The Texas Sports Hall of Fame Announces the 2015 Southwest Conference Hall of Fame Inductees

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame (TSHOF) is proud to announce nine new members into its 2015 class of inductees for the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame: Norm DeBriyn (Arkansas), Thomas Everett (Baylor), Billy Ray Brown (Houston), Ricky Pierce (Rice), Kyle (O'Brien) Stevens (SMU), Carlette (Guidry) White (Texas), Anjanette Kirkland (Texas A&M), Darrell Browder (TCU) and Tracy Saul (Texas Tech).

Sponsored by the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, the Southwest Conference (SWC) Hall of Fame induction ceremony and luncheon will be held at the Doubletree by Hilton in downtown Dallas on Monday, October 5th, at 11:30 AM. Visit http://www.tshof.org/buy-tickets to reserve event tickets and to access sponsorship information.

"These players and coaches exemplify what made the Southwest Conference so great: They were tough, hard-working and represented their schools with pride," said Jared Mosley, the President/CEO of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. "The Southwest Conference Hall of Fame exists because sports in the southwest is legendary, and it's legendary because of athletes like these."

The Southwest Conference Hall of Fame is one of four separate halls of fame housed within the Texas Sports Hall of Fame's physical structure. They include the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame, the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and now, the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame.

Media interviews with the inductees will be available before and after the luncheon.

Southwest Conference Hall of Fame 2015 Class of Inductees:

Arkansas - Norm DeBriyn
The Razorbacks had not been a baseball playing member of the SWC since 1926 so to accomplish the task of making Arkansas competitive again Norm DeBriyn was hired in 1970. During their first year of conference play (1974) the Razorbacks went 21-20 and 9-15 in conference play, this however was only the beginning of DeBriyn's impact on the program. Under DeBriyn, Arkansas qualified for 14 of 15 SWC tournaments. The Razorbacks won two SWC titles during his tenure, (1989 & 1990) and appeared in four College World Series, (1979, 1985,1987 & 1989) with their best finish in 1985 when they placed second. After joining the SEC the Razorbacks opened a new baseball stadium in 1996, Baum Stadium, in which DeBriyn was instrumental in getting built. DeBriyn retired after the 2002 season ending his career with a record of 1,161-650-6. He was named SWC Coach of the Year six times, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1989, and 1990. DeBriyn finished his career as the winningest coach in Arkansas baseball history (1970-2002).

Baylor - Thomas Everett
Everett attended Baylor University where he played under College legendary coach Grant Teaff. In his junior year he became one of the best defensive backs in the nation earning a two-time All-American selection, being named twice Southwest Conference Most Valuable Player and first team All-Conference. He was voted the conference's Athlete of the Year for the 1986-1987 school year. He ranks among Baylor's top ten in career interceptions (12), tackles (325), punt returns (80) and punt return yards (766). He was a leader during one of the program's most successful eras as the Bears won 30 games and appeared in three bowl games. He was named to Baylor's All-Decade of the 1980s Team and was the first-ever winner of the Jim Thorpe Award in 1986 as the nation's top defensive back. He played 9 seasons in the NFL (Pittsburgh Steelers 1987-1991, Dallas Cowboys 1992-1993, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1994-1995). As a member of the Dallas Cowboys he helped Dallas win 2 of their 3 Super Bowls in 1992 & 1993. In 2006, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Houston - Billy Ray Brown
Brown was born and raised in Missouri City, Texas. He attended the University of Houston, and was a member of the golf team. He won the 1982 NCAA Division I Championship as a freshman. He was also a member of the 1984 and 1985 national championship teams, and was an All-American all four years. Following his collegiate career, Brown had three wins in PGA Tour events during his professional career. His best finish in a major championship was T-3 at the 1990 U.S. Open. He had 17 top-10 finishes in 315 PGA Tour events. After his playing days ended, Brown moved into the media to serve as an on-course reporter for various networks.

Rice - Ricky Pierce
Ricky Pierce graduated from Garland High School and played basketball at Rice University. Pierce was an 1st team all-SWC selection all three seasons at Rice and was the 1981-82 Southwest Conference Player of the Year in leading the Owls to a 80-49 win over then-No. 5 Texas. As a senior, Pierce set the school record for scoring average in a season, which still stands at 26.8 points per game. Pierce scored 1,847 points during his three-year career, which is third all-time for Rice players. Of the top 10 scorers in the Owls' history, only Pierce and Kendall Rhine (1961-64) played three seasons, instead of four. Following his college career at Rice, Pierce was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 1st round (18th pick) of the 1982 NBA Draft. He played 16 seasons in the NBA with 8 different teams and won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1987. He earned the same award again three seasons later, averaging 23.0 points without starting a single game (an NBA record) in 1989-90.

SMU - Kyle (O'Brien) Stevens
Kyle attended SMU from 1976-1980 and helped her team win the 1979 AIAW Golf National Championship. During that National Championship tournament, she shot a tournament low 72-74-74-72=292 making her the individual medalist (individual national championship winner). She was an All-American in 1979-80. In 1979, she was named Golf Magazine's Collegiate Player of the Year and received the Honda Broderick Award as the nations' outstanding female collegiate athlete. Her lowest round was a 68 at the Oklahoma Dual Match in 1977. She returned to coach SMU from 1986-1992. She was a 2003 inductee into the National Golf Coaches Association Player Hall of Fame and was inducted into the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. The SMU Women's Golf MVP trophy given to the most valuable player is named the Kyle O'Brien MVP Award.

Texas - Carlette (Guidry) White
Carlette, a Houston native, attended the University of Texas from 1988-1991. She accomplished accolades that to this day would be difficult to rival. Upon leaving Texas, Carlette established 4 UT school records: 55m - 6.66 (1990); 60m - 7.14 (1991); 100m - 10.94 (1991); Sprint Medley Relay - 3:41.96 (1988). The 23-time All-American earned 8 NCAA Indoor Titles to go along with 4 NCAA Outdoor Titles in the 55m, 100m, 200m, long jump, 4X400 relay, and 4X100 relay. In 1991, she was named the Honda-Broderick Award Winner as the National Track and Field Athlete of the Year. The following year she was the Babe Zaharias Award Winner as the nation's top amateur female athlete. Carlette's career accomplishments landed her a spot on the SWC All-Decade Team and SWC Athlete of the Decade. Following her collegiate career, Carlette had a very successful professional career earning two Olympic gold medals and numerous championships in domestic and international competition.

Texas A&M - Anjanette Kirkland
At Texas A&M University, Anjanette Kirkland completed her collegiate career as the most decorated female student-athlete in the university's history and in 2003 was inducted into Texas A&M Hall of Fame. She also closed out the Southwest Conference as it's most decorated hurler in conference history. Kirkland won three consecutive SWC crowns in the 55-meter hurdles from 1994-96 and two straight conference titles in the 100-meter hurdles from 1994-95. Kirkland owns the SWC all-time best in the 55 hurdles (7.61), as well as the SWC meet record (7.68). Kirkland also ran the fastest 100 hurdles in SWC history, a wind-aided 12.89 in 1995. Eight-time All-American

TCU - Darrell Browder
One of the all-time greats in TCU basketball lore, Browder helped lead a rebirth of TCU basketball success that eventually saw the squad climb to the top of the Southwest Conference in the latter parts of the 1980's. The Fort Worth native totaled 1,886 points (all-time leader in TCU history) while averaging 16.1 points per game for his career playing for former head coach Jim Killingsworth's heralded "Killer Frogs" squads. He also still holds career records for minutes played (4,378) and field goals (803) while ranking among the top 5 in starts (No. 3, 114), assists (No. 4, 459) and steals (No. 5, 129). He was selected to the All-Southwest Conference First-Team 3 times. The Houston Rockets selected Browder with the 71st overall pick in the fourth round of the 1983 NBA draft. He was inducted into the TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame in 1999.

Texas Tech - Tracy Saul
Saul played for the Red Raiders from 1989 to 1992. In just the fifth game of his true freshman season, Saul was called upon to make his first start for the Red Raiders, who were hosting the No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies. He intercepted his first pass that day as the Red Raiders upset the Aggies 27-24. Saul finished his freshman year with 62 tackles, eight interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and 300 punt return yards and was named to the all-Southwest Conference team as a punt returner - an accomplishment he would repeat as a sophomore. Saul finished his career in 1992 with 317 tackles and his 25 interceptions is the best in Southwest Conference history and tied for third all-time among NCAA FBS schools. Saul was one of only four players to be named a consensus all-conference selection for four consecutive years in the Southwest Conference's 81-year history - his first two as a punt returner, his final two as a safety - and earned second-team All-America honors at free safety following his junior season in 1991.

Contact:
Jared Mosley
254.756.1633
jaredm(at)tshof(dot)org