PIKEVILLE, KY - The Community Trust Bank/ WYMT-TV Pike County Bowl Committee has announced that former Pikeville High School athletic director, head football coach and baseball coach Gene Davis has been selected as the 25th Annual Community Trust Bank/ WYMT-TV Pike County Bowl Legends Award Recipient.

Inagurated in 1996, the Legends award annualy recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact on football in the state of Kentucky.

Davis is a 1949 graduate of Pikeville High School. Following high school graduation, Davis attended Pikeville Jr. College for two years before serving in the U.S Navy from 1952-1956. He returned from the Navy to graduate from Pikeville College in 1957.

Davis then began his teaching career at Pikeville High School where he was the head football coach for eight years. He also served as the Pikeville High School Athletic Director from 1963-1968 and coached the baseball team for ten seasons.

In 1961, Davis founded the Pikeville Little League football program.

In 1970, Davis earned his master’s degree at Union College. He then began his banking career at First National Bank of Pikeville, where he worked for 19 years. In 1989, Gene returned to teaching at Pikeville High School and was the assistant football coach for six years. In 1997, Davis was inducted into the Pikeville High School Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Pikeville College Honorary Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Davis served as the Pikeville City Commissioner from 1978-1983 and from 1989 to the present.

Gene married Billie Sue York Davis, another Pikeville High School graduate. They have three children, Mesta Scalf, Jeannie Branham and Charles “Frosty” Davis. All of Gene’s children also graduated from Pikeville High School. They have seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Past Legends Honorees include Garnis Martin, Walter Brugh, Ed Miracle, Al Vipperman, Walt Green, Jack R. Hall, Hilliard Howard, Vic Marsh, E. B. May and Paul Dotson. Last year’s honoree was Belfry and Williamson’s Dick Roddy.