John Hutchcraft, a 1975 graduate of UCA, will receive the inaugural Buddy Harding Award during halftime at the UCA football game on Thursday night.
The award, which will be presented annually to a UCA alumnus for Arkansas high school coaching excellence, is named in honor of Rush “Buddy” Harding, Jr., who graduated from UCA in 1951. Harding spent over 30 years at Clarendon High School as a coach and administrator. He is a member of the UCA Sports Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. The award is sponsored by Harding’s UCA fraternity, Sigma Tau Gamma.
Hutchcraft was a four-year letterman in basketball at UCA, where he set career marks in scoring and rebounding. He has been head coach at Guy-Perkins for the past 30 years, and he has lead both the Thunderbirds? boys and girls basketball teams to multiple state championships, including the 1984 girls overall title. He also has captured state titles in softball.
