Seven set for induction into athletics Hall of Fame Friday

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman will send seven new members into its athletics hall of fame with its 22nd induction ceremony Friday evening at 6 p.m. in the Stokely Memorial Building on campus.

Tickets are 50 dollars per person. Ticket holders are encouraged to arrive at 6 p.m. for an hour of fellowship and meet and greet with the inductees.  The dinner and ceremony will follow at 7 p.m.  The proceedings will be streamed on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live. 

The septet will then recognized during the Eagles' men's and women's basketball games the next day against Newberry. 

This year's honorees are Mike Brady (1993), Baseball; Gaines Cox (1993), Baseball; Don Elia (1978-2008), Wrestling Coach; Leonard Guyton (2003), Football; Patrick Olalere (1993), Men's Soccer; David Roberts (1987), Football; Mark Sweeney (2000), Men's Golf. 

Mike Brady (1993) – The 1992 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and a first-team All-American catcher, Mike Brady still holds the C-N single-season home record at the time of his induction.  Brady clobbered 22 home runs in 1992. A two-time All-SAC selection, Brady would also set school records for most RBI in a single season (72) and total bases (156), records which have since been broken.  He helped C-N to a tournament title in 1992 and an NAIA World Series appearance in 1993. 

Gaines Cox (1993) – The 1993 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, Gaines Cox helped lead C-N to a fifth-place finish at the 1993 NAIA Baseball World Series.  In two years, Cox raked in 93 RBI while setting a then C-N single-season hits record with 88 as a senior.  Cox helped the Eagles to a regular season SAC title and tournament title as a senior.  At the time of graduation, Carson-Newman's 41-win season in 1993 was a school record. 

Don Elia (1978-08) - Don Elia guided the Carson-Newman wrestling program to 15 top-twenty finishes and nine top-tens. Since 1980, Carson-Newman qualified no fewer than two wrestlers every year for the NAIA or NCAA Tournaments. Elia had 67 of his wrestlers earn All-American honors, 22 of those have won individual National Championships. He sent a combined total of 35 competitors to the NCAA Championships in C-N's first seven seasons at that level. Coach Elia was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Eagle wrestling program.

Leonard Guyton (2003) – The 2002 South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and the only All-American quarterback in the history of the Carson-Newman football program, Leonard Guyton is one of five Eagles all-time to finish as a finalist for Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II Heisman.  Guyton quarterbacked C-N to a title game appearance in 1999 and an NCAA quarterfinal appearance in 2002.  At the time of nomination, he has the second-most passing yards and passing touchdowns in Carson-Newman football history with 4,981 and 41, respectively.  He ranks third with 6,626 career yards of total offense. 

Patrick Olalere (1993) – The first All-American in the history of the Carson-Newman men's soccer program, Patrick Olalere's name still features prominently in the Eagle soccer record books.  In a two-year career, Olalere tallied 83 points, a figure that still ranks third all-time at the time of nomination.  His 33 career goals are tied for third all-time, while his 10 game-winners are fourth in program history.  He is one of three players in program history to be named an All-American twice.  

David Roberts (1987) – A vaunted defensive lineman for three national championships for the Carson-Newman football program in 1983, 1984 and 1986. Roberts earned All-America honors at the conclusion of his senior season and was a two-time All-SAC choice. At the time of nomination, Roberts ranks sixth in program history with 349 career tackles.  Playing in a time before sacks were a formalized statistic, Roberts still wracked up 18 and ranks ninth in school history. 

Mark Sweeney (2000) – Carson-Newman men's golf's and the South Atlantic Conference's first NCAA/PING All-American, Mark Sweeney was named the league's golfer of the year in 2000.  He led Carson-Newman to a regional appearance in Orlando, Fla – the first NCAA berth in program history. Sweeney also brought home first place his senior year at the SAC championships. 

To nominate a former Carson-Newman athlete for the 2026 Hall of Fame, click here and fill out the nomination form. Individuals can only nominate two people in each nomination cycle. Nominations for the 2026 Hall of Fame close Aug. 1, 2024. 

This year's class could balloon to 10. Former New England Patriot Todd Collins, Olympic Bronze Medalist wrestler Lazaro Reinoso and women's soccer All-American Rebecca Angus have been tabbed for induction in previous years, but have yet to be able to make a ceremony to be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

CLASS OF 1985

(INITIAL INDUCTEES): Dana X. Bible (1912): Football, Basketball,

Baseball; Bernie Moore (1917): Football; Ernest Tucker (1924): Football, Baseball, Tennis; Mae Iddins (1926): Basketball; Lake Russell (1926): Football, Basketball, Baseball, Coach; Sam "Frosty" Holt (1927): Football, Basketball, Baseball, Track, Coach, Athletic Director; Milas Shoun (1927): Football, Basketball; Roy Harmon (1943): Football, Track, Coach.

CLASS OF 1986

Roy Smith (1934): Football, Basketball, Baseball; Frank Grubb (1937): Football; Wendell Henderson (1937): Football, Baseball, Track; Bill Catlett (1940): Football, Basketball, Baseball; John Murray (1948): Football, Basketball, Baseball; Ernest "Baldy" Cosson (1950): Football; Ray Allen Shubert (1941): Football, Baseball; Arnold Mellinger (1957): Basketball; Dal Shealy (1950): Football, Coach; Bobby Baker (1963): Football; Clyde Wright (1965): Baseball.

CLASS OF 1987

John Hutchins (1925): Football, Basketball, Baseball; Paul Layman (1935): Football, Basketball, Baseball; Don King (1924): Football, Basketball, Baseball, Track; Albert Sloan (1932): Athletic Administrator.

CLASS OF 1988

Charles Hamblen (1939): Basketball; Nick Hyder (1957): Football; Chris Jones (1962): Basketball, Coach; Milton Nixon (1937): Football, Basketball.

CLASS OF 1989

Ken Sparks (1968): Football, Coach, Athletic Director; W.A. Wright (1968): Baseball, Basketball; Carl Torbush (1974): Football, Baseball; Buddy Catlett (1954): Tennis.

CLASS OF 1990

Gil Luttrell (1964): Basketball, Baseball; Dusty Roden (1947): Football, Basketball, Coach; T.J. Stafford (1938): Football, Basketball, Coach.

CLASS OF 1993

John Ed Dowling (1937): Football, Basketball, Baseball; Libby Hudson Gardner (1968): Basketball, V-ball, Tennis, Swimming, Coach

CLASS OF 1994

Missy Brown (1982): Basketball; Dick Campbell (1958-67): Men's

Basketball Coach; Sanders Shiver (1975): Football; Bobby Wilson (1965-87): Baseball Coach.

CLASS OF 1998

Hubert Ashe (1953): Football and Baseball; Bobby Black (1965): Football and Baseball; Ira Dance (1923): Football; Fay Bowman Evans (1929): Basketball; Tommy Everette (1970): Basketball; Sylvia Hatchell (1974): Basketball; Tommy Jones (1970): Baseball and Football.

CLASS OF 2002

Bob Cope (1964): Football; Boyce Green (1974): Football; Roy Hill (1965): Baseball and Basketball; Vickee Kazee Hollifield (1983): Softball; Jean Love (1983): Tennis; Jack Wade (1950): Football, Basketball and Baseball.

CLASS OF 2007

Pat Apke (1986): Football; Tim George (1973): Football; David Guinn (1970): Wrestling; Data Caldwell (1980): Basketball; Bill Foster (1958): Basketball; Mike Ogan (1974): Basketball.

CLASS OF 2009

Larry Cooke (1978): Track; Billy Henry (1959): Basketball; Carol (Zachary) Mitchell (1991): Softball; Ken Rucker (1976): Football; Danny Sanders (1979): Football; Lisa Stogner (1984): Basketball; Glenn Wade (1949): Football and Basketball; Rodney Wampler (1972): Football.

CLASS OF 2010

William "Puggy" Blackmon (1973): Golf; David Brewer (1975): Tennis; John W. Hudson (1939): Basketball; Mac Lambert (1955): Football; Dr. Jack Owenby (1960): Basketball and Baseball; Patricia (Rouchon) Wells (1988): Tennis Steve Williams (1973): Basketball

Class of 2011

Bud Bales (1964): Baseball; Ben Booker (1943) Basketball and Football; Clark Bryan (1963) Basketball and Track; Derrick Davis (1961) Soccer; George "Buzzy" Mann (1982) Wrestling; Danny Maples (1977) Baseball; Jim Shuler (1966) Basketball and Tennis

Class of 2012

David Barger (1970): Adminstrator; Jerry Cannon (1967): Basketball; Joe Fishback (1990): Football; Mark Isom (1985): Football; Lib Julian (1958): Basketball and Baseball

Class of 2013

Sammi Hatcher Chafin (1993): Softball; Heather Randolph (1996): Softball; Leah Jackson-Smith (1993): Women's Basketball

Class of 2016

Mike Clowney (1997): Football; Gene Lively (1967): Baseball; Karen Morton (1986); Women's Basketball; Cedric Killings (2000): Football; Lewis Bivens (Women's Basketball Coach 1979-87)

Class of 2019

Mike Turner (1973), Football; Jim Deaton (1974), Football; Bill Mitchell (Football Coach); Mike Whitley (Football Coach); Leonard Weaver (2005), Football;  Marci Mitchell Whiteside (2003), Softball

Class of 2020

Steve Adams (1984), Men's Basketball; Jennifer Bock Ryan (2006), Women's Soccer; Eddie Carter (1979), Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball Coach and Administrator; Whitney Hickam Cruze (2008), Softball; Quez Rumph (2000), Football; Robert Thomas (1992), Football; and Kenneth Tyson (1988), Football

Class of 2021

Shari Buford (2010), Women's Basketball; Steve Cishek (2007), Baseball; Libby Conley (2002), Softball; Jay Floyd (1988), Football; Charlie King (1957), Men's Golf/Football Coach; Mike Schlecter (1989), Football 

Class of 2023

Tyler Baldock (2007), Men's Soccer; Kyle Gribble (2004), Men's Basketball; Jessie Howard (2011), Softball; Chris Jones (2011), Football; Allen Morgan (1968), Baseball/Administrator; Claire Ramsdale (2007), women's soccer; Gary Rundles (1985-00), Baseball Coach; Tyrone Westmoreland (1998), Football

Class of 2024 

Mike Brady (1993), Baseball; Gaines Cox (1993), Baseball; Don Elia (1978-2008), Wrestling Coach; Leonard Guyton (2003), Football; Patrick Olalere (1993), Men's Soccer; David Roberts (1987), Football; Mark Sweeney (2000), Men's Golf