Nancy Barbo

By CHRIS LARICK

If a basketball player who scores 1,000 points in an Ashtabula Couty high school becomes a member of the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation becomes a member of that group’s Hall of Fame, what does someone who scores 991 points become?

A member of the ACBF Hall of Fame, in most cases.

That ’s exactly Don Childs’ situation. A leader on both the basketball court and football field, Childs, a 1992 Grand Valley graduate, totaled 991 points for the Mustangs in his senior season, 1991-1992.

Childs, who began all three sports (football, basketball and baseball) he excelled in at GV at a young age, learned under coaches Ralph Turk and Jack Scott in elementary school. He moved up to play for ACBF Hall of Fame coach Tom Henson in high school. Another Hall of Fame, Mick Zigmund, was Henson’s long-time assistant with the Mustangs.

“He was a very good coach,” Childs said of Henson.

A 6-foot-1 point guard/forward, Childs played on a Grand Valley team that also included Jim Brady, Drew Becker, David Derryberry, Tony Robinson, Troy Smith and Ed Pawlowski. He won four letters in basketball, making first-team All-ESC and All-Ashtabula County honors as a senior, in addition to second team all-district in Division III and team MVP. He played on two all-star teams after the season:  the WRBCA (Western Reserve) and Star-Beacon Senior Classic.

In addition to the 991 points he scored, he had a game-high of 33 points, averaged 70 percent at the foul line and had 170 career assists and 166 career steals.

In football, Childs played quarterback, leading the Mustangs to a 7-3 record in 1991 and winning that season’s last five games. He was team MVP that year and won first-team all-district honors. He made it MVP in three sports when he took those honors in baseball, capping his four-year lettering career with a Golden Glove season.

Childs was recruited by Hiram and Mount Union and eventually attended Hiram College.

He has worked for Childs Farm Automation, 84 Lumber Company and presently works for JKey Commercial Roofing Company out of Athens, Georgia.

Childs and his wife, Brandi, have been married for six years and live in Monroe, GA. He has two stepchildren, Nate, 23, and Jake 18.

His interests include his family, fishing, travel and golf. He played travel softball until 2017.