CLASS NOTES
FULL COURT PRESS BY ERIC TOWNSEND
T
he basketball court in the Town of Elon’s Lawrence Slade Park last fall wasn’t much to behold. Weeds poked through cracked asphalt. Bent rims hung from a half dozen backboards held aloft by rusted poles. And it certainly wasn’t the court Frank Haith ’88 remembered from his own childhood growing up in the neighborhood just a few blocks west of the Elon Fire Department on South Williamson Avenue. That, he thought, was a problem. Determined to offer a solution, Haith, the head coach of the University of Missouri men’s basketball team, and his wife, Pam, served as the driving force behind town efforts to renovate and expand the very same park that inspired a distinguished collegiate coaching career. “In the 21st century, kids are into PlayStation and Xbox, but having something planned and in place for young people will be special,” Haith says. “I’m very involved with the Boys and Girls Club here in Columbia, and my whole thing is giving our youth a safe place to play and grow. Hopefully the park will be something where youth will look at it and choose
{ l-r: Town of Elon Mayor Jerry Tolley accepts a donation from Frank Haith ‘88 during a ceremony in September. }
to stay involved in athletics and other positive things.” Plans call for a refurbished and expanded basketball court, an amphitheater for community concerts, and corn hole and bocce courts. Named in honor of former town alderman Lawrence Slade, the park will play host to basketball camps, provide a site for groups such as Special Olympics and Senior Games, and bring additional cultural programs to the community.
Town officials hope renovations will be complete by spring 2015. The Haiths, who have remained close to Alamance County throughout the years, made a lead gift in a public-private endeavor that also includes grants from Elon University, the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, the Town of Elon, Twin Lakes Retirement Community/Lutheran Retirement Ministries of Alamance County and Hayden Harmon Foundation. Total costs are estimated to be about $325,000. “It’s going to be really nice for the community, which was really important to me,” Haith says. “It’s where I grew up. Getting the courts the way I want them is a neat thing.” Following his Elon graduation, Haith served as a student coach and a part-time assistant coach of men’s basketball at Elon. He later worked as an assistant for Wake Forest University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Texas A&M, Penn State and the University of South Carolina, before the University of Miami hired him for its top position in 2004. In 2011 Haith made the move to the University of Missouri, where his program’s subsequent successes led to coach-ofthe-year awards from the United States Basketball Writers Association and the Associated Press. The Elon Black Alumni Network honored Haith in 2012 with the Eugene Perry ’69 Distinguished Alumnus Award, named for the first black student to graduate from the university. Phyllis Creech, the director of recreation and parks for the town, praised the Haiths’ generosity and their commitment to the region. “He and Pam are the most communityminded people,” Creech says. “They love Elon. They love this community and they have a passion for the kids, their development and activity, and for holding sports camps here. Their participation has been a springboard to really get other contributors to fund this all at one time.”
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