19 UAPB sports hall inductions set

A longtime senior woman administrator and the police chief of Washington, D.C., are among 19 former University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff athletes who will be inducted into the UAPB/AM&N Letter A Club Sports Hall of Fame on Aug. 10.

Betty Hayes-Anthony is the senior woman administrator and associate athletic director for women’s sports in UAPB’s athletic department and is also a three-year letterwinner in women’s basketball and track and field for the Lady Lions. She spent her first year of college at Mississippi Valley State University and transferred to UAPB, where she played on the 1978-79 women’s team that finished runner-up in the Arkansas Women’s Intercollegiate Sports Association tournament. She graduated in 1980.

A former junior high and high school basketball and track coach, Hayes-Anthony has been a head coach at UAPB in volleyball, softball, bowling, tennis and golf.

Pine Bluff native Pamela Smith lettered four years in track and field at UAPB before establishing a long career in law enforcement that’s seen her move up the ranks to chief of the U.S. Park Police and now the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington. The 400- and 800-meter runner was on the 1989 Lady Lions’ outdoor track and field team that finished as NAIA runners-up in Azusa, Calif., and the 1991 team that finished 11th in Stephenville, Texas. Smith graduated in 1992.

Six football players will also be inducted, including former assistant coach Calvin Booker and former Dollarway School District principal O.D. Brown.

Booker, a native of Hamburg, earned four letters in football, primarily as a punter and backup quarterback, before graduating in 1979. He and two other players shared the record for the longest punt in school history. Booker then became an assistant coach, special assistant to the dean of education and director of student recruitment in an 11-year span at UAPB.

Brown, a Pine Bluff native, lettered three years in football before graduating in 1968. The Southeast High graduate tried out for the AM&N team after his freshman year and made it. He also started at outside linebacker and held onto the spot through college. According to a news release, Brown was known for his quickness as an outside rusher and ranked high on the team’s tackle charts.

Other inductees for 2024:

Letroy Gathen (posthumously), football running back (four letters), class of 1974,

Anthony Lowery, football offensive tackle (four letters and NAIA honorable mention All-American), class of 1970,

Floyd Smaller, football quarterback, javelin thrower and long jumper (four letters in both football and track), class of 1965,

Bill Wolfe, football defensive end (four letters), class of 1972,

Roosevelt Bonner, basketball (four letters in two stints with Army service in between and 1967 SWAC champion), class of 1974,

Roger Davis, basketball shooting guard (four letters and leading collegiate scorer in Arkansas as senior), class of 1974,

George Michael Bolton, baseball shortstop (four letters and NAIA All-American), class of 1969,

Brian Collins, baseball left-handed pitcher and first baseman (four letters), class of 1980,

Mark Lewis, baseball shortstop (four letters and two-time All-SWAC), class of 2005,

Aaron Wright, baseball outfielder (four letters), class of 2007,

Rachel Hawkins-Luckett, sprinter (three letters and two-time NAIA All-American in 200 and 400 meters), class of 1994,

LaMonda WImberly-Swann, sprinter (four letters and NAIA Top 10 finisher in 100 and 200), class of 1995,

James Mitchell, tennis (three letters and NAIA tournament qualifier), class of 1977,

General Ross, tennis (four letters, AIC flight champion and team MVP), class of 1972, and

Alvin Griggs, sprinter (two letters and All-SWAC performer), class of 1965.

Tickets for admission into the virtual ceremony are $25 each and may be ordered by calling Virginia Taylor at (903) 926-5329 or emailing her at UAPBHOF@gmail.com. Other payment options are Square (square.link/u/yAFV2quA) and PayPal (paypal.me/UAPBLetterAClub).