| EMCC to honor 2009 Sports Hall of Fame inductees this homecoming weekend |
|
|
.jpg "Image") In what has become an annual tradition on the Scooba campus, members of EMCC’s 2009 Sports Hall of Fame class are scheduled to be recognized during pre-game activities of Saturday’s 2 p.m. homecoming football contest against Northeast Mississippi. EMCC’s 2009 Sports Hall of Fame inductees will be honored on the Scooba campus with a Friday night reception and banquet. The 10-member class is also scheduled to be recognized Saturday afternoon prior to the 10th-ranked Lions’ 2 p.m. homecoming football contest against Northeast Mississippi. The MACJC North Division gridiron battle will take place at EMCC’s Sullivan-Windham Field. The 2009 class of the EMCC Sports Hall of Fame consists of James “Cubby” Harris (Starkville), the late Larry “Rock” Cohen (Columbus), Stan Malone (Sturgis), Carter “Dikki” Dyson (Fort Campbell, Ky./Meridian), Dennis Morgan (Toomsuba), Charlene Stokes (Preston), Roy Simpson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.), Houston Harrison (Fort Walton Beach, Fla./Greenville, Ala.), Bobby Westmoreland (Celina, Tenn.), and Don Cunningham (Elizabethtown, Ky.). In addition, East Mississippi will also honor the school’s 2009 Alumna of the Year and Distinguished Service Award winner this weekend on the Scooba campus. For the first time ever, EMCC will bestow the school’s top homecoming honors on siblings – Alumna of the Year Ruby Briggs McCullough and Distinguished Service Award winner J.K. Briggs Jr. Sister and brother will be the guests of honor during a Saturday luncheon at EMCC’s Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. They are also slated to be recognized during halftime activities of Saturday afternoon’s EMCC-Northeast Mississippi football contest. For additional information on these upcoming events, please contact the EMCC Development Foundation Office at 662-476-5063 or visit the school’s website at www.eastms.edu. 2009 EMCC SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES LARRY “ROCK” COHEN (Columbus) – The late Larry “Rock” Cohen participated in football, baseball and track & field at East Mississippi during the 1959-60 and 1960-61 academic years. The Columbus native went on to enjoy a productive athletic career at Livingston State College (now the University of West Alabama), where he maintained his football and baseball prowess as an upperclassman. Having competed in semi-pro baseball for 15 years after graduation, Cohen later spent 36 years working for Deposit Guaranty National Bank and BankFirst Financial Services. DON CUNNINGHAM (Elizabethtown, Ky.) – A native Kentuckian, Don Cunningham was a two-year (1957-59) basketball letterman for head coach Keyes T. Currie at East Mississippi. After graduating from Southern Miss, he began a successful career as a high school coach and school administrator. Following prep stints at Bay Minette, Ala., Neshoba Central and Forest, Cunningham returned to the Scooba campus to serve as both the men’s and women’s basketball coach at EMJC for three seasons. During his three seasons with the Lady Lions, he earned Mississippi’s Junior College Coach of the Year honors in 1983-84 after guiding the women’s team to a 23-4 record and No. 6 regular-season national ranking. CARTER “DIKKI” DYSON (Fort Campbell, Ky./Meridian) – Following a standout prep career at Meridian High School, Carter “Dikki” Dyson went on to garner NJCAA Honorable Mention All-America laurels both seasons (1975-76) at East Mississippi under the guidance of head coaches Jackie Reese and Randall Bradberry. Dyson took his receiving talents to Arkansas State University, where he helped lead ASU to a pair of 7-4 seasons. He was teammates with fellow 2009 EMCC Sports Hall of Fame inductee James “Cubby” Harris on ASU’s 1978 Southland Conference championship team. Stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky., Dyson currently serves as a senior human resources non-commissioned officer in the United States Army. He is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in January. JAMES “CUBBY” HARRIS (Starkville) – With his own painting company thriving in Starkville, James “Cubby” Harris previously starred as a defensive back for head coach Randall Bradberry at East Mississippi during the 1976 and 1977 seasons. After earning NJCAA Honorable Mention All-America honors as a sophomore, Harris went on to become a two-year starter at defensive back at Arkansas State University. He was teammates with fellow 2009 EMCC Sports Hall of Fame inductee Carter “Dikki” Dyson on ASU’s Southland Conference championship team in 1978. In addition to having his own painting company in his hometown, Harris continues to serve as an active sponsor and coach for Starkville area youth in baseball, basketball and football. HOUSTON HARRISON (Fort Walton Beach, Fla./Greenville, Ala.) – A native of Greenville, Ala., Houston Harrison initially played fullback for EMJC head coach Marcus Mapp before enlisting in the United States Army with the 123rd Medical Collecting Company to serve in the Korean War. He returned to the Scooba campus after his Army stint to start as a center for Hall of Fame head coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan’s Lions in 1952. Following a collegiate career at Troy State College (now Troy University), Harrison settled in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., where he was employed with the Okaloosa County School District for 46 years until his retirement in 2000. STAN MALONE (Sturgis) – A former standout at Sturgis High School, Stan Malone starred at East Mississippi for head coaches Bob “Bull” Sullivan and A.J. Kilpatrick. After helping lead the Lions to a two-year composite record of 16-4, Malone signed a football scholarship to attend Delta State. Deciding instead to return to Sturgis to begin his career, Malone has worked the past 37 years as an engineering tech for the United States Department of Agriculture’s research services division. During his stint with the USDA, he has worked on the eradication of the boll weevil, disease and insect resistance of cotton and corn plants. He has also worked in the development of waste products of swine and poultry to serve as alternate plant fertilizer. DENNIS MORGAN (Toomsuba) – Presently serving as the vice chairman of EMCC’s Board of Trustees as well as chairman of the board’s sports advisory committee, Dennis Morgan’s association with East Mississippi spans back to his days (1954-56) as a starting guard for head coach Keyes T. Currie’s EMJC basketball teams. After earning his degree in horticulture and landscape design from Mississippi State, Morgan helped maintain his family’s prosperous bedding plant company. He continues to serve as the owner and president of the Morgan Plant Farm, LLC, in Toomsuba, which ranks as Mississippi’s largest grower of bedding plants and serves Mississippi and Alabama garden centers, landscape contractors and chain stores. ROY SIMPSON (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) – Following a standout career as a halfback for Tuscaloosa’s Holt High School, Roy Simpson starred as a fullback for legendary East Mississippi football coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan during the 1951 and 1952 campaigns. Simpson closed out his career in Scooba as a 1952 Wigwam All-American after averaging an amazing 22 yards per carry during an injury-shortened sophomore season. Though he was recruited to Florida State, he opted to remain in Tuscaloosa to begin a family. In 1987, Simpson retired as a lieutenant after serving 33 years with the Tuscaloosa Fire Department. CHARLENE STOKES (Preston) – Charlene Stokes averaged around 30 points per game as a team co-captain for head coach Keyes T. Currie’s EMJC women’s basketball team that claimed the Mississippi Valley Conference state championship in 1954-55. After women’s basketball was discontinued in the Mississippi junior college ranks following her freshman season, Stokes returned to Preston to begin a 20-year career working for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Stabilization Conservation Service. Having also worked part-time for nearly 20 years for a certified public accountant during tax season, she now spends her time attending to the family’s 80 acres of farmland in Preston. BOBBY WESTMORELAND (Celina, Tenn.) – Bobby Westmoreland ventured to Scooba from his native Celina, Tenn., to compete as a lineman on the gridiron and as a thrower on East Mississippi’s track & field squad. He continued his collegiate career as a three-year letterman at Western Kentucky University, where he was a part of Hilltopper teams that posted a composite record of 21-6-1, including an undefeated (10-0-1) season his senior year (1963). Following his football playing career, Westmoreland spent 13 years coaching in the high school ranks in Tennessee and Kentucky before becoming active in the development of apartment complexes, trailer parks and assisted-living facilities. |
|
| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 October 2009 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|