Fun for me to start this one of with a photo of Ron Cochran and four of our Nine grandchildren.
The Hill – Ron Cochran is closing in on his 70th Birthday and to say that he has lived a life would be an understatement. Cochran begins the story by saying that he has been a part of the Hillsville community from start to finish, minus the day he was born up at the Hospital 🏥 in Pulaski County.
Today we will venture inside the lifelong relationship with both the Hillsville community and the game of Amateur Basketball. Its a relationship that has now blossomed into a third generation.
Ron has gone from playing the game as a teenager back when Carroll County High School first started. Turning back the clock to 1969, his Sophomore year, is when Hillsville and Woodlawn merged to form the CCHS we know today.
The first season of playing high school basketball was his Senior year and Cochran enjoys telling stories about the early struggles the team had and the relationships that were formed and remain in place 50 years later.
The team was part of last years Hall of Fame night celebration and a large number of the players were able to attend the event. Seeing so many of old friends and teammates was good for both the group and the capacity crowd in the Gymnasium that night.
Fast Forward to life after high school and we find Cochran with five children, Chandler and Brandi are the two that I have grown to know. Just before Brandi became a teenager, Coach Howard Mayo was looking to revive the areas Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) hoops program.
Under the leadership of Mayo, Cochran joined a team that included Greg Gibson, Mike Feely and Mike Sizemore. Cochran rattled off the names of the four others like it was yesterday. The program proved to be vital and would pay dividends for decades to come. This period in the time-line also started a 10 year run where the elder Cochran watched Brandi play games on multiple levels across the Commonwealth and Region. Dad will proudly tell you that in 10 years of Brandi playing competive games he only missed out three times.
After Mayo stepped away from the program after the turn of the century, Cochran was next up in the long line of successors to the Top Spot in the local AAU. Cochran would hold that position for the better part of a decade and meanwhile Brandi was running the court alongside Erin Gibson, who would go on to play at Virginia Tech. Brandi Cochran took her game and pursuit of a College education to Hollins. The four year run at the school located in the suburbs of Roanoke produced two vital things that Cochran will have forever. A college degree that allows her to teach our youth and a spot in the Hollins University Hall of Fame.
Proud Father was quick to list the induction into the Hall as his favorite memory from her playing days !
Brandi Cochran returned to her roots in Carroll County and would eventually become Brandi Cochran – Mitchell. No time was wasted as the roles BC-M would take on included teaching, coaching, wife and finally Mother.
Brandi and Mitchell, there’s a fun story to that name as well, would have a daughter CC and a few years later, a Son named Ben. In her “Spare Time” Mom was the lead assistant to Marc Motley on the Back 2 Back State Championship teams. That was a big enough deal that someone should have written a book 📖 about it (oh wait, someone did).
CC is 14 in 9th grade now and Ben is 10 and in 5th grade. The apple 🍎 doesn’t fall far from the Family Tree as both youngsters are well into their basketball playing careers.
Mom also slid into the shoes 👞 of her Father as she took over the reins of the AAU recently from Kris Richardson
These two photos came from another one of Brandi’s efforts, the one where are paths actually cross from time to time, Vickey Ritchie and the Special Olympics. As you can see Dad was one of the Celebrity officials that day.
As we mentioned at the top, Ron and his new Wife Nancy will be celebrating on two fronts in the coming weeks. They are closing in on moving into their newly built home and there’s that 70th Birthday thing.
Nowadays, you can find Ron behind the counter at Omega Printing and Office supply down on Main Street. The name I attached to Ron from Day One is Brandi’s Dad and later added Nancy’s husband to the list.
This fall you can find him in a Gymnasium watching 👀 his Grandchildren play the game both he and his daughter love. To complete the circle of Life I asked Ron to share his thoughts on his two Grandchildren.
” Watching CC play brings back such fond memories from when her Mom was playing,” Cochran said. ” There is so much of Brandi in CC, you can see it in her eyes.”
Ben Mitchell is younger by a few years and has less experience than his Big Sis but Grandpa sees big things for Ben.
” With Ben its going to be more about whats coming in the future,” added Cochran. ” It will be fun to watch his growth in regards to both his body and his love for the game.”
Cochran and Basketball 🏀, its just a Family 👪 thing !
Brandi added her final thought –
“Basketball is the thing that my family has always bonded over so it’s special that my kids both play the sport. I love watching them play more and more each year. It’s so great to see them develop and get better each season. I’m just so proud.”
Ben Mitchell is third in the Photo from left to right, taken at Anthony Barnes Basketball 🏀 camp.
Here is the Link to the original Part 1
The First Family 👪 of Carroll County Girls 👧 Basketball 🏀 continues to run the Family Business.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 