Mrs. Mary Hobdy fought-in her quiet way-for Coach Fredrick C. Hobdy to receive the recognition he deserved. When she was told this year that Dr. Frank Pogue secured approval to name the GSU Assembly Center in honor of Coach Fredrick C. Hobdy, she wept with joy.In an interview she was asked what her proudest moment with him was. She answered,
“The proudest moment probably would be when Grambling won the national title of NAIA Champions in 1961.
Hobdy (as she affectionately called him) had told me that if they won three games, get ready to come. That meant that they would play in the semi-finals and the finals. They were guaranteed two more games if they won the first three, but if they had lost, they would have played in the losers’ bracket.
I was kind of poised to go but President Jones told me that he didn’t know if I could go. Mr. Wilberforce McNeal, Catherine McNeal’s late husband, was business manager at that time and he arranged for me to have a driver the day that Hobdy called. Mr. McNeal had talked to Prez, so I went on. That was my first time flying on an airplane. When I got there, they played West Minster who had won before in the NAIA Tournament. They played slow ball and we were behind, but Rex Tippett made a basket to put us up by one.
West Minster had a young man that shot 100%, so they threw him the ball and I put my head in my hands because I just knew he was going to make it, but Willis Reed put his hand in that player’s face and he missed the basket. I was sitting next to Coach Robinson, and he told me that I missed the best shot of the game. That was the happiest moment by getting past West Minster.
Hobdy enjoyed his work and he bled Black and Gold.