2007 Inductees to Texas Tech Hall of Honor Announced

LUBBOCK, Texas – Eight former Red Raider athletes representing five decades are slated for induction into the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor during the Texas Tech-Texas A&M football weekend Oct. 12-13. The group was announced at a press conference in the Masked Rider Lobby at Jones AT&T Stadium this morning.

Comprising the class are volleyball player Dr. Jill (Burness) Stowe, tennis player A.J. “Jake” Broyles, men’s basketball players Jeff Taylor, Jason Sasser and Carl Ince, and football players James Gray, Ron Reeves and Jerry Johnson.

This year marks the third year that the Double T Association, the athletic letterwinners organization at Texas Tech, is handling the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor voting and induction ceremony. An organization for all varsity letterwinners, the DTA’s current membership conducted the 2007 Hall of Honor nominations and voting.

The Hall of Honor Banquet will be held Friday, Oct. 12, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Banquet Hall. The eight will be officially recognized prior to the Tech football game the next day. Banquet tickets are $50 each and $500 for a reserved table of eight. Contact the Double T Association at (806) 771-4000 for tickets.

Stowe transferred to Tech from Kentucky Wesleyan and became Red Raider volleyball’s lone retired number (#16). A native of Albuquerque, she was named AVCA All-Region District 5 team, First-team All Big 12 and Second Team AVCA All-South Region as a senior in 1996. Her teams made NCAA tournament appearances in her junior and senior seasons, and she left Tech the single-season and career leader in hitting percentage and was the single-season leader in kills. Her best work was done in the classroom as she was the GTE Volleyball Academic All-American of the Year (given to the top volleyball student-athlete in the nation) in 1996. She was also named to the GTE CoSIDA Academic All-America team in both 1995 and 1996. A Rhodes Scholar finalist who was also a recipient of an NCAA post-graduate scholarship and a NACDA scholarship, she graduated from Tech in math. Stowe now serves on the faculty at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Broyles becomes the first Texas Tech tennis inductee in the Hall of Honor. He is the lone Red Raider to win a conference singles tennis title in school history, having won the Border Conference championship as a senior in 1950. He also served as tennis coach as the team complimented his singles title with the 1950 Border Conference team championship. A 1952 agriculture education graduate, he lives in Lamesa.

Taylor was one of the finest defensive players in school basketball history. Named All-District VI as a senior, he was also named Defensive Player of the Year in the SWC as both a junior and senior. He led the Red Raiders in scoring as sophomore and junior and left Tech fifth all-time in career points and assists. After several years of playing professional basketball in Europe, he is married and lives in Sweden.

Sasser was named third-team All-American, first team All-District and Consensus Player of the Year in SWC as a senior while leading Red Raiders to a 30-2 record and Sweet 16 finish in the 1996 NCAA Tourney. One of 17 finalists for the ’96 Wooden Award, he was also named to the SWC All-Defensive team. He was three-times an All-SWC performer and was twice named to the All-Tournament team at the SWC Post-Season Classic. He left Tech the second leading scorer in school history and fourth leading rebounder. He played briefly in the NBA then several years in Europe before retiring to the DFW metroplex.

Ince was twice named first team All-Border Conference. He averaged in double-figures in scoring all three years on varsity and as a senior he was second on the team and fourth in the Border Conference in scoring. He helped the 1954-55 Red Raiders to a 21-5 record and the school’s first NCAA tourney appearance in his senior year. He is retired and lives in Austin.

Gray was named Second Team All-American at running back as a senior for the All-American Bowl champion Red Raider football team. He led the Southwest Conference and was fifth in the nation in rushing in 1989. His 280-yard rushing performance in the All-American bowl win over Duke was the single-game school record at the time, and a NCAA record that still stands as the highest rushing total in bowl history. He left Tech the all-time SWC leader in touchdowns scored with 52. He also holds the school’s game, single-season and career leader in rushing, and was third all-time in SWC history. Drafted by the New England Patriots in the 1990 NFL draft, he is a 1997 arts and sciences graduate of Tech and lives in Fort Worth.

Reeves, a native of Lubbock, was a four-year starter at quarterback from 1978 to 1981. He left Tech as the career leader in passing yards, touchdowns and completions. His best two single-season passing yardage totals were good for second and fourth in school history at the time. A 1983 business graduate, he played briefly with the Oilers and in the USFL and now is a home builder in Lubbock.

Johnson was named All-Border Conference as a senior in 1954. He played quarterback for four years from 1951-54, including the ’53 team that finished 11-1 and defeated Auburn in the Gator Bowl. A team captain as a senior, he left Tech as the leading passer in school history. He played in the Blue-Gray and Skyline-Border Conference All-Star games following his career. A 1955 arts & sciences graduate, he lives in Plainview.

The seven will bring the number to 143 people who have been inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor since its inception in 1961.

(courtesy: Mike Gustafson, Double T Association)

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