| East Mississippi CC to honor 2011 Sports Hall of Fame inductees during homecoming weekend |
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SCOOBA – As part of East Mississippi Community College’s homecoming festivities this weekend (Oct. 21-22) in Scooba, 11 new members will be officially inducted into the school’s Sports Hall of Fame.
EMCC’s 2011 Sports Hall of Fame inductees will be honored on the Scooba campus with a Friday night reception and banquet. The 11-member class is also scheduled to be recognized Saturday afternoon at midfield prior to the Lions’ 2 p.m. homecoming football contest against Mississippi Delta CC. Saturday’s MACJC North Division gridiron battle will take place at EMCC’s New Sullivan-Windham Field. The 2011 class of the EMCC Sports Hall of Fame consists of: Jay Boland (Lake City, Fla./Enterprise, Ala.); Terry Brown (Columbus); Don Canada (Orlando, Fla./Marked Tree, Ark.); Gary Gibson (Collinsville); Jimmy Kelly (Foley, Ala.); Jimmy Kibe (Columbus); Charlie Morgan (Starkville); Bill Pearson (Gainesville, Mo./Columbus); Charlie Studdard (Columbus); Lyle Underwood (Elberta, Ala.); and the late Billy Westmoreland (Celina, Tenn.). In addition, East Mississippi Community College will also honor the school’s 2011 Alumnus of the Year recipient (Langston Rogers) and Distinguished Service Award winner (Rick Garner) this weekend in Scooba. The public is invited to attend a Saturday luncheon (11:30 a.m.) honoring Rogers and Garner at EMCC’s Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus. The award recipients are also slated to be recognized during halftime activities of Saturday afternoon’s EMCC-MDCC homecoming football contest. For additional information on these upcoming homecoming events on the Scooba campus, please contact the EMCC Development Foundation Office at 662-476-5063 or visit the school’s website at www.eastms.edu. 2011 EAST MISSISSIPPI COMMUNITY COLLEGE SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES JAY BOLAND (Lake City, FL; Enterprise, AL) – Native Alabaman Jay Boland was an All-State basketball player at Kinston (Ala.) High School before maintaining that same hardwood success playing for Hall of Fame basketball coach Keyes T. Currie at East Mississippi Junior College during the 1959-60 and 1960-61 seasons. Boland led the Lions in scoring both seasons as a two-time All-State performer, capping his EMJC career by earning All-American honors as a sophomore. Following a successful two-year playing stint at Delta State University, Boland divided seven years of teaching and coaching between Drew High School and R.H. Watkins High School. After operating his own home construction and real estate business for 17 years and working in the automobile dealership business, Boland has been a commercial loan broker since 2004 as owner of Boland Brokerage & Consulting Firm. TERRY BROWN (Columbus) – Currently representing District 17-Lowndes County in the Mississippi State Senate, Terry Brown began his influential career by playing collegiate football at East Mississippi Junior College. After graduating from New Hope High School in 1968, Brown was recruited to Scooba by legendary Hall of Fame football coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan. Playing primarily offensive center and defensive tackle at EMJC, Brown helped lead the Lions to a two-year composite record of 16-3 before serving a six-year military stint in the United States Army. Having previously served in Mississippi’s House of Representatives from 1988 until 2000, Brown has been a member of the Mississippi State Senate since 2004. In addition, he has served as a member of the American Legislative Greeting Committee since 1988 as well as being on the executive committee of the Lowndes County Republican Party since 1990. DON CANADA (Orlando, FL; Marked Tree, AR) – A two-sport standout (football and basketball) at Marked Tree High School in Arkansas, Don Canada was recruited to East Mississippi Junior College by Hall of Fame football coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan. Following two injury-filled seasons in Scooba, Canada joined the United States Navy as an aviation cadet in 1955 to begin an illustrious 30-year military career. Captain Canada retired from the Navy in 1985 following his three-year stint as the Inspector General of the Navy Recruiting Command. Among the highlights of his decorated three decades of loyal service to our country include receiving the Vietnam Service Medal and Air Medal in 1965, Navy Achievement Medal in 1967, Meritorious Service Medal in 1973, and the Legion of Merit honor awarded in 1982 and 1985. Upon settling in Orlando, Fla., following his retirement from the Navy, Canada spent 10 years as a real estate broker/investor before permanently retiring in 1994. GARY GIBSON (Collinsville) – Collinsville native and two-sport standout Gary Gibson was a two-year starter in basketball and baseball at East Mississippi Junior College. He played forward on the hardwood for EMJC basketball coach Keyes T. Currie and also started two years as a centerfielder for baseball coach Roy Knapp’s Lions in Scooba. Following college and two years of military service in the United States Army, Gibson returned home to Collinsville, where he started his dedicated 40-year career at the Meridian-based Flintkote Company. He stayed with the company through buyouts by Owens Corning, Apache Incorporated and Celotex Corporation, concluding his career as a quality control lab technician at Celotex. Gibson was named Collinsville’s ‘Man of the Year’ in 2001 for his outstanding community service efforts, including his membership in the Collinsville Community Club and the Collinsville Lions Club. JIMMY KELLY (Foley, AL) – A three-sport letterman at Leroy (Ala.) High School, Jimmy Kelly participated in football and baseball at the University of Alabama as a freshman during the 1954-55 academic year prior to transferring to East Mississippi Junior College for his sophomore year. After playing quarterback for head coach Roy Knapp in the fall and starring for the Lions’ baseball team in the spring, Kelly went on to become a three-sport letterman at Livingston State College (now the University of West Alabama). Following his collegiate playing days, Kelly taught and coached basketball, football and baseball at Foley High School for six years. Upon earning his master’s degree from Alabama, Kelly moved to Florida and entered his administrative career in education at Crestview High School and later at West Florida High School. The 1989 Foley High School Athletic Hall of Fame inductee retired in 1996 following 38 years in the education ranks within the states of Alabama and Florida. JIMMY KIBE (Columbus) – A native of Columbus, Jimmy Kibe was a three-year football letterman as a two-way starter at fullback and linebacker for Columbus Lee High School. He then attended East Mississippi Junior College and played fullback for Hall of Fame football coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan, helping lead the Lions to a two-year composite record of 18-4-1 with back-to-back state runner-up finishes during the 1962 and 1963 seasons. In addition to working nearly 39 years for Omnova Solutions, a major technology-based manufacturer, at their Columbus facility, Kibe also served his county and community as a volunteer fireman for nearly 19 years in the Lowndes County District 3 Volunteer Fire Department. He was named the 1981 District 3 Volunteer Fireman of the Year and the Lowndes County Volunteer Fireman of the Year in 1982. Kibe currently serves as a member of the EMCC Development Foundation’s Sullivan Committee. CHARLIE MORGAN (Starkville) – Charlie Morgan was a three-year starter on the gridiron at Sturgis High School before continuing his athletic career playing for football coach Bill Buckner at East Mississippi Junior College in 1971 and 1972. The versatile performer played on both sides of the football, in addition to handling placekicking duties, during his high school and junior college playing days. Though earning a football scholarship to attend Delta State University, Morgan opted to continue his education at Mississippi State after a second knee injury ended his football playing career. Shortly thereafter, Morgan started up Morgan Construction and later began Morgan Rental Properties. The family owned and operated business, specializing in the buying and selling of residential and commercial properties as well as home construction and rental properties, continues to serve Starkville and the surrounding Golden Triangle area. Many of Morgan’s siblings, including his brothers Robert, Sam and Kenny, attended and participated in athletics at East Mississippi. BILL PEARSON (Gainesville, MO/Columbus) – A native of the Golden Triangle area, Bill Pearson played his senior season of high school football at Kemper County Agricultural High School. He stayed in Scooba and starred for legendary football coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan at East Mississippi Junior College. As a sophomore tight end, Pearson helped lead the Lions to a postseason bowl appearance along with participating in the 1961 East-West All-American Game in Albuquerque, N.M. As a third generation breeder of Appaloosa horses, Pearson has been actively involved working with horses his entire life. After working for Fidelity Union Life Insurance and Prudential, Pearson settled in the Ozark Mountain community of Gainesville, Mo. He presently serves as owner and CEO of Two Crows, LLC, an agency representing world champion bullfighters. Pearson also recently formed Pro-Rodeo Team Oklahoma, a non-profit corporation comprised of current Oklahoma members of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. CHARLIE STUDDARD (Columbus) – Following a standout athletic career in football and baseball at Columbus’ New Hope High School, Charlie Studdard helped lead East Mississippi Junior College to a two-year composite mark of 16-3 on the gridiron. As a sophomore, Studdard earned All-State North Division First Team honors as a wide receiver in 1969 and then went on to collect All-State baseball accolades during the spring semester. Off the playing field, Studdard was voted Mr. EMJC in 1970 and served as vice president of the sophomore class. With a degree in political science from Mississippi State, Studdard continues to serve as the general manager/partner at Electric Motor Sales & Service, a Columbus-based company that specializes in 24-hour, full-service electric motor repair and service. He currently serves as president of the EMCC Development Foundation’s Board of Directors and is a past president of the EMCC Alumni Association. LYLE UNDERWOOD (Elberta, AL) – Following graduation from Foley (Ala.) High School, Lyle Underwood served four years in the United States Navy before enrolling at East Mississippi Junior College. Earning All-State First Team honors as a sophomore center for Hall of Fame football coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan’s 1957 Lions squad, Underwood completed his collegiate playing career at Florence State College (now the University of North Alabama). After beginning his coaching career at the high school level in Alabama, Underwood returned to the Scooba campus as Coach Sullivan’s assistant football coach for two years, in addition to his duties as EMJC’s assistant dean of men. Underwood’s football coaching career later prospered during a successful 14-year stint as athletic director and head football coach at Baldwin County High School in Bay Minette, Ala. He most recently gained induction into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame. BILLY WESTMORELAND (Celina, TN) – The late Billy Westmoreland was noted throughout the country as one of the greatest bass fishermen of all-time. The brother of Bobby Westmoreland, a 2009 EMCC Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Westmoreland joined his brother on the Scooba campus in 1960. Though an injury curtailed his football playing career, he was invited by legendary Lions football coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan to remain on scholarship as a football manager at EMJC. Following his college days, Westmoreland turned his full attention to his childhood passion of bass fishing. The Celina, Tenn., native went on to qualify for six consecutive Bassmaster Classics and won three national tournament titles during his career competing on the B.A.S.S. circuit. He also popularized the sport of bass fishing by co-authoring fishing books and starring in his own television program. Westmoreland died in 2002 at the age of 65, and he later became the first person to be posthumously inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2004. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 17 October 2011 ) |
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