They may be regarded as greats in their respective fields now, but some of Conroe High School’s most famous graduates got their start as a Conroe Tiger.
From sports standouts to entertainment and literature luminaries, here are five famous Conroe High alumni plus a few honorary mentions:
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Baseball player Andrew Cashner
Cashner, a professional baseball player, was born and grew up in Conroe. He spent time on the family ranch and participated in FFA and 4-H while in school. He also took up baseball as a youth playing through high school and eventually making to the major leagues.
Cashner, a 2005 graduate of Conroe High, wore No. 9 as a member of the Tigers, where he pitched, caught and played shortstop at various times. He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in school, but went to college instead and was drafted out of Texas Christian University by the Chicago Cubs.
In 2016, Conroe High retired his number.
Over his career, he’s played for the San Diego Padres, Miami Marlins, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox. He’s currently listed as a free agent.
The family also runs the Cashner Family Foundation that has a mission of bringing hope and joy to children battling various medical conditions.
Opera singer Michael Mayes
Mayes, an international opera singer, graduated from Conroe High in 1994. He was raised in Cut and Shoot.
“My grandmother played piano at a church in Cut and Shoot,” he said when he participated in the Young Texas Artists Competition in downtown Conroe in March 2022. “I was in the choir and the only music we knew how to sing was Bluegrass.”
A football injury in high school brought him back to music. He’s known for his baritone voice. He received a scholarship to the University of North Texas and then went on to study music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.
He’s performed in operas all over the world. From Oct. 20 through Nov. 3, Mayes will be in Houston to sing as Travis Briggs in the world premiere of “Intelligence” at Houston Grand Opera.
Check out his website for more.
World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards II
Edwards, known as the “Texas Tornado” was the AMA 250cc Grand Prix champion in 1992; Suzuka 8Hours champion in 1996, 2001 and 2002; Michelin Race of Champions nation’s cup in 2002.
He was also part of the winning United States team, which included former off-road racer and then-NASCAR rookie Jimmie Johnson as the rally driver, and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon in the automobile category. His dad introduced him to the sport of motor cross when he was three and he was in his first race at age four. Before he excelled at on a superbike, Edwards went to Conroe High School.
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He current runs the Texas Tornado Boot Camp for young racers near Lake Conroe. In 2015, he was named a Conroe legend by the Conroe Greater Arts Alliance. A mural of Edwards is in downtown Conroe on Simonton Street.
See the Texas Tornado Boot Camp website for more.
Pulitzer Prize-winner Annette Gordon-Reed
As a girl, Gordon-Reed was the only Black first-grader attending Anderson Elementary, a white school in Conroe ISD at the time.
She graduated from an integrated Conroe High School in 1977 where she was a leader on The Flare Yearbook staff. She also represented The Flare yearbook group in the 1977 Flare Queen competition.
She has won 16 book prizes including the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2009 and the National Book Award in 2008, for “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (2008).” She is currently the Carl M. Loeb University Professor of History at Harvard Law School. She splits her time between the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Mass. and her home in Manhattan.
In 2022, a new Conroe ISD elementary school was named in her honor. There is also a bust statue of Gordon-Reed in Founder’s Plaza in downtown Conroe.
Chicago Bears coach Tyke Tolbert
Tolbert is a pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Chicago Bears. He started playing football in Conroe at the YMCA where he was coached by his dad, Leon. He’s a 1986 Conroe High grad.
After playing wide receiver at LSU, he began coaching at the college level and eventually worked his way up to the professional ranks. In 2016, he became a Super Bowl Champion while coaching for the Denver Broncos.
In a 2016 Courier story, Tolbert said he has a special place for Conroe and always comes back to talk to the students at Conroe High School when he’s in town.
Prior to the 2016 Super Bowl, Conroe football players sent Tolbert a video message cheering him and the Broncos on.
CHS highlights
Other Conroe High alumni highlights include Wiley Feagin and Rock Cartwright who played in the National Football League, Larry Brantley, a voice actor who was the voice of Wishbone, a character on a PBS children’s show and Will Bolt, head baseball coach for the University of Nebraska.
