Matt Vines

EAST POINT – Nancy Nettles signed her name just like she’s done thousands of times to certify Riverdale Academy’s basketball statistics, box scores and game books.

Except this time, Nettles’ patented small signature will be emblazoned on the school’s basketball court.

Riverdale announced that the court will bear Nettles’ name at its annual basketball banquet earlier this month.

Nettles, a 1975 graduate, played on the girls basketball team in the early 1970s, but her impact has been felt in the decades since as a stat keeper, athletics trainer, fill-in coach, and whatever else the teams needed.

“The teams usually acknowledge me in some way at the banquet, but when (coach Trey Pittman) was reading this thing on his phone and my nieces were grinning, I had no idea what was going on,” Nettles said. “I signed this paper, but I missed the wording about them naming the court after me.

“I was so shocked, it floored me. I’m not so sure I deserve it, but I do appreciate it.”

Pittman is sure Nettles is deserving of the honor.

“Nancy Nettles is Riverdale basketball,” said Pittman, who is serving in his second tenure as a head basketball coach at the school. “If you’re at a basketball game, you’re asking ‘Where’s Nancy at?’

“A lot of schools might name their court after a coach or a player, but everybody I’ve come across thought this was a great idea.”

Nettles’ time on the books started even before her high school playing days were through.

“Sometimes the coach would ask me to do this or that, help with the stats after the game – I’ve been involved with Riverdale basketball since its inception,” Nettles said. “As a player, I also sat on the middle school team’s bench and helped them out, too.”

“I would say I went full-time in stats in the mid-1980s, started doing video first and then the stats. If I was at a game, I was taping an ankle or doing something.”

And Nettles hasn’t missed many games in her six decades dating back to her playing days, save for her years in college.

Nettles has two nieces that played on this year’s Riverdale girls team – Madison and Madelyn Chamberlain – but she considers every player and coach to come through the program as family.

Pittman joked that Madelyn will start shooting from her great aunt’s signature next year.

While fans will be able to see Nettles’ name on the floor, you don’t have to wonder where Nettles is in the gym — you can hear her voicing her opinion from any corner.

“They say one reason I have to keep the stats is to keep my mouth shut – I get into it,” said Nettles, who added that she avoided technical fouls from Pittman during his refereeing days because of their personal relationship.

The stories aren’t just limited to the scorer’s table.

Current athletics director Katie Williamson used to sit in Nettles lap as a player during the starting lineup announcement, ripping her warm up top off and putting it on Nettles head as she sprinted on the floor.

Nettles was known for driving a high-top van loaded with Riverdale boys and girls players.

At a tournament in Jackson, Miss., a concerned Nettles circled the team’s hotel while an army of police cars swarmed the facility.

“They were doing a drug raid,” Nettles said. “With the high top van loaded down, you have to be careful on the turns.

“Of course that was back when wearing a seat belt may have just been a suggestion, even though it was probably the law. Everybody was glad I knew how to drive that thing.”

As a player, Nettles recalls being in a car driving back from a tournament in Ida with the girls chatting away late on one cold night.

“We were talking and not paying attention, and we drove straight on to Barksdale Air Force Base with everybody trying to flag us down to let us know we couldn’t be there,” Nettles said. “We had a lot of great stories.”

While it’s unclear if Nettles ever logged a win as a coach, she does remember one game at rival Plain Dealing Academy in which her and another woman had to fill in on the bench.

“It was a Saturday morning, and throughout all my time, Riverdale has never been a morning team,” Nettles said. “Well our coach wasn’t happy with the way the girls were playing and said that if they didn’t straighten up, he’s leaving.

“Halftime comes to an end, I’m doing stats and another lady is doing the book, and the coach isn’t there. So we started coaching. He came back midway into the fourth quarter and said he wasn’t worried, he was just mad.”

The stories are just a snippet of the impact Nettles has had on Riverdale basketball, stories that will now happen with a court that bears her name.

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