Carson-Newman inducts seven into athletics Hall of Fame
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman enshrined seven individuals into its athletics hall of fame during a banquet and ceremony Friday night inside of the Stokely Memorial Building on Carson-Newman's campus.
VIDEO: 2026 Carson-Newman Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman enshrined seven individuals into its athletics hall of fame during a banquet and ceremony Friday night inside of the Stokely Memorial Building on Carson-Newman's campus.
The 2026 honorees for the 25th induction class are Jeff Bedard (1993), wrestling; Megan Elliott (2006), softball; Leroy Mincey (1992), football; David Needs (1998-2024), head track & field coach; Reggie Perkins (2005), football; Jenna Rust (2004), volleyball; Fred Woolwine (1950), football.
The group will be recognized at Carson-Newman Football's Spring Game the next day.
Jeff Bedard, wrestling (1993) – An NAIA National Champion wrestler and two-time All-American, Bedard was the 1988 NAIA Most Outstanding Wrestler and the Gorriaran Award Winner. He recorded the most falls in the 1988 tournament. Bedard went to serve in the US Army where he won the Military World Championships. He has coached wrestling collegiately for 30 years at the time of his nomination. He has coached two college national champions, a national runner-up and 34 All-Americans.
Megan Elliott, softball (2006) – Carson-Newman softball's all-time leader for pitching victories, Elliot won 110 games in her C-N softball career. She is one of six, four-time All-SAC selections for the C-N softball program and the 2005 SAC Pitcher of the Year. Elliot ranks second all-time in C-N history and third in SAC history with 38 career shutouts. Her 739 career strikeouts are a school record and the third-most in league history. She helped C-N to two NCAA tournaments, two SAC regular season titles and the 2005 SAC tournament crown.
Leroy Mincey, football (1992) – A two-time All-American and 1990 SAC Defensive Player of the Year, Mincey is one of the most fearsome defensive linemen in school history. At the time of nomination, he is third all-time in school history in career tackles (399) and second in career fumbles recovered (seven). He was a part of three SAC titles and the 1988 national title team.
David Needs, head track & field coach (1998-2024) - A three-time USTFCCCAA Region Coach of the Year, over the last decade under Needs' direction, Carson-Newman can tout three national champions, three national runners-up, 63 All-Americans, 72 national qualifiers, 225 all-region selections and 49 South Atlantic Conference Champions. Additionally, he has coached five SAC Track Athletes of the Year, one SAC Male Athlete of the Year, one Olympia and helped in the development of seven USTFCCCAA Southeast Region Assistant Coaches of the Year.
Reggie Perkins, football (2005) – Perkins is the only three-time All-American offensive lineman in Carson-Newman football's history. He was a part of four straight SAC titles and three NCAA playoff appearances. In 2004, he won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the top offensive lineman in the South Atlantic Conference. That year he also earned consensus All-America honors, one of nine players all-time to earn that distinction.
Jenna Rust, volleyball (2004) – Jenna Rust helped put Carson-Newman volleyball on the map, assisting in guiding the Eagles to their first regular season and tournament SAC titles. At the time of her nomination, she is second in school history in career kills with 1,572. Rust has the most digs of any non-libero/DS with 2,000 – still good enough for fifth all-time. She ranks in the top 10 in school history in blocks. Rust is the only player to have donned the orange and blue for the volleyball program to be named the player of the year by the league.
Fred Woolwine, football (1950) – A member of Carson-Newman Football's Team of the Century, Woolwine scored the first field goal in Carson-Newman football history (a 41-yarder in 1949). He was a member of C-N's 1947 Burley Bowl team and Smoky Mountain Conference Championship team. Woolwine averaged 40 yards per punt, drawing national recognition from the Johnson City News Chronicle.
To nominate a former Carson-Newman athlete for the 2027 Hall of Fame, click here and fill out the nomination form. Individuals can only nominate two people in each nomination cycle. Nominations for the 2028 Hall of Fame induction ceremony close Aug. 1, 2026.
2026 Carson-Newman Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
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
Class of 2025
Aubrey Morris (2009), cross country; Julie Nelson (2007), women's soccer; Chuck Proffitt (1992), football; Dan Redding (1991-2020), football assistant coach; Dwight Wilson (1984), football
Class of 2026
Jeff Bedard (1993), wrestling; Megan Elliott (2006), softball; Leroy Mincey (1992), football; David Needs (1998-2024), head track & field coach; Reggie Perkins (2005), football; Jenna Rust (2004), volleyball; Fred Woolwine (1950), football.
