Her late husband, Lori Mabrey said, would have been proud.
A new scholarship, called the Legacy on Tap Scholarship and created in memory of Buster Mabrey, the former executive director of the New Mexico High School Coaches Association, has been awarded.
Recent Cliff High School graduate Brennan Shock, a three-sport athlete for the Cowboys, is the recipient of the inaugural scholarship award of $2,000.
He will be pursuing an HVAC education at New Mexico State.
Shock isn’t headed to Las Cruces to continue his athletic career or even pursue a degree, Mabrey said, adding that her late husband, who died at the end of 2024, would find this first Legacy on Tap winner to be a proper choice.
“I think Buster would love that,” said Mabrey, the head girls basketball coach at Rio Rancho High.
Shock competed in basketball, golf and track and field at Cliff, although the Legacy on Tap Scholarship is unique in that it won’t automatically be awarded to an athlete.
Applicants need only to be the child of a coach who is a member of the NMHSCA.
“Coaches, we give up a lot of time to other people’s children, and sometimes, parents miss a lot of their own children’s events,” Mabrey said. “I just felt like Buster would have wanted it (this way).”
A five-person selection committee waded through the applicants, who were required to supply an essay about how high school sports, or their father or mother’s coaching position impacted their life.
And it was determined that the recipient could apply the scholarship money to college or a trade school. The scholarship attains to honor “students who demonstrate leadership, integrity, work ethic, and a commitment to building a strong future.”
Shock, who is the grandson of Hall of Fame basketball coach Pete Shock, wants to go to NMSU for HVAC and hopes to someday own his own business. Mabrey said the annual recipient does not have to be an athlete to be eligible to receive the scholarship.
There is a fundraising golf tournament on Wednesday at UNM North to help generate money for the fund; it is being held in conjunction with the annual New Mexico Activities Association/New Mexico Athletic Directors Association/New Mexico Officials Association conference in Albuquerque which begins Thursday.
Mabrey hopes to add a second golf tournament fundraiser at some point, which could either increase the amount of the scholarship, or allow the possibility of recognizing more than one student.
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at @JamesDYodice.
