Holly Ford Emerson, left, at the national letter-of-intent signing ceremony for her daughter, Santa Barbara High standout Tessa Emerson, will have her Dons basketball jersey retired in a ceremony during halftime of the Santa Barbara-San Marcos game on Thursday night. Holly was a two-time CIF large schools Player of the Year in 1983-84 and a Parade Magazine All-American. Also in the photo are SBHS coach Andrew Butcher and Holly's husband Brad Emerson.
Move over Jamaal Wilkes. Move over Don Ford. Move over Victor Bartolome. Move over Karch Kiraly and make room for the first woman to have her jersey grace the wall of Santa Barbara High’s gymnasium.
Holly Ford, a two-time CIF Player of the Year, Parade Magazine All-American and a pioneer in local girls basketball, will have her No. 23 Dons jersey retired Thursday night in a ceremony at halftime of the Santa Barbara-San Marcos girls basketball game.
She’ll join Dons basketball stars Bartolome, Wilkes and Ford (her older brother) and volleyball great Kiraly on the gym’s wall of fame.
It’s a fitting and appropriate tribute to a legend of the game. The jersey will be retired as her daughter, Tessa Emerson, completes her senior season with the Dons.
“Holly’s the best of the early players and the best of all the players,” said Santa Barbara coach Andrew Butcher, who had the pleasure of coaching Ford at the junior varsity and varsity levels back in the 1980s.
Butcher watched Ford develop into an elite player. After graduating from Santa Barbara High in 1984, she accepted a scholarship at USC, which was one of the premier programs in the country at the time. She started every game for the Trojans and averaged in double figures in scoring.
While Holly’s older brother, Don Ford, played in the NBA after college, there was no domestic pro basketball league for women.
Holly declined an offer to play professionally in Japan. She returned to Santa Barbara and married Brad Emerson, a Dons football standout and 1981 SBHS grad.
“She was definitely good enough to play at the next level, if the U.S. had that,” Butcher said.
Butcher said Ford had no experience when she came out for the basketball team at SBHS.
“She had never played sports before the ninth grade and by the time she was a junior she was CIF Player of the Year,” he said.
“She was a student of the game. She picked things up instantly and she applied them. She was a pioneer. She played against guys all the time.”
Butcher recalled a time when he, co-coach Scott Blakey and Ford went to the YMCA to play in 3-on-3 pick-up games and beat all the men’s teams.
“We won the court all night. There were some guys who wanted to beat her up,” he said. “She almost never missed a shot. Fundamentally, she was close to perfect. Watching Holly play was almost like watching martial arts.”
Ford was an intense competitor on the floor.
“Larry Crandell (who’s daughter Leslie preceded Ford at Santa Barbara and went on to star at Stanford) said Holly has a will of steel,” Butcher said. “I have never had anybody more determined. When she stepped on the court, she got this look, this game face, that was unbelievable.”
Butcher and Mike Valencia, who was the varsity coach during Ford’s sophomore year, will present her with the jersey.
“It’s fun stuff,” said Butcher, who noted Ford’s playing ability showed that the quality of women’s sports was on the rise.
“She was an outstanding player at all levels,” he said.
