Paul Word (2014) - Hall of Fame - Troy University Athletics

Paul Word

Induction:
2014

Troy men’s basketball has seen a number of great coaches and players come through the system since the program’s inception in 1950. Three-year letterwinner Paul Word may have been one of the very first.

Word came to Troy prior to the 1958-59 season and, after sitting out a season as a redshirt, made an immediate impact on the program. Under the tutelage of head coach John Archer, a fellow Troy University Sports Hall of Fame member, Word and Troy made it to three straight NAIA National Tournaments and posted a remarkable 41-2 record at home.

“We started together for the last three years,” said former teammate and fellow 1,000-point scorer Frank Miller. “He was an outstanding basketball player, one of the best I ever played with. If anybody deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, Paul Word does.”

Word, a Eufala, Ala., native helped lead the Trojans to a pair of Alabama Collegiate Conference regular season championships, as well as the 1962 Alabama Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship. Troy won more than 75 percent of its games with Word, and won at least 20 games twice. Troy finished the 1961-62 season 25-6 overall and 8-4 in the ACC. The Trojans did not lose a game at home, going 19-0.

A top contributor for his entire career with Troy, Word averaged 14.3 points per game and finished with 1,113 career points, which is currently the 15th most in program history. Now a group that includes 22, at the time Word was just the second player to reach the 1,000-point plateau with Troy, after Miller did so earlier in the season.

Word played with a solid group of athletes at Troy. Four players from the 1960-61 team would go on to score at least 1,000 points during their careers, helping to lay the foundation for what the Troy basketball program has become. Miller and Word were the first, followed by Jud Dye in 1963 and Ron Hayes in 1964.

A polished player in many facets of the game, Word led the Trojans in scoring and rebounding in his final two seasons. He averaged 17.4 points and 10.9 rebounds per game during the 1960-61 season and averaged 17.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game during his final campaign, the 1961-62 season.

He received several individual accolades during his playing career, including being named a Small College All-American following the 1961-62 season. Word also earned a pair of All-Alabama Collegiate Conference honors, during his final two seasons.

“We were together all four years at Troy,” Miller said. “He had to redshirt because he had been at the University of Alabama before he came to Troy. He could do it all. He could jump, he could shoot, he could rebound. He could play defense. At Troy, if you didn’t play defense, you didn’t play.”

A strong student, Word graduated from Troy with honors in 1962. After his playing days were over, he went on to be an extremely successful coach, winning 614 games in 38 years. He helped guide two state champions in Alabama, in New Brockton High School in 1968 and Abbeville Christian Academy in 2002, earning Alabama Coach of the Year honors along the way.

A large group of players from the John Archer era gather in Troy every year to catch up and remember the playing days. Of course, among the yearly activities includes the thing that brought them all together in the first place, Troy basketball.