Knoxville, Tennessee (WVLT) – The Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame has named ten individuals who have made a significant impact and contribution to sports in Eastern Tennessee. He was named an eight-time All-Star and is the 1999 National League MVP, and the 2008 National League his batting champion Chipper His Jones will be held at the Knoxville His Convention Center on August 25. Leading the charge at the annual inauguration ceremony.
All ticket and auction proceeds go to Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley serving more than 6,700 youths and teens at 20 clubs in Knox, Blount, Loudoun and Anderson Counties Donated. Limited tickets are available.
Willie Poplar – All Round
Willie Poplar was an outstanding football and basketball player, track and field athlete, and bowler. He was the first black player at the Tennessee School for the Deaf. He competed in the Deaf Olympics twice, in 1969 and he won a silver medal in 1973. He was a national and state record holder in shot put, as well as a state shot put champion. Poplar helped lead the Tennessee Schools for the Deaf as National Deaf Schools Champions in 1968. Poplar was named a Deaf All-American that same year.
Joe Hendy – Swimming
Joe Hendy was the longest-serving assistant coach in the history of the University of Tennessee men’s track and field until he died of cancer in 2011. The Chattanooga native won his three SEC titles and the National Championship with the team. He has coached his three Olympic gold medalists and his over 100 All-American athletes.
Hendee coached the Knoxville Racquet Club for 20 summers. The pool was named after his memory. He is a passionate supporter, coach and advocate for swimming of all ages and levels, and a dear friend and mentor to many.
Hoyt Carroll – Coaching
Hoyt Carroll was the captain of the undefeated and 1942 state champion Knoxville High School football team. Instead of playing in college right after graduation, Carroll served in the Navy during World War II. After serving at Carson Newman, he served as Letterman for four years. He’s a star player in his own right, but his time as a coach and influencing players is where he shines the most.
“It wasn’t always all about football. It was about helping young kids find the right path and enjoy it. He was very supportive of kids playing every sport he knew. He didn’t try to stop soccer players from buying other sports, missing out on winter training and stuff like that. Carroll’s son, Chris Carroll, stands out in several ways about how Carol was a wonderful person and always cared about everyone’s health.
As Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at Halston, he directed and built the entire athletic program, where he won two championships and was named KIL Coach of the Year in 1970 after an undefeated season in which his son Chris played for the team. Earned.
“He didn’t try to find me lazy, he didn’t try to find me breaking team rules or doing anything like that. Just being there as another player, he treated me like everyone else.
Claire Donahue – Swimming
2012 Olympic gold medalist Claire Donahue swam the butterfly in the women’s 400m medley relay for Team USA in London. Renior Her City native, at the London Olympics she finished 7th in her 100m butterfly swim. Donahue has represented Team USA internationally at the Pan American Games, World Championships and Pan Pacific Games. She is a school record holder at Western Kentucky University and was named Student Athlete of the Year in 2011.
Gordon Hines – Coaching
Gordon Hines was a football player at Central High School, but his Hall of Fame-worthy career is associated with coaching football. He spent decades coaching club-level football, including men’s head coach for Knoxville Catholic, who led the team to multiple championships. Heins has said his most important wins are those away from the game.
“Right now it’s all about passion. No other reason. I’ve never been paid a dime to get coaching.”
In 2021, United Soccer Coaches recognized Hines as Tennessee’s “key high school coach.”
“People ask me if I had a successful season. I would look them in the eye and say, ‘You won’t know in 20 years.’
He now coaches former University of Tennessee football players as they transition from the field to the real world.
Buck Jones – Athletics
From 1982 to 2018, Buck Jones was the announcer at nearly every track and cross-country event at the University of Tennessee.
“It was fun doing a lot of track and field in the 80s with a lot of football players. It was,” said Jones.
While behind the mic, he appeared in numerous SEC and Big 10 Championship competitions, NCAA regional competitions and the 1992 Cross Country Championship.
“It was exciting to watch the pole vault, so I always felt a kinship with it. The two Olympic medalists, Tim Mack and Lawrence Johnson, were also special to me.
Jones received the Lifetime Achievement Award from UT Track and Field in 1995, received the Governor’s Award for his work at the Tennessee Sports Fest, and was named an Honorary Tennessee Letterman in 2005.
“It was a fun deal. I enjoyed every minute of it. I think,” Jones said.
Jones spent 25 years as an associate professor of physical education and sports administration before retiring. He has been the official scorer of Tennessee basketball since 2004.
Shariefa Barksdale – Athletics
Shariefa Barksdale, Lady Volunteers’ outstanding track star, was the first woman to break 55 seconds in the 400m hurdles. She also held the American record for that event. A 1984 Olympian, she finished ninth in the Games event.
Barksdale has represented Team USA around the world for over 15 years. She still competes as an athlete at the Masters and is Team USA’s coach, assistant manager and liaison. In 2008, 2012 and 2016 she was the assistant manager of the US Olympic team.
As much as her love of sports is, so is her love of outreach working with children. The high school track she competed in was named “Shariefa Her Barksdale Her Track”.
Vance Link – Community Contributor
Each spring, a new group of sluggers ages 7 and under go to the ballparks of Lakeshore Park and Sequoia Park to play baseball. For the past 40 years, the man on the pitcher’s mound has been the same, even as the kids have grown up and left and come back with their own children.Vans Rink began coaching Pee-wee in his league in 1978. rice field. He is one of the current Knox youth first commissioners in his sport, and even now in a season he has pitched over 80 games and has been one of the most successful players in his career, including baseball legend Todd. I’ve thrown hundreds of thousands of pitches. Helton and former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.
Randy Sanders – Coaching
Randy Sanders, who led East Tennessee State to its best season as head coach in history, will retire in 2021 and lead the Buccaneers to a 26-17 record. Prior to joining the Bucks, Sanders was one of his coaches during his most successful period at Florida State University.He was with one of two he won the ACC title, an undefeated season, and the 2013 BCS National Championship, where he won the Heisman Trophy. Earned.
The Morristown native worked as an offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky and was a quarterback coach before joining FSU. His playing days are rocky rooted at the top of his game, from 1984 until 1988 he played for the Vols before the Big He played Orange for his four he won the SEC Championship and he won the BCS National. He joined the coaching staff when he won the title.
Jimmy Hyams – Media
His voice is perhaps as familiar to East Tennessee sports fans as the athlete himself. WNML’s Sports Director Jimmy Hyams is the co-host of Sports Talk, Football Finals, SEC Notebook, Sunday Sports Sound-Off, and Sunday morning television.He is also a regular guest on the sports show The Sports Source. He has hosted golf talk shows for his 22 years, has been named Tennessee Sportswriter of the Year five times, and has won more than 50 of his writing awards statewide. He is the only person in Tennessee to win Sportswriter and Sportscaster of the Year.
Hyams began his media career at the age of 16 when he was appointed sports editor for his local newspaper, The Natchtosh Times. After achieving success as an athlete, he credits his older brother with teaching him about the sport, but after his father died in a car accident when Hyams was just one year old, his teacher’s salary paid off to the family. said that it was his mother who raised him. , how to be a good man.
Hyams has served on several Knoxville committees and was a member of the 2015 Leadership Knoxville Class.
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