Athletics
Texas Tech Hall of Honor Inductees Announced
Eight former Red Raider athletes representing seven sports are slated for induction into the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor during the Texas Tech-Texas A&M weekend Nov. 4-5.
Volleyball athlete Becky (Boxwell) McIlraith, swimmer Robert Graham, football players James Hadnot and Lloyd Hill, basketball player Leon �Podd� Hill, baseball player Mike Humphreys, women�s basketball player Noel Johnson and the late Charles Reynolds, a dual-sport track and football athlete, comprise the class.
This year marks the first year that the Double T Association, the athletic letter-winners organization at Texas Tech, is handling the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor voting and induction ceremony. An organization for all varsity letter-winners, the DTA�s current membership will participate in future Hall of Honor nominations and voting. The DTA web site is www.doubletassociation.org.
The Hall of Honor Banquet will be held Friday, Nov. 4, at 6:30 p.m. in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Banquet Hall. The eight athletes will be officially recognized at 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 771-4000 for tickets.
McIlraith, an Amarillo native, left Tech the most decorated volleyball player in school history. She was named to three All-Southwest Conference teams from 1984 to 1987, and in her senior campaign she became the school�s first all-region player. Her name was reflected in the school�s record books with match, season and career records for kills. Her match and career totals topped the Red Raider digs lists, as well.
A 1989 graduate of Texas Tech, she taught English and coached high school volleyball in Fort Worth and Amarillo before assuming her current position as program director of communications for the Amarillo Independent School District.
Graham joins Coach Jim McNally and diver Jesse Marsh as the only members of the Hall of Honor from the erstwhile Red Raider swimming and diving program. A two-time Southwest Conference champion in the 50-Yard Freestyle, he was All-American in both 1966 and 1967. A 1967 graduate of Texas Tech, he served as an officer in the Naval Reserve in Vietnam and in the Pacific. He has recently sold his private tax and consulting business and resides in Fort Worth.
Hadnot moved from tight end to running back before his junior year, and in just two years he re-wrote the Texas Tech rushing record by posting the top two season rushing totals in school history. He was named second team All-American in 1978, and he was twice named the Offensive Player of the Year in the Southwest Conference.
Following his senior season, the Hula Bowl and Senior Bowl hosted Hadnot, and the Kansas City Chiefs tabbed him with their fourth-round pick in the 1980 draft. His four-year NFL career was followed by a single season with the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL. He lives in Lubbock and works at Consolidated Gin.
Leon �Podd� Hill led the Red Raider basketball team in scoring for three years, from 1957 to 1959. His three-year total of 1,058 points was good for third on the school career points list at the time of his graduation. Twice named All-Southwest Conference, he also led the team in rebounding his senior year. Hill, a 1959 graduate of Texas Tech, is retired and lives in Massachusetts.
Lloyd Hill came to Tech from Odessa as one of the most touted recruits in school history. His junior season in 1992 was his best as he was named All-American, led the NCAA in receptions and set school receiving records for receptions, yards and touchdowns in a season.
Twice named All-Southwest Conference, his career totals also topped the school receptions, yards and touchdowns lists. Drafted by the Chicago Bears, he played two years in the Canadian Football League and five years in Arena Football before retiring in 1999. A 1997 graduate of Texas Tech, he resides in Grand Prairie and works as a senior claims adjuster for Farmers Insurance.
Humphreys excelled on the diamond from day one, becoming the first Red Raider ever to hit for the cycle in only the 8th game of his freshman year. Named Freshman of the Year in the Southwest Conference, he was also a Freshman All-American in 1986. He was all conference in 1987 and 1988, and his name topped the Red Raider career lists for home runs, hits, RBI and runs scored.
The San Diego Padres drafted him following the 1988 season. Following a minor league trade to the New York Yankees in 1990, he became the third big leaguer in Texas Tech history. A shoulder injury forced his retirement in 1995. He now works in the DFW metroplex as an independent sales representative for Jostens.
Johnson was a sophomore on the 1993 national champion Lady Raider basketball team. She averaged 8.9 points per game, while starting all 32 games. A two-time all-conference performer, she was voted to the all-time Lady Raider team at the final Southwest Conference post-season tournament.
Upon graduation in 1995, she was not only the most prolific 3-point shooter in school history, but also in Southwest Conference history. She was the first-ever recipient of the Jeannine McHaney Award, an honor given by Texas Tech to the female athlete who most displayed classroom excellence, courage on the field and a commitment to excellence. Johnson is now an assistant basketball coach at Texas State University.
Charles Reynolds, the lone deceased member of the 2005 induction class, won six Border Championships in track in the late 1940s. A veteran of World War II, he attended Texas Tech on the GI Bill and quickly excelled in the sprints, winning the 100-yard dash conference championship from 1946 to 1948. His junior year he added a 200-yard dash title, and he medaled twice on conference champion relay teams.
Reynolds also played football, and he is remembered as an exciting kickoff returner. His talents were recognized when the Los Angeles Rams drafted him in the 1949 NFL draft. He opted to begin his engineering career, with his first project being the Rice University football stadium. Reynolds passed away in Louisiana in 2003 and left behind his wife, June, and four daughters.
The eight will bring the number to 128 people who have been inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor since its inception in 1961.