PADEN CITY – He is the unquestioned King of Wildcats athletics – in more than just name only.

Fred King and Paden City High School are one in the same. He serves the school in countless capacities, all of which he undertakes with unbridled passion.

King is the school’s athletics director. He is also the head volleyball coach and head boys’ basketball coach. King has also been the head girls’ basketball coach, assistant baseball coach and assistant track coach.

Not to be overlooked is that he teaches six classes a day.

King bleeds Wildcats green. He is not only a passionate ambassador for the

the high school, but for the entire community.

King is 63 years old, looks like he is 43 and acts like he is 23. He personifies the Energizer rabbit.

For a three-year athletics period (2004-07), he simultaneously served as Paden City’s athletics director, head volleyball coach, head boys’ basketball coach, head girls’ basketball coach and assistant girls’ track coach.

Such duty is unheard of – it borders on insanity – but coaching burnout is not in King’s vocabulary.

With such dedication and commitment to Paden City, one would think he was a native son. Such is not the case.

King is a Frontier High graduate. He earned his collegiate degree from Bowling Green State University, cutting his teaching teeth at Newport Elementary in 1976 with several other stops en route to Paden City. He taught at Frontier (1979-82), Sistersville (1982-93), Tyler Consolidated Middle School (1994-96), and from 1997-2001 he taught at several Wetzel County schools.

At Sistersville, King was the head boys’ basketball coach, head baseball coach and trainer. During that time, he put on a Grasshopper basketball tournament that featured more than 80 teams and made enough money to fund five Sistersville sports.

King came to Paden City in 2001. He and the Wildcats have been a blissful marriage ever since.

All told, he has been Paden City’s athletics director and head boys’ basketball coach all 15 years, head volleyball coach for 12 years, assistant girls’ track coach and assistant baseball coach for five years each and head girls’ basketball coach for three years.

His wonderful Wildcats work has spawned more duties. He is the Class A representative for the OVAC Executive Board while also serving on the conference’s basketball committee.

King doesn’t shortchange his civic duties either. He has helped to run the Wildcats Boosters Bingo for 17 years.

King’s voluminous workload hasn’t hindered him from being a loving husband and father. He and wife, Debbie, have been married for 36 years. They are the parents of two talented and successful children.

Son Michael was an all-state basketball and baseball player for the Wildcats. He resides in Morgantown and is employed by Centurion Medical Products.

Daughter Brittany was an all-state volleyball and basketball player during her Paden City days. She played two years of basketball at Marietta College before being sidelined by a pair of ACL surgeries. She is a Physician’s Assistant in Canton.

“Any woman who can put up with me for 36 years must be a saint. My wife has always stood by me,” King said. “I couldn’t have done this at Paden City without her. She is a special lady.

“It’s been a very good experience, but one not possible without Jeff Bowers. His help has been invaluable. He is the perfect assistant coach. Jeff was always the good cop and was always professional and tactful. He could have been a head coach in any sport he wanted, but he chose to stay with me.”

King authored a simple recipe for success.

“My players see me working hard, then they word hard. They see my passion, then they have passion,” King said. “I have garnered their respect and they have earned my respect in return. My players usually go on to graduate college.”

King admits his days as a coach and athletics director are winding down. But there is no set timetable for calling it a career.

“I really enjoy teaching, coaching, practice and being an athletic director. When I retire it will not because I am burned out, but rather it is just my time to hang it up,” King said. “We are trying to train some people to be able to take over. I haven’t put a date on it.

When that day comes for King, he will do so with a deep and lasting affection for Paden City.

“Paden City is dear to my heart because it has treated my family wonderful. It treated my son Michael super. Bob Burton (Paden City boys’ hoop coaching legend) and the community embraced him and helped to make him a success,” King said. “Brittany – she graduated salutatorian and went to Marietta College. I feel Paden City had a lot to do with her success as well.

BIG TEN DIVING

Samm Reese acquitted herself quite nicely in the Big Ten Swimming & Diving Championships last weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich.. She finished seventh in the 1-meter diving competition.

Her school – Purdue – finished fifth in the team competition. The Wolverines were crowned champions.

Samm is the daughter of Don and Janie (Patrone) Reese. They are Martins Ferry natives. Don is a former quarterback star for the Purple Riders of Bob Bruney. Janie is the daughter of hoops legend Lee Patrone.

BUBBA’S BITS

Chaz Roe has inked a deal with the Baltimore Orioles. The hard-throwing right-hander went 4-2 this summer for the O’s. He struck out 38 batters in 41 innings of work.

Roe was born in Steubenville. His parents are Brilliant natives. His dad, Donnie, was a football star at Buckeye North and the University of Kentucky. Chaz’s uncle, Jim Hoover, another Buckeye North football star, is a teacher-coach at Martins Ferry.

• Kudos go out to two more 1,000-point prep hoops scorers. Bellaire’s John Michael Schuetz turned the trick in his team’s finale.

Ridgewood’s Audrey Tingle reached the milestone in its sectional victory against Edison. She is the niece of River girls’ coach Rick Isaly. Her mom, Jana, was a former Pilots basketball standout.

Both Schuetz and Tingle are class acts.

Bubba Kapral can be reached via email at: bkapral@timesleaderonline.com