ABILENE – Another outstanding class of student-athletes and contributors will take its place in the history of ACU Athletics when they are inducted into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame during annual induction festivities in October.
The Class of 2019-20 will be officially inducted on Friday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m. in the McCaleb. Conference Center of the Hunter Welcome Center on the ACU campus. For more information on tickets please visit
acu.edu/halloffame.
Tickets are $30 per person and the RSVP deadline is Friday, Oct. 11.
This year's inductees will be former football standouts Jerale Badon and Sam Collins, track and field national champions Meredith (Garner) Powell and John Kemboi, baseball All-American and former associate head coach Brandon Stover, women's tennis All-American Irene Squillaci, and former volleyball standout Lindsay (DeHoff) Brewer, who passed away in June after a heroic battle against cancer. Going into the hall of fame as this year's Lifetime Achievement Award winners are longtime contributors to ACU baseball, Al and Dottie Scott.
In addition, former ACU quarterback Jim Gash – who in February was named the eighth president of Pepperdine University – is this year's winner of the Jim Womack Award. The award which recognizes for ACU student-athletes who excelled not only on the field or court of play, but also in the classroom, and have gone on to excellence in their professional career. Womack is now a distinguished professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M University.
Gash shared time at the quarterback position for the Wildcats in the late 1980s, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts in finance in 1989. Gash graduated summa cum laude with his JD from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1993. While in law school, he served as editor-in-chief of the Pepperdine Law Review and finished at the top of his graduating class. After a distinguished career as a lawyer in California and educator at Pepperdine, he was announced as the president of Pepperdine on Feb. 14, 2019.
With the addition of the nine members of this year's class, the ACU Sports Hall of Fame now includes 226 men and women. With the addition of Brewer, Squiallci and Scott, the hall now has 37 former ACU female student-athletes and coaches among its membership, along with four other women as Lifetime Achievement Award recipients.
Here's a brief glimpse at each of the hall of fame inductees:
INDUCTEES
• Jerale Badon (football, 2004-07) – Jerale Badon was an honorable mention NCAA Division II All-American in 2007. … ACU's all-time leader in receptions (235) and receiving yards (3,311) and eighth in career touchdowns (19). … He had 73 catches in 2007, which is tied for second in ACU single-season history, and his 1,033 receiving yards in 2007 is 10
th in ACU history. … He had 205 yards in a 2005 game against Southeastern Oklahoma State, which is the eighth-best single-game total in ACU history. … He had a then-ACU record 14 catches in a 2006 game against Tarleton State and had a then-ACU record 13 catches against Southeastern Oklahoma State in 2005. … Two-time team captain (2006-07). … Helped lead ACU to its first two NCAA Division II playoff appearances in 2006 and 2007. … Second team all-region selection in 2006 and first team all-region pick in 2007. … Three-time first team all-Lone Star Conference selection (2005-07). … Selected to the all-Decade Team of the 2000s.
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Sam Collins (football, 2005-08) – Sam Collins started every game of his four-year career, setting the ACU record with 46 consecutive starts, helping the Wildcats to a 33-13 four-year record. … Winner of the Gene Upshaw Award in 2008 as the top linemen in all of NCAA Division II college football, and the winner of the Dave Rimington Award in 2008 as the top center in NCAA Division II football. … In his senior season of 2008, Collins helped the Wildcats compile a Division II-best 558.8 yards of offense and 52.3 points per game. The Wildcats were second in the nation in sacks allowed per game (0.67). … Three-time winner as the Purple and White award winner (2006-08) and team captain in 2008. … Second team NCAA Division II all-America in 2007 and first team all-America pick in 2008. … First team all-region selection in 2007 and 2008 and first team all-Lone Star Conference in 2007 and 2008. … Selected to ACU's all-Decade Team for the 2000s. … Three-time academic all-Lone Star Conference selection
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Lindsay (DeHoff) Brewer (volleyball, 1998-2001) – Lindsay (DeHoff) Brewer was a three-time first team all-Lone Star Conference selection (1999-2001) and was also the 1998 Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year. … Two-time first team Academic all-Lone Star Conference. … Academic All-Lone Star Conference honorable mention. … ACU Most Valuable Player as a freshman in 1998. … Ranks fourth all-time at ACU with 471 blocks and 11th all-time with 1,207 kills. … Had 150 blocks in 1998, which is still the fifth-best single-season total in program history.
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Meredith (Garner) Powell (women's track and field, 1999-2002) – Meredith (Garner) Powell was the first ACU women to clear 13 feet in the pole vault, posting a career-best mark of 13 feet, 2 inches. … a remarkable eight-time NCAA Division II All-American, including six times in the women's pole vault and two times in the 400m relay ... 2000 Olympic Trial Qualifier ... 2000 USA Indoor National Championship Qualifier ... 2000 NCAA Division II National Outdoor Champion ... 2002 NCAA Division II National Indoor Champion ... 2000-2002 All- American from the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association ... 2001-2002 Second Team Verizon Academic All-American ... Three-time Lone Star Conference Champion.
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John Kemboi (men's track and field, 1999-2002) – One of the greatest individual champions in the history of ACU athletics, Kemboi was a standout in both cross country and track and field. … He won 10 career NCAA Division II individual national championships, tying the great Bobby Morrow with 10 career wins. … Capped his senior season in 2002 by winning the 800 meters both indoors and outdoors, the mile indoors and the 1500 meters outdoors, the second straight season he had won all four of those individual national titles. … A standout on the cross country course, he led the Wildcats to back-to-back NCAA Division II South Central Regional championships in 2000 and 2001 and back-to-back runner-up finishes at the national championship meet in both of those seasons.
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Brandon Stover (baseball, 1999-2002) – As the Wildcats' everyday first baseman in 2002, Brandon Stover became just the fifth Wildcat in school history to be named all-America, earning third team honors by ABCA/Rawlings after leading ACU to 45 wins and its third straight Lone Star Conference title. … The MVP of both the LSC South Division and the LSC Post-Season Tournament as a senior, Stover hit .415 with 10 home runs and 55 RBI during his all-America campaign, which remains one of the top offensive seasons in school history. … He finished his career with a .354 career batting average (159 for 449) with 15 home runs and 94 RBI. He also clubbed 31 doubles and accumulated 247 total bases. … Stover was named first team all-conference and all-LSC tournament as a junior in 2001 and played a primary role in helping ACU reach three consecutive NCAA Division II South Central Region tournaments (2000-02). … He joined the ACU coaching staff after the completion of his playing career and served as the assistant coach and then associate head coach through the 2016 season.
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Irene Squillaci (women's tennis, 2006-09) – Irene Squillaci was a three-time All-American from 2007 to 2009 and was the 2007 Lone Star Conference Player of the Year. … She was also a three-time first team all-LSC selection in both singles and doubles. … She was also a three-time Academic Lone Star Conference selection. … Squillaci captured the LSC singles championship in both 2006 and 2007 and formed one of the top doubles tandems in NCAA Division II tenni as she and partner Aina Rafolo won the LSC doubles titles and were nationally ranked from 2006-08.
Lifetime Achievement Award
• Al and Dottie Scott – Al and Dottie Scott were longtime benefactors and fans of ACU Athletics in general and ACU baseball in particular. … Al Scott – who passed away in October 2013 – was a pitcher at Abilene High School and at Abilene Christian. … His love for baseball permeated his life and influenced his tireless work to help his alma mater restart its intercollegiate program in 1991 with the construction of Crutcher Scott Field, named after his father, a former trustee of Abilene Christian for more than four decades. … Crutcher and Vickie were inducted posthumously in 1994 to the ACU Sports Hall of Fame. … In addition to being a dedicated mother and trusted friend, Dottie – who passed away in January 2005 – was active in the League of Women Voters and the Republican Party. … Like her husband, she was a devoted fan of Wildcat baseball and their RV was a constant at both home and road games through the years.
