The HistoryMakers

Respected educator and basketball coach Sanford T. Roach was born in Frankfort, Kentucky. He graduated from Danville Bate High School in 1933 in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a basketball and football star and salutatorian of his class. In 1937, Roach earned a B.S. in natural sciences from Kentucky State University, where he was captain of the basketball team, a track and field star, editor of the student newspaper and a student council member. In 1955, he earned an M.A. in education from the University of Kentucky.

After graduating from college, Roach returned to his old high school to teach and coach basketball. In three years, his coaching record was 98-24 and in 1941 he gained notoriety for benching his five starting players the day of the district tournament for disobeying his curfew rule. This caught the attention of the principal of Dunbar High School in Lexington, and Roach was hired as teacher and coach. He taught biology, physiology and anatomy classes, and by 1943 he became head basketball coach. In his twenty-two years as head coach, Roach led Dunbar High to a 512-142 record.

In 1965, Roach's first wife, Mary, herself a basketball enthusiast, died unexpectedly. Shortly after, Roach retired from coaching. Between 1965 and 1966, he served as principal of George W. Carver Elementary School, becoming the first black principal of an integrated elementary school in Lexington. Between 1966 and 1975, he worked as an administrator at Lexington Junior High and became the first black principal of a Fayette County secondary school. From 1975 to 1988, Roach worked as a minority recruiter and principal assistant for the state secretary of transportation, and from 1989 to 1995 he worked for Mayors Scotty Baseler and Pam Miller.

Roach has received numerous awards and honors for his educational and coaching career. In 1974, he became the first African American board member of the University of Kentucky Athletic Association. In 1991, the new Paul Laurence Dunbar High School dedicated its S.T. Roach Sports Center in his honor. Roach is featured in the National High School Sports Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame and the Kentucky State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Roach married Lettie in 1967 and has two grown children, Sandra Cole and Tom Roach, and two grandsons, Kent and Ashley.

Roach was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on December 10, 2002.