Longtime sports figure Blankenship passes away at age of 88
Ken Blankenship served in several capacities in Montgomery and southeast Alabama. He also served as the athletic director at Troy where he was instrumental in the athletic program’s move to Division I. He passed away at the age of 88. (Contributed)
By TIM GAYLE
Dr. Kennith Blankenship, the creator of Alabama All-Star Sports Week and the first executive director of the Central Alabama Sports Commission, passed away on Sunday after an extended illness. He was 88.
“He was the first person to come out publicly and be supportive of Division I sports at Troy,” said Central Alabama Sports Commission executive director Johnny Williams. “He had played at Troy and was an alumnus at Troy. He was a great visionary. He saw where Troy could go.
“Then he saw the same thing in Montgomery when he got the sports commission job, building the Multiplex and coordinating the expansion (with the renovation of Cramton Bowl). It’s brought millions of dollars to Montgomery. And look what Division I has done for Troy. He had a hand in both of those.”
Blankenship was one of the most influential men in the state’s sports history over the 27 years before his retirement in 2016, serving as the executive director of the Bryant-Jordan Student-Athlete Foundation from its inception, as athletic director at Troy University when the school started its transition from Division II to Division I-AA (FCS) and as the executive director of the sports commission from its inception in 2009, helping to create the Camellia Bowl in 2014.
“Ken Blankenship was a true friend of the AHSAA and a personal friend to me,” noted former Alabama High School Athletic Association executive director Dan Washburn. “He knew how to get the job done. He was the athletic director at Troy University when we hired him at the AHSAA to organize the summer conference and all-star sports week.
“Last week’s summer conference events are a testament to the plan he first developed 30 years earlier in 1997.”
Blankenship was a four-sport star at Wetumpka High School, serving as captain of the football, basketball, baseball and track teams his senior year in 1954. He served in the U.S. Army from 1954-56 as a member of the 101st Airborne and 8th Infantry Division. He attended Troy State University where he played football and basketball until a knee injury curtailed his career. He got his education degree in 1959, his Masters in 1961 and completed his Doctorate in Education in 1977.
Blankenship often credited legendary Tallassee coach J.E. “Hot” O’Brien for his path in life.
“Coach Hot O’Brien, the legendary football coach of Wetumpka rival Tallassee High School, befriended me early on,” Blankenship said, “and told me straight out, ‘Son, you need to be a coach.’”
Blankenship took that advice, getting into coaching immediately after earning his degree from Troy. He served as the baseball, basketball and track coach at Shorter High in 1959 and 1960, then as the football coach at A.G. Parrish High over the next six years (1961-66). From there, he took a job with the state department of education over the next 23 years while serving as a college basketball official for 20 years and a high school and college track official for 30 years.
In 1989, he took a job as the first executive director of the Bryant-Jordan Student-Athlete Foundation and served in that capacity until 2010. When he retired from the position, officials immediately named the Bryant-Jordan Achievement Award after Blankenship and his wife Betty Joy.
“We are saddened by the news of the passing of Dr. Kennith Blankenship,” said Scott Myers, executive director of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and current chairman of the Bryant-Jordan Student-Athlete Scholarship Program. “He was a wonderful person who did so much for the many student-athletes all across our state. The impact he made while serving as executive director of the Bryant-Jordan Student-Athlete Program, along with his wife Betty Joy, will continue to resonate for many years to come.”
In 1992-94, he served as athletic director of Troy University as the Trojans made the move from Division II to Football Championship Subdivision and finally to Bowl Championship Subdivision. When he stepped down in 1994, Williams took over and completed the transition, but Blankenship’s lifelong love for Troy served him for the remainder of his life as chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins was a steadfast supporter of Blankenship’s work with the sports commission.
In 1996, he became the first executive director of the newly created Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association and his first mission was to bring back all-star competition in high school football and boy’s basketball while expanding the all-star reach to other sports such as girls’ basketball, volleyball and soccer.
“Dr. Ken Blankenship was a very special person who left our world a much better place,” said former AHSAA executive director Steve Savarese. “His accomplishments were numerous and include various educational athletic achievements including, but not limited to, the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program, AHSAA corporate partner program, the AHSADCA All-Star Sports Week, Alabama -Mississippi All-Star games, AHSADCA director, all which positively affected our children.
“Dr. Blankenship’s leadership was a model of integrity. I am very grateful for his contributions to our association and what he taught me personally.”
When he retired as AHSADCA director in 2004, his assistant Steve Bailey was appointed to the position, another friendship that would serve Blankenship well with the sports commission.
In 2009, when then-Montgomery mayor Todd Strange wanted to boost the city’s involvement in the sports world, he turned to Blankenship and appointed him the executive director of the newly created Central Alabama Sports Commission.
Under Blankenship’s guidance, he oversaw the renovation of Cramton Bowl in 2011 and the creation of the Multiplex as well as the early stages of a planned renovation of Paterson Field that remains unfinished. His first job was to bring back the Alabama All-Star Sports Week, which had moved from the Capital City to Huntsville. He also secured the Alabama vs. Mississippi All-Star Game from Mobile.
In the collegiate world, he brought in the NAIA national tournament to the new stadium built at the Emory Folmar Soccer Complex as well as a college all-star game and a year later the Camellia Bowl, both directed by Williams.
“He loved Montgomery,” Williams said. “He loved this community. He was a blessing for the River Region, to say the least.”
In February, 2016, he retired from the sports commission, handing the reins to Williams as his health began to decline. He was selected to the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 as the Distinguished Alabama Sportsman of the Year.
“Our hearts are heavy,” said AHSAA executive director Alvin Briggs. “Mr. Blankenship and his wife Betty Joy have been important members of the AHSAA family. His leadership in so many different areas has made a world of difference to our student-athletes for many years. Our prayers and love go out to his family – and especially his wife Betty Joy.”
Visitation for Blankenship will be held on Monday from 10-11 a.m. at First United Methodist Church, 24 16 West Cloverdale Park. Services will follow at 11 a.m.