1993 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE | LARRY LEE VARNELL
Born in Adamsville, Tennessee, Larry Lee Varnell entered Milligan College in 1935 and graduated in 1939. In basketball, he was the only player in the Smoky Mountain Conference history to be named All-Conference all four years and led his team in scoring every year. He was also All-Conference in baseball. After graduation, he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization and was assigned to their Johnson City team and later with the Springfield, Massachusetts, ball club before he entered military service.
Varnell received his business administration degree from National Business College, Roanoke, Virginia, in 1941 and an M.A. from Colorado College in 1948.
Larry spent five years in the US Navy in Commander Gene Tunney’s athletic program. He was assigned to the Navy All-Star basketball team at Norfolk, Virginia, where he was the leading scorer on a Navy team that included basketball hall of famers Red Holzman and Red Auerbach.
In 1944, Varnell was the player coach of the Navy All-Star basketball team and managed the Navy All-Star baseball team at Pearl Harbor. That team included Hall-of-Famers Stan Musial, Peewee Reese, Bob Lemon, Johnny Mize and a host of other major leaguers.
Varnell went to Denver in 1946 to play basketball with the Denver Nuggets. In 1949, he worked as head coach and assistant English professor at Regis College and coached their basketball team to the National Catholic Championship and the runner-up in the NAIA Tournament in Kansas City.
Varnell joined the Central Bank of Denver in 1952 and has served there for 42 years including responsibilities as Senior Vice President.
Varnell has been a Western Athletic Conference basketball referee and had both a radio sports show and a daily sports television show.
Mr. Varnell is president of Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, Metro Stadium, Inc. and Central Bank Foundation, Inc. He is on the board of directors of the Council for Educational Television, DRMA, Colorado Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mile-Hi Stadium Club, Colorado Heart Association and Multiple Sclerosis Society.
He and his wife, Jeanne, have three sons and a daughter.