The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame announced the names of two posthumous inductees to be enshrined at its annual Induction Banquet on Saturday, May 17, 2014, at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville.
Dorsey Sims, best known as Memphis Melrose basketball coach who was considered one of the best prep coaches in the South; and Eldridge Dickey,Tennessee State All-America quarterback, are this year’s posthumous selections by the Board of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Dickey died in May of 2000 while Sims passed away in June of 2000.
Previously announced inductees to the Hall of Fame Board include Carlton Flatt, Brentwood Academy and the state’s All-time winningest high school coach, Bridgette Gordon, former University of Tennessee Lady Vol basketball All-America, Popeye Jones, Murray State University basketball great, Paul Naumoff, All America linebacker from the University of Tennessee and NFL star, Claude Osteen, former major league pitcher andcoach, Allie Prescott, Memphis State University baseball star and minor league executive. In addition, noted Nashville TV sports anchor and community leader Hope Hines will be the Hall’s Lifetime Achievement inductee.
The Sports Hall of Fame, which held its first induction banquet in 1966, has as its goal to enshrine successful teams and individuals who display sportsmanship, good character and success, creating a legacy for others to follow. The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Museum is housed the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Tennessee’s sports heritage while honoring the contributions of legendary individuals and teams that have significant ties to the state. Through this mission we recognize the positive attributes of our inductees such as hard work, team work, dedication, focus and how these attributes are needed to achieve success in life.
Dorsey Sims, considered one of the best prep basketball coaches in the South, and perhaps in the nation, spent 12 years as a head coach at Melrose High School in Memphis before joining the Memphis State Tigers in 1986. In 28 years of coaching on the high school level, Sims put together an overall record of 654-200 for a winning percentage of .763. During a four decade period, he had just one losing season, and six of his teams won at least 30 games in a season. Born July 7, 1932, the Haskell, Okla. native, became head coach at Melrose High School in 1974. During his time with the Golden Wildcats, he coached several players who signed with Memphis State including William Bedford, Sidney Adkins, Dewayne Bailey and Greg Moore. Sims led Melrose to a pair of state championships in 1978 (38-1) and 1983 (37-3). His overall record at Melrose was 328-88.Prior to moving to the Memphis area, Sims had spent a total of nine years coaching in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His first assignment as head coach was at Riverside High from 1965-71. His Riverside teams (155-30) captured both the 1968 and 1969 state championships and also won a state record 56 consecutive games. In 1971, Sims moved on to City High School in Chattanooga, where he tallied a 39-43 mark before moving to Memphis in 1974. A 1955 graduate of Tennessee State University, Sims actually began his coaching experiences while serving in the Army and stationed in Ft. Devens in Massachusetts. After a two-year stint in military service, Sims entered the prep coaching profession at McReynolds High School (22-18) in South Pittsburg, Tn. in 1958. Two years later he moved on to Bristol, Tenn., where he coached for five years at Slater High School (106-21). Sims won countless awards during his career, including the National High School’s Athletic Coaches Award in 1969, the TSSAA Distinguished Service Award in 1977 and both the Commercial Appeal’s Best of the Preps Coach of the Year Award and the Outstanding Community Service Award, presented by the Shelby County Mayor’s Office in 1983. Sims passed away on June 13, 2000.
Eldridge Dickey attended Tennessee State University from 1964-67 where he became a three time HBCU All-America with 6,523 passing yards and 67 touchdowns. Dickey, a gifted athlete for the Tigers, was an outstanding runner as well as having the ability to throw precision passes with both his left and right hand. In addition to his quarterbacking duties, Dickey also served as the team’s starting punter. As a sophomore in 1965, Dickey led the Tigers to their fifth Black College National Championship and a perfect 9-0 regular season record. A year later, Dickey enjoyed his finest season--throwing for 1,812 yards and 25 touchdowns. Again, Dickey and the Tigers won the Black College National Championship with a 9-0 regular season. The Tigers started the year by beating North Carolina A & T and Texas Southern by a combined score of 107-0. Dickey followed those two games with a career-best 343-yard performance against Grambling. In 1967, Dickey was selected to Pittsburgh Courier's All-American team for the second consecutive year. He began a pro career in 1968 for the Oakland Raiders who made Dickey the first African-American quarterback to be drafted in the first round in professional football. The Raiders also selected University of Alabama quarterback Ken Stabler in the second round. Dickey was moved to wide receiver before the start of the season and the opportunity to play his favorite position never came. The change in positions came as a blow to a player who, at one time, told his former coach Joe Gilliam, Sr., that if he couldn't play quarterback, he didn't want to play. However, Dickey accepted his assigned position while still holding out hope for an opportunity to play where he believed that he belonged. Dickey became a minister before dying on May 22, 2000 of a stroke. In 2005, he was honored as the quarterback of the All-Time HBCU football team, and was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Carlton Flatt became Tennessee’s all-time winningest high school football coach while serving as the head coach, athletic director, and head of the math department at Brentwood Academy. Coach Flatt built the Eagles program as it’s only head coach from the first varsity season in 1971 until his retirement in 2006. With 355 career victories and ten state championships in three classifications in a 20-year span, Coach Flatt established Brentwood Academy as one of the most powerful programs in TSSAA football history. Flatt, a graduate of Cumberland High attended Austin Peay State University on a football scholarship, where he became the field general of the 1964 “rags-to-riches” Austin Peay football team which went 8-1-1 after being only 1-9 the previous season. Flatt was named to the 1964 All-Ohio Valley Conference team as a defensive back and also chosen by the OVC coaches as the Offensive Player of the Year. After graduating from APSU, Coach Flatt attended Tennessee Tech to achieve his master's degree in mathematics and served as a football graduate assistant for two years. Before heading to his permanent home at Brentwood Academy Flatt was also an assistant coach for two years at Battle Ground Academy.
Bridgette Gordon was a standout performer for Coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee and a 2007 selection to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She helped lead the Lady Volunteers to the Final Four in each of her four seasons and brought back national championships in 1987 and 1989. She was named to the Final Four All-Tournament team in both of her national championship seasons and was named the Final Four Most Valuable Player in 1989. Gordon was the first freshman to ever lead Tennessee in scoring and brought home the program's first national title her sophomore year in 1987. A two-time All-America, Gordon was also a four-time All-SEC selection and was named the SEC Player of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year as a senior at Tennessee in 1989. She earned the league's Rookie of the Year award in 1986 and led the conference in scoring in 1988 and 1989. In 1988 she was the fourth leading scorer and one of two collegiate members of Team USA that brought home the Olympic gold medal. A 2001 selection to the Lady Vols Athletic Hall of Fame, Gordon is one of five players to have her number retired at the school. In addition, she was one of five players named to the NCAA's 25th Silver Anniversary team in 2006. Following her successful collegiate career, Gordon played professionally in Italy, where she was a perennial All-Star and won seven Italian Championships and two European Cups (1994 & 1996), and Turkey, before a two-year stint with the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs. Women's Basketball Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist Coach Gordon is in her fourth year as an assistant coach at Wichita State and second year as Recruiting Coordinator.
Popeye Jones played basketball for Murray State University and finished his college career as a three-time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection. He was named OVC Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991 and was honored as the OVC's Athlete of the Year in 1991 and 1992. He is one of only seven MSU men's basketball players to have his jersey retired. Jones ranks fourth on Murray’s all-time scoring list with 2,057 points and is also all-time leader in rebounds with 1,374.He led the nation in that category in the 1990-91 season. He is the only player in MSU history to record more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Jones enjoyed an 11-year NBA career. After being selected by Houston in the second round (41st overall) of the 1992 NBA Draft. Jones played one season in Europe before beginning his first of two stints with Dallas in 1993. Jones’ best season came in 1995-96 when he averaged 11.3 points and 10.8 rebounds. He holds the record for most rebounds by a Maverick in a game (28 vs. IND on 1/9/96). In four seasons with Dallas (1993-96, 2002-03), Jones averaged 8.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 26.3 minutes in 255 games. Jones holds career averages of 7.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in 535 career games with Dallas, Toronto, Boston, Denver, Washington and Golden State.
Paul Naumoff, an Eastmoor High School product out of Columbus, Ohio, played for University of Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Doug Dickey. An integral member of the Tennessee football program where heled the Volunteers to wins in the 1965 Bluebonnet Bowl and the 1966 Gator Bowl. He was chosen as an All-America and a First Team All-SEC performer as a senior and served as the Vols’ team captain and team MVP. He competed in the 1967 College All-Star Game and the 1967 Senior Bowl. Naumoff was selected in the third round of the 1967 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions where he played for 12 seasons. Despite his size, the 6-foot-1, 215 pounder his speed and quickness allowed him to take on much bigger blockers without falling short. In addition he was durable, missing only two-games in 13 seasons. Naumoff holds the Lions’ single-game tackle record of 21-stops in a 1975 contest versus the Cleveland Browns. and was a Pro Bowl selection in 1970.
Claude Osteen, a native of Caney Springs, Tenn., was a major league left-hand pitcher for six different teams during his career: the Cincinnati Reds, Washington Senators, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox. The most significant portion of his career was with the Dodgers. As a Dodger, Osteen was a major factor as a full-time starter with an earned run average under 3.00 in his first two years in the rotation. Osteen and the Dodgers reached two straight World Series in 1965 and 1966. . During his 18-year baseball career, Osteen compiled 196 wins, 1,612 strikeouts, and a 3.30 earned run average with 40 shutouts. As a batter, Osteen had a .188 batting average with 8 home runs and 76 runs batted in. In the 1970 All-Star game Osteen was the winning pitcher recording three shutout innings and got the win again in 1973 All-Star game. Prior to the 1974 season, the Dodgers traded Osteen to the Houston Astros and Osteen played his final game on September of 1975 with the White Sox. As a pitcher and major league coach Osteen feels blessed to have worn a major league uniform for 6 different decades. He later became a pitching coach for the Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers and the Dodgers as well as various minor league teams. In 1983 Osteen again went to the World Series as the Phillies pitching coach.
Allie Prescott was born in Memphis and from the age of six showed his love of and skill in baseball. At Kingsbury High, he was named to the Commercial Appeal’s All City team twice and Player of the Year in 1965. Prescott received scholarship offers from Mississippi College and then Memphis State University and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles. Prescott chose Memphis State where he lettered all four years and received All-Missouri Valley Conference first team honors as pitcher and first baseman. After graduation he had an offer to play for the St Louis Cardinals but again chose to stay in Memphis and continue his education at Memphis State Law School where he was also was a graduate assistant coach for the baseball team. For his accomplishments as a player, Prescott was selected both to the Memphis Park Commission and the University of Memphis Halls of Fame for the sport of Baseball. He later served as General Manager of the Memphis Chicks and was selected by Sporting News as the AA Executive of the Year. In 1996 Prescott became the President and General Manager of the soon-to- be Memphis Redbirds, AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. He developed this successful franchise from the ground up and was again selected Executive of the Year—this time for the Pacific Coast League. Prescott did not limit his love of sports to baseball as he was also a Division 1 basketball official for 17 years.
Since 1983 till 2011 television viewers in middle Tennessee and beyond have always had Hope. As sports director at WTVF News Channel 5, Hope Hines would flash that genuine smile and deliver the sports news of the day in a way that made all of us feel at home. Not your typical talking head, the proud Georgia native became one of the regular folks in a world of television. Soon after graduating from the University of Georgia in 1971, Hines became sports director at WTVF (then WLAC) for a first go-around. He departed four years later for San Diego to become sports director at KFMB-TV and play-by-play radio broadcaster for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. He also did television play-by-play for both the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Colts, and was sports anchor for TV stations in both cities before returning to Nashville for good in 1983. He wrote editorials for The Daily News Journal from 2002-03. During his career, Hines won six broadcast Emmy Awards and was named Best Sportscaster in the Southeast. And he was named recipient of the Silver Circle Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for 25 years of distinguished service to the television industry.