Fayetteville, Ark. – Seven former University of Arkansas student athletes, legendary coaches, and pioneering managers have been selected as members of the 2022 class at the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor.
Joe Adams (soccer), Bill Bakewell (baseball), coach Gary Blair (women’s basketball), Ruth Cohoon (women’s athletics), Ray Dorks (men’s athletics), Catherine Grabble (gym), Ron Huley (Men’s Basketball), Andy Keel (Baseball) and Dale White (Soccer) will be officially featured at a ceremony to be held at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville on Friday, September 16, 2022. The ceremony will take place at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on the eve of the Arkansas-Missouri State University football match.
Members will be elected to the UA Sports Hall of Honor in collaboration with Club A based on votes cast by former Razorback Letter winners.
“We look forward to celebrating the extraordinary achievements of these outstanding Razorbacks as part of the UA Sports Hall of Honor,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Director of Athletics Hunter Yuracek. “This year’s class includes NCAA and conference champions, inducted coaches, and managers who helped lay the foundation for women’s sports for the national team at the University of Arkansas. These men and women are ours. It reflects the best that the program offers. “
Additional information, such as how to secure tickets for this free event, will be released within a few weeks. Banquet sponsorship is available by contacting the Razorback Foundation at (479) 443-9000.
2022 UA Sports Hall of Honor Inductee
Joe Adams, football
Adams, the only Punt Returner in the history of the program to win national honor, captivated Laserback fans with his great playing ability from 2008 to 2011. The 2011 Adams All-American Senior Season kicked off with two punt returners in a touchdown with Missouri State University. This is comparable to the SEC record, with 174 return yards setting new program records. The season’s opening performance ended with a touchdown of four Punt Returners on SEC records, with an average of 16.9 Punt Returners leading to a meeting and setting the tone for a senior campaign ranked second in the nation. Did. Adams was named the first recipient of the Johnny “The Jet” Rogers Award, which recognizes the best return specialists in college football. He was also named All-American for the Consensus First Team in honor of FWAA, Sporting News and Pro Football Weekly. .. He also received praise from the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Water Camp and Phil Steele for his second team, All-America, and was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year. Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, his punt return splendor, coupled with 164 career receptions at 2,410 yards, 17 touchdowns, and seven 100-yard receive games, is all ranked among the top six in the history of the program. .. Adams was selected by the Carolina Panthers for the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft after helping Arkansas win for ten consecutive seasons as junior and senior.
Bill Bakewell, baseball
Bakewell, a right-handed pitcher at Razorbucks from 1977 to 1979, took Arkansas to new heights with Nome Devlin and his team as part of the first team to create the College World Series in 1979. Helped to reach. Closer, Bakewell earned 15 saves in his college career. This was a school record at the time and is now ranked third in the Arkansas record book. He summarized the team’s best ERA twice with clips 1.16 in 1977 and 1.37 in 1978. He was the first of four razorback pitchers to record the lowest ERA in a row since 1967. He had the lowest number of hits per 30.0 innings task, with only 12 hits in 1977 with more than 31 innings. In 1978, Bakewell was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 28th round, but he decided to return to school. In doing so, he helped Arkansas take second place at the 1979 Southwest Conference and set an overall record of 49-15 in the College World Series.
Gary Blair, Women’s Basketball
Gary Blair, head coach of women’s basketball for 10 seasons (1993-2003) in Arkansas, led Razorbacks to five NCAA tournaments. This includes participation in the 1998 NCAA Women’s Final Four. The finish is the best in the history of the program, and Arkansas remains the lowest seed (9th) to make a women’s final four. In addition, Blair led her pig to three WNIT appearances, including the 1999 WNIT Championship. Overall, Blair coached Arkansas to a record of 198-120 (.623). The four Razorbacks who played or coached at Blair in Arkansas are members of the UA Sports Hall of Honor (Shameka Christon, Sytia Messer, Amber Shirey, Christy Smith). Following the 2021-22 season, Blair retired after 42 years of coaching. For 37 years as head coach of colleges including Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas, Texas A & M, Blair has 35 win seasons, 30 20 win seasons, 41 postseason wins, 26 NCAA tournaments, 18 conference titles, 13 Won 4 Sweet Sixteen. Elite Eight, 2 Final Fours, 1 National Championship (Texas A & M). His career record as a college head coach was 852-348.
Ruth Cohoon, Women’s Athletics
Ruth Cohoon, the first director of women’s athletics, helped lay the foundation for the growth and success of female student athletes at the University of Arkansas. Cohoon joined the University of Arkansas in 1965 as a swimming instructor. In 1971 Cohoon volunteered for her additional administrative duties, and the following year she was appointed director of the Women’s Inter-University Sports Program. Promoted to Women’s AD after Title IX passed in June 1972, Cohoon led the creation of the Women’s Athletics Division by integrating the in-wall team and the club team. Cohoon has consistently fought for better funding, better equipment and better scholarships, providing better opportunities for female athletes. She repeatedly demanded better salaries from female teachers and coaches to build quality programs. Cohoon’s vision has helped shape the future of the university, led to competitive success and created thousands of future laserback opportunities.
Ray Doakes, Men’s Athletics
Dorks, an outstanding field athlete at the University of Arkansas, was part of the razorback team that dominated the university’s athletics. Arkansas won all 16 SEC and NCAA Championships in indoor and outdoor athletics, including four SEC Triple Crowns and three NCAA Triple Crowns from 1991 to 1995 while in Fayetteville. did. As a razorback high jumper, he cleared 7-7¼ (2.32 meters) indoors in 1994. The Dorks mark remains a school record and is tied at a rank of 11.th It’s on the best university list ever. He also set a record for the Arkansas Outdoor School at 7-6½ (2.29 meters) in 1995. This is comparable to the other three razorbacks. He was the first team NCAA All-American to score six times in all four NCAA outdoor team titles in Arkansas. Doakes won the NCAA Outdoor High Jump in 1995 after winning 2nd place and 4th place twice. Indoors, he was a silver medalist twice in the NCAA high jump of the Razorback National Championship team in 1994 and 1995. Dawks became the first person to win the SEC High Jump title four times in a row with a victory height of 7-1 (1992) and 7. -4½ (1993), 7-5¾ (1994), and 7-4½ (1995). He also won three consecutive SEC indoor high jump titles with the marks 7-2¼ (1993), 7-7¼ (1994), and 7-4½ (1995). His 7-7¼ victory jump in 1994 remains the record for the SEC Indoor Championship. Dorks finished fifth in the USA TF Championship twice.
Catherine Grable, gymnastics
In 2014, Grable ended his career as a razorback by winning the first two national championships in the history of the program and collecting some of the program’s records at four of the five events. Was completed. Oshkosh, Wisconsin won the Vault National title after scoring a career best of 9.975 in 2nd place (9.975 has the highest vault score in NCAA history. Grable has half to three perfect judges. Scored 10.0. Event.) Granblue completed her routine in 9.9625 tones and claimed her second national title of the day. She did this by getting two perfect 10.0s from the judges, counting one of them, and getting the edges needed to win the full title. She was a two-time SEC gymnast (2012), all SEC gymnasts in 2011, 2013 and 2014, and a 2014 SEC gymnast. Grable is a six-time regional champion who helped Arkansas advance. The NCAA Regional helped Razorbucks win the regional title at the 2011 Denver Regional in all four years of her career. She was also part of the Arkansas team, which reached the NCAA Super Six Finals in 2012, where she won the balance beam title. She was nine WCGA All-Americans and three regular season All-Americans.
Ron Huley, men’s basketball
One of Arkansas Hall of Fame coach Nolan Richardson’s early prominent players, Huley played for the Razorbacks 1990 Final Four Team and Elite Eight Team the following season. He played for four seasons at Razorbucks (1986-88 and 1989-91), played 134 games, scored 1,550 points and was ranked 13th in school history. Huery averaged 11.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in his career at Razorback. He won the All Southwest Conference honor in 1998, averaging 13.4 points per game, and led the Razorbacks in 1987 with Assist (89) and Steel (59). Rank 9. Huley was a regular on the free-throw line in his career, ranking 9th (494) on the list of records where free-throws were attempted and 7th (388) where free-throws were made. Huley recorded an average of 10 points and three rebounds at the Razorbacks in 1990. This is the first team from the University of Arkansas to advance to the Final Four during the Richardson era. Overall, he helped Arkansas win two SWC Championships (1990, 1991) and win four postseason berths, including three NCAA appearances (1989, 1990, 1991). In 2005, Huery graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education.
Andy Skeels, baseball
Skeels, a national and SWC catcher, led the 1987 Pig (57-16-1) to the College World Series. He had a slugging percentage of 0.763, a score of 70, an RBI of 76, a double of 25, a triple of 7, and an HR of 18. , Breaks the single season HR record. His 50 extra-base hits remain in school records. His .681 career slugging percentage and his .358 career batting average are the second and fourth best in school history, respectively. Skeels, the seventh round draft topic of the San Diego Padres, played professionally from 1987 to 2001, including stints at the Padres, Yankees and Dodgers organizations. Skeels spent 34 years in professional baseball as a player, coach, manager and scout. In 14 seasons with the San Francisco Giants, he set a minor league management record for 497-342 (.592) (the best professional baseball game of his time). He also served as the Giants’ systematic batter coordinator for two years, spending part of 2017 as a major league batter coach and two years as a major league scout. During his tenure, Skeels participated in three World Series Championships (2010, 2012, 2014) with the Giants. He was the first New Zealand-born player to appear in a uniform as a player or coach in a major league match. Skeels also managed the New Zealand national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers.
Dale white, football
White was Razorbucks’ four-year letter winner from 1975 to 1978. White played Hoggs’ nose guard, alongside Dan Hampton of the Hall of Famer. White produced 230 tackles during his career, including 156 solo stops. He did his best to the end of the 1978 season, collecting 82 tackles, of which 57 were registered as solo stops. He regained an amazing 10 fumbles and made 27 tackles due to the loss of his career. Arkansas played 35-10-2 and played in three bowl games while White was at The Hill. Razorbucks defeated Georgia 31-10 in the 1976 Cotton Bowl. White was also one of Hoggs’ biggest wins at the Grid Irons when the 6th Arkansas defeated the 2nd Oklahoma in the 1978 Orange Bowl. Arkansas signed UCLA at the 1978 Fiesta Bowl in White’s final match.
