Happy ISD to honor Olympic gold medalist, alumnus Joe Fortenberry - lubbockonline.com

The school plans to announce the renaming on Friday, Sept. 18, during a pep rally in the high school auditorium ahead of the Cowboys' homecoming football game. Fortenberry played at Happy before starring at West Texas A&M. He is also credited as one of the earliest players to dunk a basketball, a detail that still comes up whenever his name surfaces in Texas high school hoops circles.

For a small district like Happy, this is a big deal. Renaming the gym gives students and neighbors a permanent, physical reminder that an Olympic gold medalist walked those same halls decades before Buddy Holly Hall or the Depot District existed as we know them. Kids playing pickup ball in that gym will now do it under the name of a guy who helped invent how the sport looks today.

The timing lines up with homecoming, so the announcement will hit during one of the biggest school gatherings of the fall. Alumni, current players and longtime Happy residents get a shared moment to mark before the football team takes the field. It is a rare chance for a town this size to celebrate a name tied to basketball history.