2015 Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Induction Weekend

Click Here for 2015 Induction Banquet Tickets

Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame invites you to the 2015 Induction Ceremony Honoring

Isaac Bruce, John Cropp, Bob Cummings William (Billy) Buchanan Dunavant Jr., Jimmy England, Henry and Alice Hooker, Galen W. Johnson, John Pierce Jr., Jamie Rotella, Jake Rudolph, and our Lifetime Achievement Inductee William Mack Brown

Friday, June 5, 2015

6:30 p.m.

Reunion of Champions Reception

(private event for past inductees, 2015 class and sponsors~RSVP Required)

Adams and Reese, Fifth Third Center 4245 Church St. Suite 2700

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Champion Within Luncheon

11:30 a.m.

Omni Hotel Nashville 250 5th Ave South

Reservations Required on the above ticketing link

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Cocktails 5:30

Dinner 6:30

Omni Hotel Nashville 250 5th Ave South

Reservations Required on the above ticketing link

Premium table for eight $1,500.00

Standard table for eight $1,000.00

Individual Tickets $200.00

For those that are unable to attend but would still like to honor your inductee:

Full page color ad in the 2015 banquet program $1,000.00

Half page color ad in the 2015 banquet program $800.00

Ad Deadline May 1, 2015

For more information contact Lynn Powell Toy 615.202.3996 or lynnpowelltoy@gmail.com

William Mack Brown

William Mack Brown is a Tennessee native and legendary football coach who is credited with revitalizing the North Carolina and Texas football programs. Brown led the Longhorns to a Big 12 Championship and the BCS National Championship after the 2005 season.  He received the “Bear” Bryant Award that year as well as being named Big 12 Coach of the Year.  Brown also went on to win another Big 12 Championship and Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 2009.

Isaac Bruce

Isaac Bruce came to the Memphis football team as a wide receiver in 1992. The talented Bruce made an immediate impact on the Tiger football squad, earning a starting position before the opening game of 1992. Bruce finished the 1993 season with a school-record 74 catches for 1,054 yards and 10 touchdowns. His 74 catches and 1,054 yards remain Memphis football records and his 10 touchdown receptions ranks fourth all-time.

Bruce was drafted in the second round by the St. Louis Rams in 1994. He played 16 seasons in the NFL, retiring in 2010 as the NFL’s second all-time leading receiver with 1,024 receptions for 15,208 yards and 91 touchdowns.

John Cropp

Coach Cropp spent more than half a century in athletics, including the last 20-plus years as an administrator at the University of Kentucky. For the first 22 years of Cropp’s athletics career he was involved in coaching football. His first head coaching position came at Tennessee High School in Bristol, Tenn. Cropp’s squads complied an impressive 48-15-3 record with two Class AAA state titles (1971-72) and the 1972 mythical national championship.

Cropp returned to his alma mater, Vanderbilt, in 1973 as an assistant coach under Steven Sloan. He followed Sloan as an assistant to Texas Tech, Ole Miss and Duke. In 1984, Cropp returned to Vanderbilt under head coach George MacIntyre. He entered private business for two years (1986-88) before returning to Vanderbilt for a third time. Cropp also served as assistant athletics director for compliance at Vanderbilt for three years before going to Kentucky.

Bob Cummings

Bob Cummings is a legendary football coach who won more than 100 games as a head coach during his 15 years as a coach in Tennessee high schools. Cummings also served as defensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints from 1973 to 1976.

William (Billy) Dunavant Jr.

Willam (Billy) Dunavant Jr. is the former owner of the United States Football League’s Memphis Showboats and developed the Racquet Club of Memphis. He built his company, Dunavant Enterprises, Inc., into the world’s largest cotton merchandising company and is the recipient of more than 25 award and honors.

Jimmy England

Jimmy England was a two-time All-SEC guard for the University of Tennessee and a first-team 1971 Helms Athletic Foundation All-American after averaging 20.6 points per game during that season. Known by the nickname, “Mr. Clutch,” England was named team captain and led the Volunteers to a 21-7 record as a senior.

Galen W. Johnson

Galen W. Johnson Jr., led tiny Porter High School in Blount County to three state championships and two runner-up finishes from the 1950s to the 1970s. A 1946 graduate of Everett High and later Maryville College and the University of Tennessee, Mr. Johnson began his career in Richards, Mo., coaching both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams from 1952-55. He then arrived at Porter in 1955 as a guidance counselor, boys’ and girls’ basketball coach, and football assistant. At the time, Porter was a small school with an equally limited reputation for girls’ basketball, but Johnson quickly built the school into a state powerhouse.

Henry and Alice Hooker

Henry and Alice Hooker are largely responsible for transforming Nashville’s Iroquois Steeplechase into the premier sporting event benefiting the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital that it is today. Henry served 17 years as chairman of the Iroquois Race Committee while Alice served 18 years as honorary chairman of the Iroquois Steeplechase and continued to provide service as a member of the board of Vanderbilt Medical Center.

John Pierce Jr.

John Pierce became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer on February 24, 1994 at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN. His 4,230 points still stand to this day as the most points scored in a college basketball career.  In his time at Lipscomb, Pierce was a 4 time NAIA All-American and a 2 time NAIA National Player of the Year.  After playing professionally overseas for 5 years, Pierce returned to Nashville, where he serves as the boys high school basketball coach at Franklin Road Academy.

Jamie Rotella

Jamie Rotella was the sixth linebacker from the University of Tennessee to earn All-American honors over a seven year period following the 1972 football season. His 413 career tackles became a school record, although it has since been broken

Jake Rudolph

In his 39 years coaching football at Memphis University School, Coach Rudolph won 295 games. That number — once the record for career wins in Shelby County — includes a state championship in 1985, two second-place finishes and a total of 16 trips to the playoffs. Coach Rudolph came to MUS after a college career at Georgia Tech, where he played on the undefeated teams of 1951 and 1952. MUS Headmaster, Ellis Haguewood, said Tech fans still talk about plays Rudolph made.