Texas Tech Hall Of Honor Inductions
August 15, 1999 | Football
Aug. 15, 1999
LUBBOCK, Texas - One of Texas Tech's longest playing professional football players, the school's most dominant offensive lineman of the 1970s, a standout baseball player and coach, along with a Border Conference basketball player have been selected for induction in the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor.
This year's inductees are former football players Curtis Jordan and Dan Irons, former baseball player and coach Gary Ashby, along with former basketball player Jack Alderson. The group will be inducted on October 1 at the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor Banquet at Lubbock Country Club. The foursome will also be recognized the following day at the Texas Tech-Texas A&M football game.
Athletic Hall of Honor Banquet tickets may be purchased through the Red Raider Club by calling 742-1196.
The Hall of Honor is designed so that any person who has made a significant impact on Red Raider athletics is eligible for consideration. There is a 10-year waiting period for athletes and full-time employees are not eligible. The addition of the four 1999 recipients brings the number of inductees to 98 since the Hall of Honor's inception in 1961.
Jordan, who joins Irons and Ashby as Monterey High School products, twice earned All-Southwest Conference honors while playing in the Raider secondary for Jim Carlen and Steve Sloan. He had seven career pass interceptions, including a team-high four in 1975, his senior season. Jordan helped the team to a pair of bowl games and a 23-10-2 record in his three years to letter. He holds the distinction of being the first Texas Tech (and Southwest Conference) freshman to play varsity football when freshmen became eligible in 1972. He represented Texas Tech in the final Coaches All-America Football Game in Lubbock.
Curtis played 11 seasons in the National Football League, the most ever of a Red Raider skill player. He played for Tampa Bay from 1976 to 1980 and for Washington from 1981-86, amassing over 800 tackles and 14 career interceptions. He played in four NFC championship games and two Super Bowls, winning a ring with the Redskins in 1982.
Jordan remained in Washington after retiring, covering the team on TV affiliates and co-hosting the Redskins TV show with Jim McKay. He returned to Lubbock in 1991, where he is in the restaurant and motel business.
Dan Irons is a second-generation Hall of Honor recipient. His father Ed, a standout football and basketball player in 1938-42, was inducted in 1973.
Irons earned All-America honors in 1977 after a career filled with opening holes for such offensive stalwarts as Rodney Allison and Larry Isaac. Twice All-Southwest Conference at tackle, Irons was a key fixture on the '76 team that rose as high as No. 5 nationally before finishing with a 10-2 record.
Drafted by San Francisco, Irons retired from the New York Giants in 1980 after suffering from persistent knee problems. He has worked in sales in West Texas since leaving football and has resided in Midland since 1984. Ashby has excelled at all levels of baseball in Lubbock. He earned All-State honors and helped legendary coach Bobby Moegle win his first state championship in 1974. A hard-hitting first baseman, Ashby lettered four years for Kal Segrist at Tech on the way to earning All-SWC and All-District VI honors twice and All-America honors once. He set school single-season records for home runs (11) and RBIs (54) and still shares such school marks as doubles (3) and triples (3) in a game.
Ashby played professionally for five years in the San Diego organization, reaching the Triple A level before beginning his coaching career. He served as assistant coach for two years before replacing Segrist in 1984 as Tech's first full-time baseball coach. He compiled an 85-80 record during his three years as head coach and set a school record for victories with 34 in 1986.
Ashby is a past president of the Texas Tech Lettermen's Association and is active with the Tech Baseball Booster Club.
A name long recognized in Lubbock, Alderson has been a vital part of Texas Tech athletics either as an athlete or supporter for five generations.
Alderson earned 11 varsity letters at Lubbock High (football, basketball, baseball, & track) but chose to concentrate on basketball upon entering school in 1948. He lettered three years for coach Polk Robison as a guard, earning second-team All-Border Conference recognition as a senior. He was a part of one of Tech's most significant pre-Southwest Conference victories -- a 63-62 victory at North Carolina State as it opened its new arena in 1951.
After a stint in the Air Force during the Korean War, Alderson joined the family-owned automobile business and worked his way to president and CEO. Alderson Cadillac has supported the Red Raider Club with a scholarship for over 40 years and is active in the Car Coach Program.