Jim Atkins, or "Jimmy" as he was known as in high school, was all about sports. Track and basketball took some of his time, but baseball and football were his primary interests as he attended Knoxville East High School.
His interests paid off during high school. Jim was named First Team All-Knoxville Independent League in baseball during his junior and senior years. He was also named to the 1st Team All-City Football Team as a senior and Best Running Back in 1961 by area coaches.
Following high school, Atkins enrolled at Cumberland in the fall of 1962 and graduated in the spring of 1966. At Cumberland, he lettered in baseball four years and never missed a game. He led the team in stolen bases each season. His batting average was .315 as a freshman; .328 as a sophomore; .335 as a junior; and .340 his senior season. Coach Walter Mathes named Jim and Hall of Fame member, Roger Morris, Co-Captains as seniors.
His first job with the Knox County School System was as teacher and assistant coach in football and basketball at Lake City High School in the fall of 1966. He moved to Park Junior High School in the fall of 1967 where he was the head baseball coach and assistant football coach.
His long career as head baseball coach began at Young High School where he also served as an assistant football coach for ten years. Young High and South High Schools were combined to form South-Young in 1978. He was named head baseball coach and remained there until 1994. His 1979 South-Young team was his most successful team, winning the Knoxville Interscholastic League (KIL), District tournament, Regional tournament, sub-state tournament and losing in the finals of the state tournament, with two wins and one loss.
Jim moved to Halls High School in 1995 and coached Lady's fast-pitch softball until his retirement in 2005. Jim has been named High School Coach of the Year seven times in the very competitive K.I.L. His baseball teams won 379 games during 26 years and his Halls' Lady's Softball team won over 200 games in his 11 years. Jim was the first coach to be inducted into the East Tennessee Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the East Tennessee Baseball Coaches' Hall of Fame in its inaugural year.
His proudest accomplishments during his 39 year career are seeing so many young men and young women pursue higher education. Currently, 150 students have received collegiate athletic scholarships, two of which came from University of the Cumberlands. Four of his players have been drafted by professional teams. Two of his players have become Hollywood actors – David Keith and P. J. Clapp, a.k.a. Johnny Knoxville.
Jim is the proud father of three children, Brian, Shane and Amanda
