By: Joey Mullins
Samford Athletics Communication
 
Prior to this week's homecoming game versus Wofford, Samford University will honor the 2019 class of the Samford University Athletics Hall of Fame.
             
The Samford Athletics Hall of Fame, which is housed on the third floor of the Pete Hanna Center, officially opened in 2017, but the project was a priority for Director of Athletics Martin Newton when he was hired in April of 2011.
             
"This means a lot to me personally, because this is something, since I got here in 2011 that has been near and dear to my heart," Newton said at the dedication of the Hall of Fame in April of 2017. "What the Hall of Fame allows us to do is to honor and show respect to those in the past. Those that came before us that laid the foundation for our current success."
             
The newest Samford Athletics Hall of Fame class includes an impressive group of former student-athletes and coaches.
             
"We're very excited about this class, as we were with the other two classes," Newton said in a recent interview. "There are a lot of special people that are going into this class as well. I think one of the things that is really important is to respect the past, but represent the future,"
             
The 1971 Samford University football team will become just the second team to be inducted. The squad posted a 9-1 record, tying for the second most wins in school history. The team won the NCAA College Division II West Region Championship with a 20-10 victory over Ohio Wesleyan Nov. 25 at Phenix Municipal Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama. 
 
Cameron Bean was a standout on the Samford cross-country and track and field teams from the fall of 2005 to the spring of 2011. He won a Southern Conference championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs. He was named the 2010 Southern Conference Most Outstanding Indoor Track Performer. Bean passed away on Monday, Sept. 21, 2015 from injuries he received when he was hit by a car while out for a run on Saturday, September 19, 2015. 
             
John Brady was the head men's basketball coach at Samford from the 1991-92 season through the 1996-97 season. While coaching at Samford, he led the program to back-to-back Trans America Athletic Conference West Division titles in 1996 and 1997. He left Samford to become the head coach at LSU in 1997, leading the Tigers to the Final Four in 2006.
             
Gary Fleming was a four-year letter-winner on the Samford football team. He was named a Little All-American and the Most Valuable Defensive Player in 1968. In 1969 he graduated from Samford and was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the seventh round of the NFL Draft. After his playing career was over, Fleming went into coaching, winning five state basketball championships and one state football title, coaching at Abbeville High School, Montevallo High School and Briarwood Christian.
             
Jimmy Harrison played basketball at Howard College during the mid-1950s. He holds the school record for most points scored in a single game with 48 against Chattanooga on January 6, 1956. After graduating from Samford, Harrison grew Harco Drugs into a chain of more than 150 stores before the company merged with Rite Aid in 1997.
             
Emily London played basketball at Samford from 2007 through 2011. She rewrote the record books for the women's basketball program during her four-year career. London helped lead the program to its first Southern Conference Tournament title in 2011, and its first two national postseason tournament appearances, going to the WNIT in 2010 and the NCAA Tournament in 2011.
             
The group will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday, April 13, in the Pete Hanna Center. Newton said he looks forward to inducting this newest class.
             
"It's just an exciting class," Newton said. "It's an exciting time to get everybody back together and to see how much they reflect on how much Samford meant to them, not just from an athletic standpoint, but from a university standpoint as well. The friendships, the relationships, and then the success they've gone on to have in their lives, so it's really a special weekend."
             
Each of the first three classes to be inducted into the Hall of Fame have been impressive groups. The inaugural class included basketball coach and student-athlete Walter Barnes, track and field/cross-country standout Lauren Blankenship, legendary football coach Bobby Bowden, football player and coach Wally Burnham, football All-American and NFL veteran Cortland Finnegan and NCAA Division II national champion men's tennis player Charlie Owens.
             
"I'm so grateful for Samford University," Finnegan said in his induction speech. "Because you believed in me, nurtured me and you grew me up as a man."
             
Bowden, who after leaving Samford went on to a legendary coaching career at Florida State University, said he was proud that it all started at Samford (then Howard College).
             
"I wouldn't swap it (being at Samford) for anything," Bowden said at the induction reception. "I've coached at West Virginia University, I've coached at Florida State University, and I've coached against every university in the country, and I wouldn't swap my experience at Samford for any of them."
             
Blankenship said it was a tremendous honor for her alma mater to recognize her in this way.
             
"Whoever nominated me, or really pushed the button for me to get here, really thought hard about that," Blankenship said. "So, I feel really honored to be in this group."
             
The second class, inducted in 2018 included the 1998-99 men's basketball team that won the TAAC Tournament title and reached the NCAA Tournament, football player and coach Billy Bancroft, basketball standout Craig Beard, former football player and coach Jimbo Fisher, baseball standout Michael Marseco and soccer star Alyssa Whitehead.
             
"Samford has meant so much to me," Fisher said. "I don't know if there is a university that can touch kids and students the way Samford University does, when you talk about the spiritual aspect, the personal aspect, the academic aspect and the athletic aspect. One of the best choices I ever made was transferring to Samford."