EMCC’s Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 to be recognized during Oct. 24 home football game vs. Delta

SCOOBA – As East Mississippi Community College's Lions prepare for Thursday's (Oct. 17) inter-divisional football contest this week at Pearl River, the college has announced its 2024 EMCC Sports Hall of Fame induction class in advance of next week's regular-season home finale against Mississippi Delta.

Along with being recognized during halftime festivities of the Lions' upcoming home football game against the Trojans of Mississippi Delta on Thursday, Oct. 24, EMCC's Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will also be honored during a 4 p.m. pre-game reception to be held at the F.R. Young Student Union Center on the Scooba campus.

This year's five-member EMCC Sports Hall of Fame induction class consists of retired education administrator/basketball coach Dr. Ed Davis, former football offensive lineman Thurman M. (Buddy) Lowe Jr., former women's basketball player Deborah Stancil, standout rodeo cowboy Marcus Theriot, and former baseball outfielder Kent Williams

EMCC SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2024 INDUCTEES

DR. ED DAVIS – Clay County native and Starkville resident who was associated with Mississippi education for more than 40 years in which he proudly served the state's students before retiring in 2017… Began his influential career at the collegiate level with a four-year stop (1984-88) as a member of East Mississippi Community College's academic faculty and basketball coaching staff… Instrumental in the planning and completion of EMCC's current basketball facility (Keyes T. Currie Coliseum)… Returned to EMCC on two occasions to serve first as director of recruiting and administrator of the college's Columbus AFB extension center before later becoming EMCC's Vice President of the Scooba campus… Owns three degrees from Mississippi State University, where he served as Associate Director of College and School Relations and later became an associate professor within the College of Education's educational leadership department… Earned the prestigious George Autry Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, as chosen by the Rural Community College Alliance.              

THURMAN M. (BUDDY) LOWE JR. – Columbus product who was a two-time all-state selection as an offensive tackle for East Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame head football coach Randall Bradberry's Lions… Capped his EMCC career by playing in the 1978 Mississippi Junior College All-Star Game after helping lead the Lions to a 7-2-1 overall record and a second-place tie in the conference's north division standings… Continued his collegiate career at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, where he was a two-year starter at the right offensive tackle position… Member of SLU's 1980 team that posted an 8-2 record during the program's transition year to NCAA Division I football… Three-year football letterman at Columbus' S.D. Lee High School, finishing his prep career as an all-conference performer and member of the Commercial Dispatch newspaper's 1976 All-Area football team… Worked 22 years at the New Orleans International Airport as a general manager of a fixed-based operator… Currently resides in Kenner, Louisiana.    

DEBORAH STANCIL – Starting backcourt player on East Mississippi Community College's winningest women's basketball team in school history… An all-star prep player at West Lauderdale High School who chose to stay close to home and play for EMCC Sports Hall of Fame basketball coach Richard Mathis in Scooba… Ranked as EMJC's second-leading scorer (14 ppg) during the team's remarkable 1977-78 season run that featured 31 consecutive wins before concluding with a close 67-63 loss to Panola (TX) JC in the 1978 NJCAA national championship game… Earned a spot on the national all-tournament team that year before venturing just across the state line to Livingston University (West Alabama)… Helped lead the LU Lady Tigers to a two-year composite record of 49-16… Inducted into the University of West Alabama's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004 after totaling 1,009 career points as well as 398 assists and 185 steals… Spent one season overseas as a professional basketball player in the town of Ballina in the Republic of Ireland… Continues to reside in Meridian.

MARCUS THERIOT – Two-time College National Finals Rodeo champion and multi-event CNFR qualifier for East Mississippi Community College… The Lumberton resident is currently competing in his 10^th year within the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association… Claimed the all-around national championship and the tie-down roping title as an EMCC freshman by totaling 510 points to lead the EMCC Lions to a school-best, fifth-place national team finish at the 2016 CNFR… Returned to nationals the following year to help lead EMCC to a seventh-place team finish and a third-place individual showing in the all-around competition… Three-time tie-down roping champion within the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association's Ozark Region for the Lions as well as earning two all-around men's titles and a pair of team roping header crowns in region competition… Claimed the 2021 Cinch Timed Event Championship Ironman title… Finished eighth in the 2023 PRCA All-Around World Standings and placed ninth in the average of last year's Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

KENT WILLIAMS – Former Lamar High School baseball and basketball standout and current Brandon resident who was a two-year starting centerfielder for EMCC Sports Hall of Fame baseball coach Bill Baldner at East Mississippi Community College… Batted .358 for his career with the EMCC Lions, including 47 extra-base hits 87 runs batted in, 112 runs scored, and 49 stolen bases… Hit .311 as a freshman starter on EMCC's 1986 NJCAA Region 23 championship team… Earned all-state honors and named team MVP as a sophomore co-captain for the Lions after posting a .411 batting average that included 31 extra-base hits, 47 RBIs, 62 runs, and 28 steals… Continued his collegiate career at the University of South Alabama, where he totaled 50 extra-base hits, 87 RBIs, 99 runs scored, and 30 stolen bases for the Jaguars… Earned 1989 Sun Belt Conference Second Team honors as a senior for the SBC Tournament runners-up… Chosen in the 14^th round by the California Angels in the 1989 Major League Baseball Draft and advanced to the Class High-A professional level.