2022 FAMU Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Antonia Bennett.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (May 31) – Patrons attending the 2022 FAMU Sports Hall of Fame Enshrinement will witness a major refresh of the festivities highlighted by a change of venue to the newly-refurbished Lee Hall Auditorium.
New Hall of Fame Board Chairman Marvin Green, Jr., made the official announcement, regarding the annual event which celebrates FAMU’s awesome legacy of sports excellence that spans over a century of competition.
This year’s induction, which will be live streamed (insert details), will be staged in the historic Lee Hall Auditorium, opening at 7 p.m. Friday, September 9, featuring an ESPY Awards style format.
A post ceremony reception in the University’s Grand Ballroom will follow the enshrinement.
The 2022 Class will be recognized the following evening during the FAMU-Albany State football contest at venerable Bragg Memorial Stadium.
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.
THE 2022 SHOF CLASS
This year’s group of inductees features 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 golfer, 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 hardcourt standouts, including 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, who served as coach from 1989 to 1996.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
The 2022 SHOF Weekend will also pay tribute to some notable athletic legends and trailblazers.
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 given the inaugural FAMU Sports Hall of Fame Trailblazer Award, for her serving as a member of the Rattler Baseball in the 1960s.
