County Hall names class
- Updated: March 7, 2020
This year’s 16thinduction class brings roster of Hall of Fame members to an even 100
From staff reports
The Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2020 and this year’s 16thclass brings the roster of members to an even 100.
The class includes Ted Boozer, Jerry Cole, Arthur Hardy, Roland Houston, Jeramie Moore and Brooke McCarley Suda. Cole will be inducted posthumously. The induction banquet will be held June 20 at the Oxford Civic Center.
Boozer was a three-sport athlete at Alexandria prior to graduating in 1955. He was a power hitter on the baseball team. In basketball, he was a forward on the Valley Cubs’ Sixth District tournament champions as a junior and earned all-tournament honors at the Calhoun County tournament as a senior.
In football, Boozer earned first-team all-county honors at end as a senior following the 1954 season. His football skills caught the eye of Texas A&M coach Bear Bryant. Boozer played on the Aggies’ freshman team then spent one year at Allen Military Academy where he earned Wigwam Wiseman junior college All-American honors. Boozer returned to Alabama and played his final two years of college football at Jacksonville State in 1958 and 1959 for coach Don Salls.
Cole starred in football at Jacksonville. He was a three-year starter for the Golden Eagles, earning honorable mention all-county status at tackle as a junior and first-team all-county as a tackle in 1952, his senior season. Jacksonville State football coach Don Salls offered Cole a football scholarship and Cole became a four-year letterman and two-year starter for the Gamecocks.
In early 1974, JSU president Dr. Ernest Stone, who had been Cole’s high school principal, asked him to become JSU’s first full-time director of athletics. He continued in that role for more than 25 years. During that time, the Gamecocks won NCAA Division II national championships in baseball, basketball and football and two national titles in gymnastics. The Gamecocks won 37 Gulf South Conference championships during Cole’s tenure.
Hardy graduated from Weaver in 1979 after being a part of the school’s basketball and track programs for four years. For each of his final three years of high school, he competed in high hurdles, intermediate hurdles, long jump, triple jump and high jump. As a senior, he was fourth in the intermediate hurdles at the state meet. In basketball, he was first-team all-county as a sophomore, a junior and a senior. He averaged a double-double each of those three seasons – 15.0 points and 14.9 rebounds as a sophomore, 20.9 points and 17.7 rebounds as a junior and 25.6 points and 17.6 rebounds as a senior.
Hardy was a member of the Calhoun County tournament all-tournament team as a junior and was county tournament most valuable player as a senior despite Weaver’s loss in the tournament’s semifinal round. He received a basketball scholarship to Northeast Alabama State Junior College in Rainsville where he played for two seasons and earned an associate’s degree. He returned to Calhoun County and completed a B.A degree in commercial art at Jacksonville State in 1985 and joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as an agent in 1987 and remained with the FBI for more than 24 years.
Houston played football at Oxford for coach Jack Grizzard in 1968, 1969 and 1970 and earned all-county honorable mention as a senior at offensive end. He was a team captain that same season and his teammates voted him the recipient of the first Jack Grizzard Golden Helmet award – recognizing the player who most exemplified the spirit, determination and pride shown by Grizzard during his time at Oxford.
While a student at Jacksonville State University, Houston was a volunteer coach at Oxford. Following his graduation from JSU, he was an assistant coach for one year in Georgia then returned to Oxford as an assistant for eight years while working with the offensive line and defensive tackles. From 1985 through 1991 he was offensive line coach at Jacksonville State with coach Bill Burgess then switched to defensive coordinator from 1992 through 1996. The Gamecocks were NCAA Division II national champions in 1992. He was head coach at Weaver High School 2000-03 and was Calhoun County coach of the year in 2002 and 2003. Houston returned to JSU as defensive line coach in 2005 then became head coach at Jacksonville High School from 2006-11. He was named Calhoun County coach of the year in 2009 while coaching the Golden Eagles.
In high school at Alexandria, McCarley was outstanding in both volleyball and basketball. In basketball, she was honorable mention all-state as a sophomore, second-team all-state as a junior and first-team all-state as a senior. However, volleyball was her sport of choice. As a freshman, she helped the Valley Cubs to a state runner-up finish. In each of the next three volleyball seasons, Alexandria claimed Class 4A state championships. McCarley was state tournament most valuable player as a junior and again as a senior. Following her senior season, she was named Alabama’s Gatorade player of year. She went on to Auburn, where she was All-SEC in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
Moore was a standout in both football and baseball at Alexandria. In football, he lettered three years and was a first-team all-county pick on the offensive line in 1991 as a senior after receiving second-team honors as a junior. He was chosen first-team All-State by the Alabama Sports Writers Association as a senior.
In baseball, he lettered five years and was first-team all-county as a junior in 1991 and again as a senior in 1992. As a senior, Moore led Alexandria in batting (.413), home runs (eight) and RBIs (30). On the mound, he was 8-2 with one save and a 3.75 ERA in 59 2/3 innings and was an All-State selection. He played baseball at Enterprise State as a freshman in 1993. In the fall of 1993, he accepted a scholarship offer from defending national champion Louisiana State University. In Moore’s three seasons at LSU, the Tigers won the SEC West (1994), the SEC (1995) and their third Division I national title (1996).
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