John Duke Wells

From a profile in the 1979 Star Yearbook:

JOHN "DUKE" WELLS

This year Henderson's Athletic Director John "Duke" Wells stunned the ranks of intercollegiate athletics by announcing his retirement effective June 30, 1979, after 38 years of service to the University. He has been associated with HSU for over 40 years, is a former athlete, a former head coach and has been the university athletic director since 1941. Wells came to Henderson in 1932 as a student and after three successful years in football, basketball, and baseball, he decided to enter the ranks of professional baseball at the end of his junior year. He played Class C and D baseball at Jackson, Tenn., and Fulton, Ky., for more than three years. He later returned to Henderson to finish his degree. Upon his graduation he was hired to coach all sports at Hot Springs Central High School. After one season there he moved to Camden for the next season.

In 1941 he was hired by Henderson State Teachers College. His responsibilities were to coach all sports and to teach 15 hours of classes each week.

He served as the Head Coach of the football team until 1962 when he suffered a heart attack and doctors forced him to give up that post. He did, however, continue his job as athletic director. He will be best remembered as the head coach who brought the winning tradition to Henderson. One of the best remembered games was the Ouachita-Henderson game of 1951, when the Reddies beat the Tigers of Ouachita by a score of 54 to 0. That caused Ouachita to cancel the series between the two schools until 1962 when they were started again. In commenting on his 38 years as the head of the Athletic Department, he stated that regret seemed to be the last thing on his mind and that he was totally satisfied with the way his life and relationship with Henderson State University has worked out for him.

Coach Wells says that he would not change one thing that has happened to him. He said, "No one has been anymore fortunate than I have been. No, there's nothing I would change even though I was just barely making a living." He believes that money is not everything; you've got to be in something to be happy. He also said that he ran into something different each day.

His career began with a rocky start; he did not know whether he was going to go to college until almost the day before school started. He was a 17-year-old, 145-pound school boy who had played football and other sports. As an athlete at Gurdon High School, he won several of the state honors that all school athletes cherished, but he had no immediate hopes of higher education. He was enrolled here at Henderson with the help of his high school coach Sleepy Thompson. Known as a triple threat back, he excelled in the ranks of his classmates at Gurdon. One of his biggest concerns is the promotion of good sportsmanship.

Yes, John "Duke" Wells has made quite a name for himself and Henderson State University as he has been named to the NAIA Hall of Fame in the Meritorious Service Category and has also been named to the Arkansas Hall of Fame. He has made his mark in the hall of glory, in the field of athletics, and to sportsmanship on the field. Henderson has honored him in its own way by naming the newest building on campus after him. The Wells HPER complex on the north end of the campus was named after him when it was completed in 1972. He summed himself and Henderson to the "T" as he commented on the outcome of the results of the Homecoming game. He said that the way he felt about the win was the purpose to win. He feels good about everytime the team goes onto the field. He said that as far as he was concerned we were winners everytime.