BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford Athletics Department announced the members of its 2024 Athletics Hall of Fame class Friday morning.
 
The 2024 class, the seventh in the Hall of Fame's history, consists of the 2012 baseball team, Devlin Hodges from football, Karisa Nelson from track and field and cross-country, Reed Rawlings from men's basketball, John Russell from baseball and Jimmy Tillette from men's basketball.
 
"We are excited to announce our seventh class of the Samford Athletics Hall of Fame," Director of Athletics Martin Newton said. "This is always an exciting time because we are honoring people and teams who have done so much for Samford University and Samford Athletics. This class includes our first baseball team to reach an NCAA Tournament, a football national player of the year, our only Division I national champion, two men who were instrumental in back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for basketball and one of the top baseball pitchers in program history. We hope you will join us in congratulating this special group."
 
The members of the 2024 Hall of Fame class will be officially inducted at a ceremony on May 4, 2024.
 
The Samford Athletics Hall of Fame opened in 2017. That first six classes consisted of some impressive names, including Bobby Bowden, Cortland Finnegan, Jimbo Fisher, John Brady, Pat Sullivan and Jaquiski Tartt.
 
In addition to the Hall of Fame inductees, Monty Hogewood was named the John C. Pittman Lifetime Achievement award winner. Hogewood spent 25 years working at Samford. He first worked in alumni relations before moving into development, where he spent most of his career. During his time at Samford, Hogewood was one of the biggest supporters of all of Samford's 17 athletic teams.
 
A short bio on each of the 2024 induction class members is below.
 
2012 BASEBALL TEAM
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2024
The 2012 Samford baseball team set a school record for wins with 41, won the program's first Southern Conference Tournament championship and earned Samford's first NCAA Baseball Tournament bid. During the regular season, the team defeated third-ranked Florida, 12-7, which is the highest-ranked team to fall to Samford in program history. In the SoCon Tournament, the Bulldogs earned a dramatic, 9-6, 10-inning win over Georgia Southern to win the title. The team was sent to Tallahassee, Fla., as a No. 3 seed for its NCAA Regional, where the Bulldogs took down SEC Tournament champion and 17^th-ranked Mississippi State, 5-0. After a loss to host and third-ranked Florida State, Samford eliminated Mississippi State, 3-2, to reach the finals of the Regional. Following the season, a program-record seven players from the team were selected in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft.    
 
DEVLIN HODGES
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2024
Devlin Hodges left Samford as the most decorated football player in program history. He was a three-time Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year, three-time All-American and he won the 2018 Walter Payton Award, which goes to the top offensive player in the nation at the FCS level. Hodges set school records for single season passing yards in 2016 and again in 2018. During his senior season, he led the nation in passing yards per game (389.4), total passing yards (4,283) and total offense per game (417.8). For his career, Hodges became the all-time leader in career passing yards in FCS history. His 14,584 career passing yards broke the old FCS national record of 14,496, set by Steve McNair of Alcorn State. Following his Samford career, Hodges was a member of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019 and 2020, starting six games. He also spent time with the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL and the Ottawa Redblacks of the CFL.
 
KARISA NELSON
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2024
Karisa Nelson became Samford's first NCAA Division I national champion when she won the title in the indoor mile in 2017. She won the championship with a school-record time of 4:31.24. In the spring of 2018, she finished third in the nation in the outdoor 1,500 meters, earning first team All-America honors. As a senior in 2019, she competed again in the indoor mile at the NCAA Championships, placing second in the nation, narrowly missing a second national title, and earning another first team All-America nod. Nelson holds school indoor records in the 800-meter run, the mile run and the 3,000-meter run. She also holds outdoor school marks in the 800-meter run, 1,500-meter run and the mile run. Additionally, Nelson holds the Southern Conference Championships record in the indoor mile run and the outdoor 1,500-meter run. After leaving Samford, Nelson has run professionally for Brooks and later for Atalanta NYC.    
 
REED RAWLINGS
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2024
Reed Rawlings played basketball at Samford from 1996 to 2000. He helped lead the program to a pair of Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) championships and NCAA Tournament bids. He currently ranks ninth in school history in career scoring with 1,493 points in his Samford career. Rawlings scored 496 points in his junior season in 1998-99, the sixth-highest single-season total in school history. Following that season, he was named first team All-TAAC and he was honored as the TAAC Player of the Year after leading the team to the program's first TAAC title and NCAA Tournament bid. He then tallied 466 points in his senior campaign, the 13th-highest mark in school history, and the team reached a second-straight NCAA Tournament. In the 2000 TAAC Tournament championship game, Rawlings led the team with 21 points.
 
JOHN RUSSELL
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2024
John Russell, a 2008 inductee in the Samford Baseball Hall of Fame, played baseball for the Bulldogs from 1958 to 1961. He set a school record for wins in a season, posting a 12-2 record as a senior in 1961. As a sophomore in 1959, he helped lead the team to a 17-4 record. For his Samford career, Russell won 25 games, posting a record of 25-8, and he finished with a career ERA of 1.90. After finishing at Samford, Russell signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 1961. He played three seasons in the Dodgers' minor league system, starting with their team in the Florida State League. In all the years since he finished at Samford, Russell has been a consistent supporter of the Samford baseball program.
 
JIMMY TILLETTE
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2024
Jimmy Tillette was the head men's basketball coach at Samford from 1997 to 2012. He led the program to back-to-back Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) Tournament titles and NCAA Tournament bids in 1999 and 2000. In his years in charge of the Samford program, Tillette won a school-record 229 games. His 1998-99 team won a school-record 24 games, going 24-6, winning the TAAC regular season and TAAC Tournament titles and earning the program's first NCAA Tournament bid. For his efforts, Tillette was named the 1999 TAAC Coach of the Year. The following season, the team went 21-11, winning the TAAC Tournament and reaching the NCAA Tournament for a second-straight year. The 1999-2000 team also claimed impressive wins over Alabama and St. John's. Tillette's 2005-06 team posted a record of 20-11, reaching the finals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
 
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