Inductees

Mention the name of the late Marshall Abe Shires, and it brings to mind those hard-charging offensive and defensive lines in the “Golden Age” of University of Tennessee football in…

At an early age, Harry Shoemaker’s uncanny ability at golf baffled all who saw him. To watch him play, you might, at first glance, think your eyes were playing tricks…

2012 Inductee Brigadier General Austin Conner Shofner Born March 3, 1916 and raised in his ancestral home of Bedford County, Tennessee, Austin C. Shofner forever changed World War II. After…

Joseph Heath Shuler started his football career in Bryson City, North Carolina where he became a standout quarterback and led his team to two state championships. He was eventually named…

Joseph S. Signaigo’s distinguished career, on and off the football field, began at Catholic High School in Memphis. Not only was he a member of the “All Radio Eleven” football…

Tom Siler, veteran sports editor of the “Knoxville News-Sentinel” and national college football columnist for “Sporting News”, was a native of Jellico, Tennessee. Born on December 11, 1909, he attended…

Coach Petie Siler is a legend in Morristown and East Tennessee. He coached thirty years in TSSAA schools and served a two-year stint as University of Tennessee freshman coach in…

Tennessee State University women’s track and field programs of the 1960s were nothing short of magical; star after star bolted through the hallowed halls of TSU under the leadership of…

Dorsey Sims has been considered one of the best prep coaches in the South. Dorsey coached basketball at five different schools for 28 years and had over 600 wins. Sims also won…

When Claudette Riley’s dance teacher in Knoxville choreographed a baton-twirling routine, little did she realize she was sending a pioneer onto the football field. That was over forty years ago,…

Simply stated, Coach Roy Skinner put Vanderbilt basketball on the map and is more responsible than anyone else for the high expectations Commodore fans have for their team. As head…

Barbara Jones Slater was 15 years old when Jesse Owens visited the housing project in Chicago where she lived. He inspired her to do nothing less than fulfill her dreams,…

George Sloan was born into a hunting family. His father was one of the organizers of the Hillsboro Hounds and later of the Iroquois Steeplechase. Sloan first appeared as a…

At the close of her career in 1970 at Byng High School in Ada, Oklahoma, basketball coach Bertha Tegue had posted an amazing 1,152 victories. Just like Roger Maris’s sixty-one…

Reese Smith Jr. exemplifies the consummate sports fan. Be it as player or patron, he always gave his all. Smith played football at Middle Tennessee State University for one year…

A native of Nashville, Bob Dudley Smith attended West End High School where he lettered in basketball, baseball and tennis. In his junior year (1946-47), he was named to the…

Over a period of some forty-four seasons, from his start as a young coach in 1928 to his retirement over four decades later, Coach Boyce Smith dedicated his life to…

Ollen Bruton Smith, business pioneer and innovator, built Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway into a world-renowned sports entertainment destination. Smith’s Speedway Motorsports organization purchased the Northeast Tennessee half-mile oval in…

Frederick W. Smith was born in 1944 in Marks, Mississippi. This future founder of Federal Express was forced to grow up at an early age. His father passed away when…

Kermit Smith has been a coach and athletic director at Martin Methodist College (formerly Martin Junior College) in Pulaski for an amazing thirty-four years. During his tenure, he has coached…