Changes coming for FAMU sports HOF this fall
Special to the Outlook
The FAMU Sports Hall of Fame will hold its 46th Enshrinement Weekend September 9-10 on the university campus.
New Hall of Fame Board Chairman Marvin Green, Jr., made the official announcement, emphasizing a change of venue for this year’s enshrinement, which will be staged in the refurbished Lee Hall Auditorium at 7 p.m. A post ceremony reception will follow in the university’s Grand Ballroom.
Ticketing details will be released shortly.
This year’s Enshrinement Weekend will be dedicated to the memory of coach Bobby E. Lang, a highly decorated coach and educator, who also served tirelessly as a leading light on the Sports Hall of Fame Board until his death this past January.
This year’s inductees feature 10 former student-athletes, a coach, three financial contributors and two supporters of athletics.
The male athletes to be honored include power-running halfback Frank “Choo-Choo” Middleton (1979-82); ironman baseball pitcher Willie Mitchell (1983-86); the stellar men’s track’s record-holding duo of sprinter Javaro Sims (1979-82) and middle distance ace Alphonso Williams (1976-80), and highly decorated golf extraordinaire, Ulric Francis (1993-97).
The female athletic honorees include former star tennis player and present tennis director Rochelle “Nikki” Goldthreate Houston (1998-2002); and a talented trio of basketball players; forward Angela McPhaul (1991-96), and guards Akita Heatly (1996-99) and Antonia Bennett (2009-12).
The Financial Contributors to be recognized include Emmitt and Hattie Alexander, along with Tallahassee attorney Daryl Parks.
The duo to be honored as Supporters of Athletics are longtime Rattler Sports Network broadcaster Michael Thomas, along with Clarice Byrd, an Office and Event Staff Administrator.
This year’s coaching honoree will be Pamela E. Reilly, a championship-winning Women’s Volleyball and Tennis mentor.
Some notable athletic legends and trailblazer will also be recognized during the Hall of Fame weekend.
They include the fabled 1966-68 Men’s 4×100 Relay quartet of James Ashcroft, Major Hazelton, Eugene Milton and Nathaniel James, which won that event three consecutive years at the prestigious Penn Relays, retiring the J.C. Patterson Cup.
Harriett Adderley will be presented the inaugural FAMU Sports Hall of Fame Trailblazer Award for her serving as a member of the Rattler Baseball program in the 1960s.
