Topic: HERDZONE: Marshall Athletics Announces 2014 Hall of Fame Class

[biggreenarms]

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- The Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame Committee has announced the 2014 induction class for the Hall of Fame.

"This class represents some of the finest student-athletes in school history," Marshall Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick said. "The contributions of these fine men and women are truly appreciated by everyone in the Marshall Athletics family."

This year's class (alphabetical order by last names):

Tyrone Collins -- Men's Basketball, 1970-73

David Coyle -- Wrestling, 1977-79

Sierra Davenport -- Softball, 2001-04

Albie DeYoung –- Baseball, 1975-78

Lindsay Jayjack -- Soccer, 1999-2002

Darius Watts -- Football, 2000-03

The annual Hall of Fame dinner is scheduled Friday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m., in the Don Morris Room of the Marshall University Memorial Student Center.

Tickets are $30 each and are available through the Marshall University Ticket Office (in the lobby of the Cam Henderson Center on Third Avenue), at HerdZone.com or by calling 1-800-THE-HERD.

The HOF members will be guests of the Marshall M Club at the club's tailgate at the southwest corner of Joan C. Edwards Stadium, prior the Thundering Herd's Sept. 13 football game versus Ohio. The class will be introduced to the stadium crowd in a pregame ceremony before a noon kickoff.

Tickets to the game also are available through the MU ticket office at the numbers or website listed above for banquet tickets.

The biographies on honorees in the Class of 2014, in alphabetical order:

Tyrone “Ty” Collins, Basketball (1970-73)

Collins, from Paterson, N.J., was a 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard who wore No. 24 and played for the Thundering Herd 1971-72 team that went 23-4 advanced to the NCAA Tournament and reached the No. 8 ranking in the country, and the 20-7 NIT team of 1972-73. Collins is the all-time Marshall record holder for field goal percentage (.587) in a career. His amazing 73 percent shooting in the 1972-73 season (163-of-222) also is the Marshall record for a single season. In 1970-71, Collins was sixth in scoring and averaged 7.1 points per game, but was second in shooting at 50.3 percent (72-of-143). In 1971-72 for the 23-4 Herd, Collins was fourth on the team in scoring with 15.1 points per game. He was the top shooter on the squad, shooting 53 percent from the floor (184-of-349) and was fourth in rebounding with 102 (3.8 per game) for a Herd team that fell in overtime in the NCAA Tournament to Southwestern Louisiana, 112-101. That team finished No. 12 in the final polls, and had a double-overtime upset of No. 8 St. John’s, 110-107. Marshall topped 100 points or more in 10 of 27 games, and scored in the 90s in seven more contests. As a senior, Collins helped the Herd to a 20-7 mark and trip to Madison Square Garden, where the Herd fell to Fairfield, 80-76. Collins died tragically in a swimming accident in September 1996. He graduated from Marshall University in 1974, and returned to his old old high school, Kennedy, to coach and teach after graduation.

David Coyle, Wrestling (1977-79)

Coyle, of Sayreville, N.J., was of two Coyle twin brothers (with Dan) to wrestle at Marshall. David was the 1979 Southern Conference champion at 167 pounds as senior, beating Appalachian State’s John Biller 7-6 and earning trip to the NCAA Tournament -- just the fourth wrestler at Marshall to earn a trip to the NCAAs. Coyle won more than 80 percent of his matches, was captain and team MVP as senior and was the SoCon runner-up at 177 pounds as a junior in 1978. Coyle helped the Herd to a third-place finish in the 1978 SoCon Tournament, then to fourth place in 1979. Coyle was 11-3-1 for the 1978-79 Marshall team, and then was 13-2 at 177 pounds in 1977-78.

Sierra Davenport, Softball (2001-04)

The Mid-American Conference Player of the Year in 2004, Davenport, of Tucson, Ariz., finished No. 1 all-time at MU with 131 stolen bases in her career.  She was also third all-time in batting average with a career .354 average, and No. 2 all-time with 238 hits. Davenport was second in runs scored (133), third in at-bats with 671 and fifth in total bases with 245. Her 40 stolen bases in 2003 was No. 1 in a single season until 2014, when Morgan Zerkle swiped a record 48. Davenport was also fourth (26, 2002) and fifth (23, 2001) in single-season steals. Her 71 hits in 2001 were third-best and 46 runs scored in 2003 were tied for fourth. She was All-MAC first team in 2001 and 2004, as a utility player then first baseman, and was second team in 2003.

Albert "Albie" DeYoung (Baseball, 1975-78)

DeYoung, Paterson, N.J., had only one good (right) eye due to a childhood accident, but he was possibly the best pitcher in Herd history. He led Marshall to its second NCAA Tournament berth, first NCAA win and the Herd's first Southern Conference title in baseball in 1978. It was the first baseball title for Marshall since winning the Buckeye Conference for the third straight year in 1935. The Herd missed playing in the College World Series by just one win in a 27-13 season that saw the Herd, ranked as high as No. 14, to a 17th-overall finish nationally. The team’s 25th win of the year, at Morehead State, set a new Marshall record for wins, and its 27 wins is a mark only tied twice and only topped once since then. In the NCAA Atlantic Regional Baseball Tournament in 1978, DeYoung "mystified" (according to the Miami Herald) No. 15-ranked Florida State with a 4-0 opening game win for the Herd, allowing the Seminoles only four hits. After the Herd beat Clemson, then lost to the host Hurricanes in the double elimination first game, Marshall fell again to Miami, which beat DeYoung and the Herd, 5-1, to keep the Herd from a CWS trip. DeYoung finished his career with 19 wins (against just 11 losses), still tied for tops in Marshall history with Grant Harper. DeYoung also ranks fifth in earned run average (2.67), seventh in innings pitched (229) eighth in in strikeouts (196) and tied for 12th in games started (30). He was 3-1 as a freshman in 1975, posting a 4.98 ERA at Bill Mire Field at the Veterans Memorial Field House, allowing just 12 earned runs on 25 hits with 18 Ks and nine walks in 21.3 innings pitched at the oddly-shaped stadium, as the Herd finished 24-10. He also scored his only run, as a pinch-runner. In 1976, he was second on the team in wins (behind HOF member Greg Kappas) with a 4-1 mark and 1.53 ERA. In 1977, DeYoung again was second in wins (four), starting 11 games with 6 complete games and 82 1/3 innings. He posted a 3.28 ERA. In 1978, DeYoung pitched in 16 games, starting 13 and having 10 complete games. In 90 innings, he went 8-3 with a sterling 2.00 ERA with 60 strikeouts. He had one shutout and two saves and earned an 8-3 mark.

Lindsay Jayjack, Soccer (1999-2002)

Jayjack, of Dublin, Ohio, finished her career second in goals scored for the Herd with 18 and No. 1 in points for the Herd women’s soccer program that started in 1998. She was second all-time with five career game-winning goals and No. 1 in career assists with 25. She was second all-time with 74 appearances, starting every contest. Her best game was against Morehead State in 2001, when she scored three goals, and she had two games with a season-best four assists in a game. Jayjack’s seven assists in 2002 ranks No. 2 in a single season. She was an All-Mid-American Conference second team selection in 2002 and won the Cam Henderson Scholar-Athlete of the year in 2000. She won the MAC Commissioner’s Academic Award in 2000 and 2001 and made the Verizon All-District team in 2002 as well as MAC All-Academic team as a senior. She was also a co-captain in both 2001, when the team had its first winning season at 11-7-1, and again captain in 2002.

Darius Watts, Football (2000-03)

Watts, from of College Park, Ga., is second all-time at Marshall in receptions (272), touchdowns receiptions (47) and receiving yards (4,031) and helped the Herd to two Mid-American Conference titles. He had seven catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns -- including the tying score at the end of regulation -- against East Carolina in the 64-61 double-overtime win in the 2001 GMAC Bowl. He had nine catches for 15 yards and two scores against Toledo to help clinch the 2001 MAC title for MU. His 91 receptions in 2001 rank sixth in a single season, and 1,417 yards that year stands fifth. Watts was a second-round selection of the Denver Broncos in 2004, and had a great rookie campaign. During his rookie NFL season, he caught 31 passes for 385 yards and one TD for an average of 14.8 yards per catch. He played in all 16 games, starting two. Watts carried the ball five times for 33 yards and recorded one tackle as well. Watts played for the New York Giants in both 2006 and 2007 and later played in the Arena League for the Philadelphia Soul.

Milan Zban, Baseball and Football (1951-54)

Zban was a four-year letterman for the Thundering Herd baseball team and a three-year letterman in football. He recovered a fumble for an MU touchdown in the program’s first MAC win in football, 9-6 over Ohio University, in 1953. Zban played offensive and defensive tackle at 6-foot-3, 225-pounds and started two seasons and was considered one of the toughest players on those early 1950s Marshall College teams. As a baseball player, Zban won All-MAC honors in 1954, hitting .347 with six home runs and led the team in runs batted in, as he did in 1952. Marshall was 29-29 during his four seasons, but 24-19 his last three years. Zban played for both Howard Hood and Joe Binns in baseball and Pete Pedersen and Herb Royer in football. A former sportswriter, he was inducted into the Summit County (Ohio) Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.

http://www.herdzone.com/genrel/060214aab.html

[mckayt]

Spider is a legend!