BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford Athletics Department officially inducted the 2023 class of the Samford Athletics Hall of Fame in ceremonies held on campus Saturday evening.
 
The 2023 class, the sixth in the Hall of Fame's history, consists of the 2005 women's soccer team, men's basketball's Steve Barker, softball's Megan Dowdy, baseball's Phillip Ervin and football's Jaquiski Tartt.
 
"I was really blessed and pleased," Barker said of hearing the news he had been selected for the Hall of Fame. "It was really a great day. Right then I called everyone I could think of and told them. That was a great day when (Athletics Director) Martin (Newton) called me."
 
The festivities started with a reception held in the Hall of Fame, which is located on the third floor of the Pete Hanna Center. All inductees and their invited guests were invited to the reception.
 
Dowdy said she felt blessed to be a part of this year's induction class.
 
"It's an honor," Dowdy said. "I've been thinking about my time at Samford and just how special it was. The other inductees in this class are incredible. It's just an honor to be here."
 
The crowd then moved to Cooney Hall in the Brock School of Business where the induction ceremony took place. The ceremony kicked off with Janet Cone receiving the John C. Pittman Lifetime Achievement Award. Cone started the women's basketball program at Samford and later served the school as an Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator. She has been the Athletics Director at UNC Asheville since 2004.
 
Following the Pittman Award presentation, the members of the class were inducted. An induction video was shown and the inductees in attendance gave a speech.
 
"I was grateful," Ervin said of being told he was selected for the Hall of Fame. "I was kind of shocked and just very happy. I went and told my wife, they're putting me into the Hall of Fame at Samford. It was cool, it was overwhelming, and it was just a great experience."
 
A short bio and induction video for each of the 2023 induction class members is below.
 
2005 WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2023
The 2005 Samford women's soccer team was the first Bulldog women's team to reach the NCAA Tournament. The team finished the season with a record of 15-4-4 overall and 7-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference, winning a third-straight OVC regular-season title. The Bulldogs then won their first OVC Tournament championship with a 1-0 win at Eastern Illinois in the championship contest. The win earned Samford the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs advanced on penalty kicks over the host and 19^th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores, before falling in the second round to 16^th-ranked Pepperdine. Head Coach Todd Yelton was named the OVC's Coach of the Year, while Rebecca Bohler earned OVC Player of the Year honors. Five members of the team were named either first or second team All-OVC.


 
STEVE BARKER
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2023
Steve Barker played basketball at Samford from 1978 to 1982. He left school as the program's all-time leading scorer and still ranks second on that list with 1,902 points in his impressive career. He is one of just 14 players in school history to score 500 points in a single season, tallying 584 points in his senior campaign, averaging 22.5 points per game. He led the team in scoring all four years he played at Samford, scoring 422 points as a freshman, 413 as a sophomore and 483 as a junior. Barker still holds the school single-game records for free throws made (21) and free throws attempted (24). He also holds the program record for consecutive free throws made at 42 during the 1979-80 season.


 
MEGAN DOWDY
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2023
Megan Dowdy was a standout center fielder for the Samford softball team from 2013 to 2016. She led the team in hitting in three of her four seasons and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year after leading the Bulldogs to the program's first SoCon regular season title in 2016. That season, the team also won the SoCon Tournament and reached the program's first NCAA Tournament. Dowdy's .437 batting average in 2015 and her 24 doubles in 2016 are both still school single-season records. She still holds the career record for doubles with 48, and her .363 career average was a school record at the end of her career and currently ranks second in school history. After graduating, she went into coaching, spending three seasons as an assistant at Samford, one at Mercer and two seasons as the head coach at Asbury University.


 
PHILLIP ERVIN
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2023
Phillip Ervin was a standout on the Samford baseball team from 2011 to 2013. He helped lead the 2012 team to the program's first-ever Southern Conference Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. He was named second team All-SoCon in 2011 and first team in both 2012 and 2013. He is currently tied for eighth in school history with a .344 career batting average. His 2012 total of 85 hits is tied for fourth in program history for single-season hits. His 18 doubles that same season are tied for seventh in school history. In 2013, Ervin became Samford's first first-round Major League Baseball Draft pick, being taken by the Cincinnati Reds with the 27^th pick. Ervin played at the Major League level with the Reds from 2017 to 2020, and with the Seattle Mariners in 2020.


 
JAQUISKI TARTT
INDUCTEE CLASS OF 2023
Jaquiski Tartt starred on the football team at Samford from 2011 to 2014. He was a three-time Associated Press All-American and a three-time first team All-SoCon honoree. Tartt finished his career with 277 tackles and six interceptions. In 2012, he led the team with 94 tackles and four interceptions. He helped lead the 2013 team to a share of the Southern Conference championship and a bid to the NCAA Division I-FCS Playoffs. Tartt became the highest NFL Draft pick in program history in 2015 when the San Francisco 49ers took him in the second round with the 46^th overall pick. Tartt played for the 49ers from 2015 to 2021, starting 64 of the 80 games he played in. He tallied 367 total tackles, including 265 solo stops. He intercepted four passes and defended 18 in his seven-year stint with the 49ers.



JOHN C. PITTMAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER--JANET CONE