Numbers Game | Local coaching legends, Palmetto's Butch Hughes and State College of Florida's Tim Hill, had impressive stats

Unlike a famous saying from "Game of Thrones" -- HBO's hit television series -- winter isn't coming. It already arrived with this past weekend's wet and cool weather to usher in 2016.

That also symbolized the somber tone to the end of 2015 as two Manatee County coaching icons, former Palmetto boys basketball coach William "Butch" Hughes and former State College of Florida baseball coach Tim Hill, passed away.

So the first Numbers Game edition of the New Year takes a peek at a few digits that encompassed a couple storied careers from two coaching legends.

59

Combined years spent as the head coaches of their respective programs between Hughes and Hill. The former guided the Tigers on the hardwood for 28 seasons, while spending 41 years in the Manatee County school system as an educator. Meanwhile, Hill was SCF's baseball head coach for 31 seasons prior to his time as the head coach at South Florida Community College and the three seasons he served as an assistant coach under Bob Wynn before taking over at SCF.

57.77

Percentage of SCF baseball's state tournament appearances that occurred during Hill's tenure. The Manatees qualified for the state tournament 26 times in 31 years after Hill became the program's second head coach in 1982. Going by the names of Manatee Junior College and Manatee Community College before the current SCF name, the baseball program has qualified for the state tournament a total of 45 times, capturing state titles 13 times. Both are a Florida state record, with Hill's teams earning six state championships. The last one was in 2010, which buoyed the Manatees to the JUCO World Series.

15

Amount of players who Hill coached at SCF that ended up in the major leagues. The most recent player was relief pitcher Nick Goody, who received a call-up last summer with the New York Yankees. Goody was the ace of the Manatees staff his sophomore season, before finishing his college career as a closer with LSU.

.696

Hill's winning percentage in 31 seasons at the SCF helm! That's not a misprint. His teams made five JUCO World Series appearances, finished as the national runner-up twice and even beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in a charity game in 2009 that featured current superstar Andrew McCutchen, who was a minor-leaguer at the time.

2

State Final Four appearances Palmetto's boys basketball team made under Hughes. That's a remarkable number when you consider only one other Manatee County coach made more than one appearance in the Final Four from a public school program. Aside from Hughes, that distinction went to Southeast's Bob Carroll, who made three consecutive Final Four trips in the 1990s that culminated with a state title in 1995.

Hughes, though, had the gym named after him for what he accomplished during an illustrious career at Palmetto. The former Tigers head coach led Palmetto to the Final Four in 1976 and 1989.

512

Hughes claimed 512 victories in more than 700 games during his career at Palmetto.

The boys basketball head coaching landscape today doesn't possess anyone with more than five seasons consecutively at the same public school program. The Tigers rewarded the legacy of Hughes by naming the gym after him in 1999. Palmetto's Reggie Bellamy is the current longest tenured boys basketball head coach among public school programs, taking over the reins for the Tigers in 2011.

Jason Dill, sports reporter, can be reached at 745-7017 or via email at jdill@bradenton.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason__Dill and like his Facebook page at Jason Dill Bradenton Herald.

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Numbers Game | Local coaching legends, Palmetto's Butch Hughes and State College of Florida's Tim Hill, had impressive stats ."