatchett only admits to being good at one thing: spoiling his granddaughter.

“I’m going to play a lot of golf,” Hatchett said of his retirement plans. “I’ve got a granddaughter that I’m going to try to spoil rotten. I’m pretty good at that, by the way.”

The longtime coach boasts a powerful resume, accumulating over 550 wins in a career that began at Fairfield High School in 1974 and 35 years with the Rebels. He advanced to four Final Fours and won two state championships in 1992 and 2009 and was named the state’s Coach of the Year in both seasons.

Hatchett greatly enjoyed those title teams, but his conscience will not allow him to take credit for the Coach of the Year honors.

“The first time I had a lot better players than everybody else. The second time I had Jordan Swing and 15 guys that had some grit to them. The guys that are doing the best coaching jobs might win 12 games,” he said.

Thirty-five years is enough time to capture a tremendous quantity of memories, many from long ago that Hatchett can recall vividly without a second thought. 

“It’s been really a fun time. It’s been one of those things that’s been a good fit for me and I think the school for the most part,” he said.

Some recent games come to mind, including the improbable upset in the 2015 Class 7A, Area 6 Tournament. The Rebels knocked off Spain Park with a four-point play at the buzzer. 

“That was about as much fun as I’ve ever had,” Hatchett said of the upset.

Games from years past also come to mind, like the 1992 Birmingham Tip-Off Club season-opening game and falling in the Final Four in 1999 and 2011. 

“You coach 1,000 games, and maybe 20 stick out to you,” he said.

The most notable may be the run the 2009 team made to win it all, led by Swing, who went on to play at UAB. The team won seven games in a row to win the Class 6A title, and Swing scored 33 points in the championship game to lead the Rebels to the win. 

“Every game, we’d meet in the locker room or go to the press conference, but you always got the impression that there was always something else out there for them,” Hatchett said.

Fans and fellow competitors never had to wonder what he was thinking on the sideline, as he could jump up from the middle of the bench to loudly protest the latest questionable officiating decision.

“I’m a little bit of a lightning rod,” he said. “I’m not one of those golf clap guys. I don’t think I would do really good at going to play poker for a living, because I don’t hide my emotions real well.”

His impact will be felt for years to come by the other high school coaches in the Birmingham metro area. Hoover High School head coach Charles Burkett marveled at how fundamentally sound Hatchett’s teams always were. Oak Mountain High School coach Chris Love said the “game of basketball and high school athletics will miss him.”

“He believed in coaching his kids hard no matter their talent level, and getting the best out of them to compete at the highest level,” Love said. “He proved that you can do things the right way and still win.”

Hatchett is nearly certain that he will not coach again, because he does not perceive himself as a quick fix for any basketball program.

“If we’ve had any success, it’s been over a period of time,” he said. “My knowledge and understanding of the game of basketball is for me. It’s not going to set the world on fire.”

Former player for Hatchett and current Mountain Brook High School assistant coach Stu Stuedeman is another man who holds him in high regard.

“He built the program from the ground up when nobody thought Vestavia would ever win in basketball. He took a chance and accepted the job and built one of the marquee basketball programs in the state of Alabama,” Stuedeman said.

Finally, Hatchett credits his wife for being there every step of the way. As the saying goes, behind every strong man is a stronger woman.

Of being a coach’s wife, Hatchett said, “That’s an art in and of itself.”