Patrick Harding

Patrick Harding was born on August 24, 1968, to Roger and Patricia Harding.  Roger was a star basketball player at Kate Duncan Smith D.A.R. High School and is a 2012 Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame inductee.  Sadly, Roger passed away in 1997, and Patricia passed away in 2004.  Patrick has two younger siblings, a brother, Bo Harding, who also became a high school basketball coach and official, and a sister, Nicole Ledbetter, who teaches and coaches cheerleaders at DAR.

Patrick began participating in sports when he entered the 7th grade at D.A.R.  He played baseball and basketball and ran cross-country for the Patriots.  Just like his dad and many other young men on the mountain, basketball became most important to Patrick.  And he excelled in the sport.  He played for Coach Kirk Jonus in grades 7-9.  He then played junior varsity basketball as a sophomore under 2009 Hall of Fame inductee Coach Bobby Buford.  His j.v. team went undefeated and won the Marshall County Championship.  Coach Buford also coached Patrick during his two years on the varsity squad.  His senior year, the Patriots were very special.  The Patriots went 29-5, won the Area Championship, and lost in the Class 2A State Finals to Hazlewood.  Patrick garnered a number of individual honors that year.  He was named the Marshall County Most Valuable Player, 1st Team All-State by the Alabama Sportswriters Association, and was the Class 2A Player of the Year.

After graduating from D.A.R. in the spring of 1986, Patrick signed to play basketball at Snead State under 2002 Charter Class inductee John Kitchens, the man who coached his dad in high school.  After two years at Snead, Patrick transferred to Athens State College.  He served as a manager and student assistant coach for the men’s basketball team under Coach Harold Murrell.  Patrick graduated from Athens State in 1990 with a B.S. in Education.

Patrick was hired in the fall of 1990 as the junior high basketball coach at Douglas High School.  In his two years as coach of the junior Eagles, the team went 31-7.  He was elevated to head coach of the Douglas boys’ program in April of 1992 and became the youngest head varsity basketball coach in Marshall County history.  Patrick spent one year at the helm at Douglas, and then transferred home to D.A.R. as varsity boys’ head coach.  He coached the Patriots’ program for four years.  It was during his time at D.A.R. that he married the former Misti Hayes of Douglas, an outstanding high school volleyball player in her own right.  Misti’s dad Richard is a 2007 Hall of Fame inductee.

In 1997, Patrick left D.A.R. to become the j.v. coach at Albertville High School, where he worked under 2014 MCSHoF inductee Tony Mabrey.  Patrick’s junior varsity teams won the Marshall County Tournament both years he coached them and went 25-0 in the ‘98-’99 season.  In 1999 the principal at Albertville High at the time and former MCSHoF board member Johnny Ingram hired Patrick as the head varsity boys’ coach.

Patrick would spend the next 21 years as head coach, where he would have an ultra-successful tenure.  His teams won 6 area championships and 9 Marshall County Championships.  Thirteen seasons his teams won 20 or more games.  During his time as an Aggie, Patrick would see Albertville High School transition from Class 5A to 6A, then from Class 6A to 7A.  He coached four All-State players, Trinity Bell, Riley Norris, Jay Rains, and his son Dillon Harding.  Patrick had the privilege of coaching both his sons, Dillon and Dane.  They became great high school players under their dad’s tutelage and signed to play basketball at U.A.H.

With both sons playing in Huntsville, the Hardings decided it was time to make a move to be closer to them.  In 2021 he was hired as varsity boys’ head coach at Buckhorn High School in Madison County.  In his first year in New Market, the team won the area title.  This past season was the ultimate cap on a sensational career. The Bucks finished 27-7, captured the Class 6A, Area 16 Championship, the Northwest Regional Championship, and in March, won the A.H.S.A.A. Class 6A Championship, the first of Patrick’s career.

With his 565 career wins as a varsity boys’ head coach in the state of Alabama, Coach Harding ranks in the top 40 all-time in wins in A.H.S.A.A. history.  He is in 39th place, just ahead of former Aggie head coach Shannon Sloan, a 2002 Charter Class inductee, who ranks 40th.

Patrick and Misti live in Huntsville, where he continues to coach at Buckhorn High School.