Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Hall of Legacy 2003 Inductees
September 08, 2003 | Football
Sept. 8, 2003
LUBBOCK, Texas - The upgrading of Texas Tech's athletic facilities the past few years didn't just happen. It took the leadership and efforts of a group of people who donated and raised over $160 million to make it happen. They are honored by induction into the newly created Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Legacy.
John T. Montford, James E. Sowell, Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., Alan B. White and United Supermarkets are the 2003 inductees to the Hall of Legacy.
The Hall of Legacy was created to honor individuals and businesses who have made a significant contribution toward the betterment of Red Raider athletic improvements. Director of Athletics Gerald Myers said the group was pivotal in providing the vision and financial resources that propelled facility dreams into reality.
"The leadership of these men has enabled Texas Tech to build facilities among the best in the Big 12 Conference," said Director of Athletics Gerald Myers. "During the past six years, we have gone through the largest athletic facility renovation and expansion in school history and it wouldn't have been possible without them."
Primary improvements were made in:
+ Football -- A 270,000-square foot auxiliary press box (eight stories high) that includes a stadium club, 47 suites, and an impressive west side stadium facade. Also, a $1 million video screen; two lighted grass practice fields; and an $11 million state of the art football building, which includes a locker room, a strength and conditioning center, a training and rehab center, position meeting rooms, a 150-seat team auditorium and coaches offices.
+ Basketball -- The elaborate 15,098-seat United Spirit Arena. Amenities include 24 luxury suites, a practice gym, dressing rooms, a weight room, training rooms, a media center, and coaches' offices. Record crowds have enjoyed watching nationally recognized Lady Raider and Red Raider basketball programs.
Other improvements include a new 12-court tennis complex; a tennis/softball team office building; new fieldhouses for baseball, track and soccer; the Marsha Sharp Academic Center; and facility improvements at Dan Law Field, R.P. Fuller Track and the Athletic Training Facility (new indoor track and field events areas).
Montford served as chancellor for much of the period while Sowell, Whitacre and White were members of the Board of Regents.
Montford, President-External Affairs, SBC Southwest, served as chancellor of the Texas Tech University System from 1996-2001. He became the university's first chancellor in September 1996, and was responsible for legislative affairs, community relations, budget, development, marketing activities and strategic planning. He took an active role in athletic development and fund raising. In 2001, he was named Chancellor Emeritus of the Texas Tech University System
Before coming to Texas Tech, the Marine veteran served as Lubbock District Attorney in 1979-82 and a member of the Texas Senate from 1982-96. He received his bachelor's degree in political science and his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas in Austin.
Sowell, owner of Jim Sowell Construction Company in Dallas since 1972, served on the Texas Tech Board of Regents from 1995-2001. He was Chairman of the Board from 1999-2001 when many of the facility projects were either planned or instituted.
A 1970 Texas Tech graduate who majored in finance, Sowell served two years in the U.S. Army before founding his company. He has been a member on the Board of Directors of several New York Stock Exchange companies, including NL Industries, Todd Shipyards Corporation, Lomas and Nettleton Corporation, and Ketchum Drug Company. He is currently a member of the Advisory Committee for the Byron Nelson Golf Excellence Fund and the Boy Scout Foundation Board of Trustees. He is past president of the Boy Scouts of America-Circle Ten Council.
Whitacre, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SBC Communications Inc., was a member of the Texas Tech Board of Regents from 1993-99 and was Chairman from 1995-98. Through Whitacre's leadership, SBC contributed the lead gift to initiate the improvements at what is now known as Jones SBC Stadium.
Whitacre graduated from Texas Tech in 1964 with a degree in industrial engineering. He began his career with Southwestern Bell in 1963 as a facility engineer in Lubbock and progressed through a series of assignments in the company's operational departments in Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas. He was appointed president and chief operating officer in 1988, and two years later, assumed his current position. He has led SBC's historic growth from the smallest of the regional Bell operating companies into one of the leading full-service telecommunications companies in the world.
White, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Plains Capital Corporation, served two terms on the Texas Tech Board of Regents: 1989-95 and 1995-2001. He was chairman in 1991-92.
White has been highly involved in the Lubbock community since graduating from Texas Tech in 1972 with a finance degree. He began his banking career at Lubbock National Bank and shortly after LNB sold to Republic Bank Corporation in 1982, he became president and CEO. In 1987, he formed Plains Capital Corporation and purchased Plains National Bank. Recently, he has expanded PNB's operation into Austin and the Metroplex. He has been involved in numerous civic projects, including as a Board member of the Texas Tech Foundation and the Red Raider Club. Among his honors and awards are Honorary Saddle Tramp (1998), Ex-Student's Association's Lauro Cavazos Award (1999) and Texas Tech's College of Business' Outstanding CEO (2001).
United Supermarkets, which has been a long-time philanthropic leader in West Texas, the Lubbock community and Texas Tech, was the key contributor in making the United Spirit Arena become a reality. Chairman of the Board Rob Snell, CEO and Sr. Vice President Kent Moore and the rest of the United family were responsible for the $10 million lead gift for construction.
The building is named for the 68-store grocery chain headquartered in Lubbock. The USA has been widely recognized around the United States as one of the premier basketball facilities on a college campus. It has proven to be beneficial to the community with such events as concerts, graduations, convocations, UIL competitions and other local and area activities. Groundbreaking took place in March 1997, and coach Bob Knight brought his Indiana Hoosiers in for the arena's first basketball game on November 19, 1999.
