Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 2, 1995 TAG: 9511020035
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That was apparent when several past and present Roanoke city schools coaches - Sherwood Kasey, Roland Lovelace, J.C. Albert, Alvin Graves, Clint Barlow and George Miller - got up early on a recent Saturday morning to travel to West Virginia.
Never mind that Miller and some of these men had been coaching William Fleming in a football program the previous night. There was no way they would miss attending the finest moment for Cannaday, when he was inducted into the West Virginia State College National W Club Sports Hall of Fame on Oct.21.
``My biggest thrill was watching guys from Roanoke getting out of their cars to be at the induction,'' Cannaday said.
You can believe it, because Cannaday, 73, is known by just about everyone in Roanoke connected with athletics on a high school level. He was inducted into his alma mater's shrine not as a player, but as a coach. That's what Cannaday is best known for, along with his tenure as a high school educator that ended when he retired three years ago.
``I used to watch our coach coach his team when I was 4 years old,'' Cannaday said. ``I knew then what I was going to be. I told my daddy [Irvin Sr.] I'd be a coach. He told me, `If you work, you think and you pray, you can do anything.'''
Cannaday has lived in Roanoke almost all of his life, except when he was in the armed forces. He coached first at the old Carver High School when high school athletics still were segregated, and then he went to Lucy Addison when high school athletics were integrated.
His football teams had a record of 88-55-14 (.561). In basketball, for which he was best known, Cannaday's teams were 291-136 (.682).
He's not boastful about his record. What Cannaday is most proud of is his 427 consecutive basketball games without missing a game or a practice. As a footnote, he always was on time.
In education, he was assistant principal at James Monroe, Woodrow Wilson and James Madison junior high schools and William Fleming High School.
``This [the hall of fame induction] is one of my best honors,'' said Cannaday, who lettered in basketball and baseball at West Virginia State. He liked basketball best, but he has played them all through the years.
And coached.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***