Blakeney played basketball and ran track for CHS

This week we travel back in time 29 years to profile this week’s “Where Are They Now?” athlete. Alvin “Peanut” Blakeney played basketball and ran track while a student at Central High School.

Blakeney

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After graduating from Central in 1983, “Peanut” attended South Carolina State in Orangeburg for three years where he played basketball after making the Bulldogs’ team as a walk on.

“Peanut” served in the United States Army for three years where he also played basketball. Blakeney later went back to college and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Gardner Webb University in 2010.

The son of Ozie Blakeney and the late A.F. Blakeney, “Peanut” and his wife Priscilla are the parents of a son, Ashton. The Blakeney family resides in Cheraw where “Peanut” is employed by Chesterfield County School District as an assistant ROTC instructor at Cheraw High School. They attend Word of Life Church in Cheraw.

“Peanut” lists his hobbies as bowling, golf, fishing, reading and doing any kind of research. He is also a licensed ordained minister.

Blakeney shared thoughts of days long ago as a Central Eagle.

“Brian Dove was our basketball coach and he was a good one. He knew the game and could get his point across to the players. He also had a lot of patience and had the respect of his players. Buford was one of our biggest rivals and every time we played them it was always a close game. There are two games I played in that stand out with me,” he said. “One game went into three overtimes and I had 28 points and scored the winning basket with three seconds remaining in the game. Another game that is very special to me was at home against Fort Mill which we won and I scored 28 points in the only game my dad saw me play in high school.”

Blakeney said there were other rivalries, as well.

“We also had close games with McBee who always had good teams,” he said. “Thinking back I think we maybe overachieved as a team because for whatever reason we had three potential starters who did not play that year.”

Friend and former teammate Billy Blakeney said “Peanut’ was a player who earned his playing time.

“He was a player who always hustled and gave one hundred percent in a game as well as in practice,” he said. “All of his hard work paid off because he was certainly a valuable asset to our basketball team.”

Central Athletic Dirctor Joey Mangum agreed.

“He was a real good basketball player. He started to mature physically when he was in the ninth grade and you could tell he was going to be a good player on the court. With his work ethics and the coaching he received from Brian Dove and Dave Holdren, he was able to become an even better player,” Mangum said. “He could jump and was an outstanding rebounder. Most of all he was a good person who always did what he was supposed to and came from a fine family. He has been successful in life.”