R.W. (Dick) Stewart
R.W. (Dick) Stewart coached some of Freed-Hardeman's greatest basketball teams and players. Coach Stewart coached basketball for a total of 23 years at FHC and also coached football for two years before FHC gave up the game.
Stewart lettered in three sports at Lexington High School in Lexington, TN., with at total of seven letters.
At Union University, he played football and basketball four years and baseball two years. He was captain of the baseball team in '27 and captain of the football team in '28. He graduated from Union in '28 and from '29 to '34 was head football and basketball coach at Chester County High School in Henderson.
He began coaching at FHC in '34, coaching football in '34 and '35 and basketball until '43 when he took leave to enter business in Henderson. During his first stint as basketball coach, his '35 team participated in the National AAU tournament in Denver, Colo., and his young 1937 team won the Mississippi Valley Conference championship. Two of his players broke individual world scoring records. In '37, Jim Murdaugh set the record with 83 points, the last 33 coming in the second half with five defenders covering him.
His best team was probably his '38 squad. They went undefeated until the final game of the MVC tournament. That season the Lions amazingly outscored their opponents by a cumulative 766 points to 346.