Throwback Thursday: Respected Alabama Basketball Coach John Bostick

John Bostick is known for his many years with C.M. Newton at both Alabama and Vanderbilt.

He joined Newton's staff at the University of Alabama as a graduate assistant coach and later coached the Crimson Tide freshman team.

He served as an assistant at Alabama for 13 seasons and played a key role in the Crimson Tide posting five straight seasons with 22 or more wins and winning three Southeastern Conference championships.

John Bostick was known for being a defensive coaching specialist.

He was called by Newton "the best teacher of basketball I've ever known."

Bostick followed Newton to both Vanderbilt and then Kentucky in 1989 to serve as the Assistant Director of Athletics/Compliance.

As an athlete, Bostick was a three-sport standout at North Alabama from 1952-56. He earned 11 varsity letters at Florence State, with four each in basketball and baseball and three in football. He scored 343 points for a 14.3 average in 1956 and he scored 32 points in a game against Jacksonville State in 1955 for the Lions in basketball. In three seasons as quarterback for the Lions football squad, he helped take the team to a 21-6-1 record.

A native of Winfield, Ala., Bostick earned his bachelor's degree in 1957 and then served as an officer in the U.S. Army and was head football coach of the Seventh Corps Jayhawks in Germany.

Upon his return he entered the high school coaching ranks and compiled a 178-102 record in 10 years of prep coaching, with three years at Sheffield High School and seven years at Gadsden High School. His Gadsden teams earned several trips to the state tournament and finished as the runner-up once.

In all, he spent 32 years as a coach on either the high school or collegiate level.