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Coming soon: more stories, photographs, educational resources, community spotlights, and opportunities to celebrate the remarkable people who helped shape Chattanooga—and those who are shaping its future.
Herbert "Book" McCray
Educator, Mentor, Leader
Celebrate Chattanooga proudly recognizes Herbert “Book” McCray, whose remarkable journey from championship basketball player to educator, administrator and longtime mentor demonstrates the power of turning personal achievement into service to others.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, McCray came to Chattanooga as a student-athlete at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He became part of an important era in UTC basketball history and was a key senior leader on the 1977 NCAA Division II National Championship team.
But the championship was only one chapter of his Chattanooga story.
McCray earned bachelor's and master's degrees in education from UTC and an Education Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Tennessee Technological University. During a 26-year career in Hamilton County schools, he served children and families as a classroom teacher, coach and school administrator.
In 1992, he founded what began as the Chattanooga Basketball Foundation. Through leagues, camps, tournaments and other activities, the organization reached thousands of children and families. Over time, the mission grew beyond basketball into Boys To Men: A Male Mentoring Model, now an outreach of the Bethlehem Center.
Boys To Men focuses on the personal, social and spiritual development of young men, building relationships and helping prepare them for high school graduation and successful postsecondary futures. The program's roots now extend more than three decades.
McCray's commitment to education also includes credentialing as a Dropout Prevention Specialist and sharing his work with other educators and professionals.
His lifetime of service continues to be recognized. In 2026, McCray received the Walt Lauter Male Lifetime Achievement Award from the Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame.
A Personal Note from Celebrate Chattanooga
This spotlight is also personal.
When my husband, children and I returned home to Chattanooga from Memphis, Mr. McCray was one of the first education administrators we encountered as we entered the Chattanooga-Hamilton County school system. Our arrival came after the regular school registration period, and he graciously welcomed us and helped my children find an educational home at Chattanooga's 21st Century school.
Years later, I recognize that encounter as something much larger than one family's school-registration experience.
It was a glimpse of the same quality that has characterized Herbert “Book” McCray's life's work: seeing young people, helping families and opening doors.
From helping make history on a championship basketball court, to educating children in Chattanooga's schools, to mentoring generations of young men, his story reminds us that a person's greatest victories are not necessarily the ones recorded on a scoreboard.
Sometimes, they are recorded in the lives of the people who were helped along the way.
Celebrate Chattanooga African Americans salutes Herbert “Book” McCray — educator, champion, mentor and community servant — for a legacy that continues to help move Chattanooga forward.
#CelebrateChattanoogaAfricanAmericans
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