ALLEN "BONES" SIMPSON - INDUCTEE #142
hall of fame fast fact:
Do you know why Allen Simpson picked up the nickname "Bones"? When he started shooting baskets for Borger, he was 5-7 and 110 pounds. Eventually he filled out to 6-3 and 150 during his playing career.
Allen "Bones" Simpson
Allen Simpson played basketball at Borger and West Texas State University, where he went by “Bones” Simpson.
He was best known for his successful 36-year coaching career. Simpson coached at Canyon, Big Spring, Spearman, Perryton, and Amarillo High. He began coaching at the junior high level in Borger, where he ran into resistance for starting his best players (four blacks).
His teams made the playoffs 17 times and won eight bi-district and four regional championships. He compiled a 679-372 win-loss record and guided four schools to state tournament berths. His Canyon team won the 1964 title. Simpson’s “nothing team from nowhere,” his 1985-1986 Amarillo High boys team, consisted of junior starters. That team won the 5A state basketball championship; it was only the second AISD team to do so.
Simpson later coached his own children at Amarillo High.
