Ted Hornback remains one of the great names in the history of Western Kentucky athletics, both as a coach and an athlete. He was a standout basketball and tennis player on the Hill in the 1920s and then went on to success in the high school coaching ranks before returning to Western to assist Coach E.A. Diddle with basketball and head up the tennis program in 1938.
The 26 Hilltopper basketball teams he worked with won 515 games while losing only 208 (a 71.2 winning percentage) while posting 23 winning seasons. Those teams recorded thirteen 20-victory campaigns, including a school record best 28-2 in 1948. They took 21 conference championships - 10 in the Ohio Valley Conference and six in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC), along with five Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) crowns - and made nine post-season appearances - eight in the NIT and one in the NCAA. The Hilltoppers were runner-up in the 1942 NIT and finished in the top four in that prestigious event three times (1942, 48, 54).
Hornback's cage teams produced athletes that earned All-American recognition 17 times and All-Conference honors a total of 58 times. In addition, his 34 Hilltopper tennis teams won 374 matches while losing only 76 times, a whopping 83.1 success ratio. Those teams won the OVC championship 18 times in 28 attempts on the strength of 54 individual championships and 18 doubles crowns.
Hornback retired from his basketball duties when Diddle retired in 1964. However, he remained active in Hilltopper sports as director of athletics until 1971. And, of course, he continued to coach men's tennis at Western until his retirement in 1976.