The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday the names of seven inductees to be enshrined at its annual Induction Banquet on Saturday, May 17, 2014, at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville, including Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Hope Hines.
Hope Hines
Since 1983 till 2011 television viewers in middle Tennessee and beyond have always had Hope. As sports director at WTVF NewsChannel 5, Hope Hines would flash that genuine smile and deliver the sports news of the day in a way that made all of us feel at home. Soon after graduating from the University of Georgia in 1971, Hines became sports director at WTVF (then WLAC) for a first go-around. He departed four years later for San Diego to become sports director at KFMB-TV and play-by-play radio broadcaster for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. He also did television play-by-play for both the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Colts, and was sports anchor for TV stations in both cities before returning to Nashville for good in 1983. He wrote editorials for The Daily News Journal from 2002-03. During his career, Hines won six broadcast Emmy Awards and was named Best Sportscaster in the Southeast.
Allie Prescott
Allie Prescott was born in Memphis, TN. From the age of six, Prescott showed his love of and skill in baseball. At Kingsbury High, he was named to the Commercial Appeal’s All City team twice and it’s Player of the Year in 1965. Prescott received scholarship offers from Mississippi College and then Memphis State University
Carlton Flatt
Flatt, a graduate of Cumberland High attended Austin Peay University on a Football scholarship, where he became the field general of the 1964 “rags-to-riches” Austin Peay football team which went 8-1-1 after being only 1-9 the previous season. Flatt was named to the 1964 All-Ohio Valley Conference team as a defensive back, but was chosen by the OVC coaches as the Offensive Player of the Year. He was also named honorable mention All-American in 1963 and 1964. In 1971 Coach Flatt became the head football coach, athletic director and head of the math department at Brentwood Academy, where he became one of Tennessee’s all-time winningest high school football coaches. Coach Flatt has established Brentwood Academy as the most powerful program in TSSAA football history.
Popeye Jones
Jones played college basketball for Murray State University. He finished his college career as a three-time All Ohio Valley Conference selection and was named OVC Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991. Jones was honored as the OVC’s Athlete of the Year in 1991 and 1992. Jones ranks fourth on MSU’s all-time scoring list with 2,057 points. He is also MSU’s all-time leader in rebounds with 1,374, and led the nation in that category in the 1990-91 seasons. Jones enjoyed an 11-year NBA career. After being selected by Houston in the second round (41st overall) of the 1992 NBA Draft. Jones played one season in Europe before beginning his first of two stints with Dallas in 1993. Jones’ best season came in 1995-96 when he averaged 11.3 points and 10.8 rebounds. He holds the record for most rebounds by a Maverick in a game (28 vs. IND on 1/9/96.)
Paul Naumoff
The Eastmoor High School product out of Columbus, Ohio played for University of Tennessee Football Hall of Fame coach, Doug Dickey. Naumoff was an integral member of the Vols football program where he led the Volunteers to wins in the 1965 Bluebonnet Bowl and the 1966 Gator Bowl. He was chosen as an All-American and a First Team All-SEC performer as a senior and served as the Vols’ team captain and team MVP. He competed in the 1967 College All-Star Game and the 1967 Senior Bowl. Naumoff was selected in the third round of the 1967 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions where he played for 12 seasons. Since Detroit began recording tackle numbers in 1973, Naumoff holds the Lions’ single-game tackle record, making incredible 21-stops in a 1975 contest versus the Cleveland Browns. It turned out to be a career year for Naumoff, as he was voted by his teammates as their Defensive MVP that year.
Claude Osteen
Claude Osteen of Caney Springs, Tennessee is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched for six different teams: the Cincinnati Redlegs/Reds, Washington Senators, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox. The most significant portion of his career was with the Dodgers. After 6 years in the majors, he was traded from the Senators to the Dodgers. As a Dodger, Osteen was finally made into a full-time starter. After two years with an earned run average under 3.00, Osteen was considered a top starter and a workhorse. In 1965 and ‘66 Osteen and the Dodgers reached two straight World Series in 1965 and ’66.
Bridgette Gordon
Gordon was a standout performer for Pat Summitt at Tennessee. She helped lead the Lady Volunteers to the Final Four in each of her four seasons and brought back national championships in 1987 and 1989. She was named to the Final Four All-Tournament team in both of her national championship seasons and was named the Final Four Most Valuable Player in 1989. A four-time All-SEC selection, Gordon was named the SEC Player of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year as a senior at Tennessee in 1989. She earned the league’s Rookie of the Year award in 1986 and led the conference in scoring in 1988 and 1989. Gordon was also inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.
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