An Alabama high school will be retiring a jersey in honor of a former basketball and baseball coach who died last month.
According to WPMI, Spanish Fort will retire a jersey for Thad Akins, the former girls basketball coach and baseball assistant who died in a car accident. On Jan. 19, Akins’ car collided with a tractor trailer on Interstate 65 while he was on his way to a coaching seminar in Montgomery. Akins, 43, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash happened just hours after Spanish Fort earned a 52-35 victory against Gulf Shores.
“As a person, he always seemed to be happy-go-lucky and very positive,” Gulf Shores girls coach Brittany Brewer told AL.com after the accident. “He enjoyed what he did. He loved coaching. He loved his players. You really can’t say a bad thing about the guy.”
Akins also coached football and track during his career.
With Akins having been an outfield coach for the baseball team, the jersey will be retired after the Toros’ baseball game on March 1.