Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Hall of Honor Inductees Announced
June 16, 2006 | General
June 16, 2006
LUBBOCK, Texas - Seven former Red Raider athletes representing six programs are slated for induction into the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor during the Texas Tech-Texas football weekend Oct. 27-28.
Comprising the class are women's basketball player Michi Atkins, baseball player Clint Bryant, men's basketball player Harold Hudgens, football players Don Rives and Zach Thomas, women's golfer Tracy (Thomson) Free and track athlete Tony Walton.
This year marks the second year that the Double T Association, the athletic letterwinners organization at Texas Tech, is handling the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor voting and induction ceremony. An organization for all varsity letterwinners, the DTA's current membership conducted the 2006 Hall of Honor nominations and voting.
The Hall of Honor Banquet will be held Fri., Oct. 27, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Banquet Hall. The seven will be officially recognized prior to the Tech football game the next day. Banquet tickets are $50 each and $500 for a reserved table of eight. Contact the Double T Association at 771-4000 for tickets.
Atkins, a native of Loraine, left Tech the all-time leading scorer in Southwest Conference women's basketball history. She was a first-team All-American in 1996, a two-time Southwest Conference Player of the Year and a three-time all-conference performer. As a freshman, she was a key contributor for the 1993 National Champion Lady Raider basketball team. Upon completing her eligibility in 1996, she was the second all-time leading scorer and rebounder in school history. A 1998 graduate of Texas Tech, she lives and works in Fort Worth.
Bryant, a Lubbock native whose number 23 is retired by the Red Raider baseball program, was a first-team All-American in 1995 and 1996, a finalist for the R.E. "Bob" Smith National Player of the Year Award, a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and twice named Southwest Conference Player of the Year. He remains one of the most academically decorated student-athletes in Red Raider history, having been named Academic All-American of the Year in 1996, and in 1995 he was the only baseball player in the country to be named first-team All-American on the field and CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-American in the classroom. He holds a finance degree from Texas Tech and works in the banking industry in the DFW metroplex.
Hudgens was twice named All-Southwest Conference and as a senior was an all-region performer. As a junior, he was named to the All-Tournament team at the 1961 NCAA Midwest Regional. He finished second in the conference in scoring and rebounding as a junior and his 22.0 points per game remains 8th in school history. A 1963 accounting graduate of Texas Tech, he resides in Ballinger, Texas.
Don Rives came to Texas Tech from Wheeler, Texas, and was a key defensive player on the early teams of the Jim Carlen era. He was named second-team All-American and consensus All-Southwest Conference in 1972, and followed his senior year with appearances in the Coaches All-America game and Hula Bowl. He was named to Southwest Conference all-decade team of the 1970s, and in 1990 he was named to the All-Time Texas Tech football team. A 1974 graduate of Texas Tech, he played linebacker for the Chicago Bears for six years, and he is currently the head football coach at Morton High School in Morton, Texas.
Zach Thomas left Texas Tech one of the all-time favorites in Red Raider football history. A native of White Deer, Texas, he was a unanimous first-team All-American in 1995, making him one of only two defensive players in the country to be named to all seven first teams that year. He was a Butkus Award finalist as a senior, and was named to several first-team All-America squads as a junior. He was twice the Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and Football News named him the Southwest Conference MVP in 1995. He is the only three-time captain in school history, and he is currently the middle linebacker for the Miami Dolphins.
Tracy (Thomson) Free was a three-time All-Southwest Conference golfer (1993, 1994, 1996), making her the only Lady Raider golfer to ever be named all-conference more than twice. She was named to the Southwest Conference All-Tournament team in 1994 and is one of only six golfers in school history to win more than one event in her career. She took part in seven team tournament wins in her career. In the 1993-94 media guide, head coach Jeff Mitchell wrote, "She has created a turning point in women's golf at Tech. She's been a catalyst and changed what we consider to be a good level of performance." A 1997 graduate, she resides in Plano and is a golf instructor at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch.
Tony Walton was a six-time All-American in track and field - four times as a long jumper and twice on relay teams. An El Paso native, he won the Southwest Conference in the indoor and outdoor high jump in 1991 and left Tech with the school record in the indoor long jump. He was the most decorated track and field athlete in school history prior to Olympian Jonathon Johnson. A 1992 International Trade graduate of Texas Tech, he is currently a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, serving as a Combat Systems Officer on the USS Kauffman.
The seven will bring the number to 135 people who have been inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor since its inception in 1961.
