Featured Photo by Jacob Burgess
Story by Gary Davis
On Sept. 20, MTSU inducted five new members into the Blue Raider Sports Hall of Fame.
The class of 2024 enshrines included Jeff Beachum, Marvin Collier, Kermit Davis, Jamari Lattimore and Ebony Rowe.
Beachum, a member of the MTSU baseball team from 2003-2006, would be tasked with speaking first to begin the night. The former infielder admitted his surprise for the induction, but expressed his overwhelming gratitude. For the duration of his speech he credited his family, teammates and the late coach Steve Peterson for his on field success.
“He was everything like I said in the speech, ” Beachum said of his former coach. “He was my guide, my mentor, my friend, he was a man of his word.”
Second on the night was former MTSU defensive end Jamari Lattimore. Lattimore amused the crowd from the onset of his speech. Beachum’s speech would be a hard act to follow, but his words would come from the heart, Lattimore said in his opening remarks. He gave ultimate credence to his faith and thanked his teammates and more specifically former coach Rick Stockstill for his contributions towards his career.
He painted Stockstill as a mentor and leader of men, not only on the field but off the field as well.
The third member recognized on the night would be Marvin Collier, leader and contributor of the undefeated 1985 Blue Raider football team. Collier, from beginning to end, spent his words recognizing key contributors to his career: family, friends and teammates.
“Once again because none of this you can do alone,” Collier said. “This recognition is an individual honor but you don’t get it by yourself.”
Ebony Rowe followed up Collier’s speech as the fourth alumni to take the podium. The all-time leading scorer in MTSU women’s basketball history expressed her gratitude towards God, her family, her teammates and coaches. She shared some memories from her collegiate career.
To conclude, she stated that her basketball journey wasn’t always easy, but it taught her some key lessons that she now utilizes in her everyday life.
The final enshrine of the evening, would be the all-time winningest men’s basketball coach in Sun Belt Conference history, Kermit Davis.
Davis’s speech was the longest of all. He spent the duration of his time expressing his gratitude towards his family and coaches, while sharing vivid memories of his coaching career. One particularly would be his upsets of Michigan State in 2016 and fifth seed Minnesota in 2017.
“We were good, we were just good, our teams we played at a high level,” Davis said of his memorable upsets. “We had those kind of players so when we played Michigan State and Minnesota, they were great teams, we had a lot of respect for them, but our guys stepped on the floor thinking we were gonna win and then they played like it.”
The five new members of the hall of fame left marks on their respective programs during their time as Blue Raiders. But after Friday night’s induction, those marks are etched in MTSU athletics history forever.
Gary Davis is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines
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