The Gainesville City School System will induct its inaugural class into the Gainesville Athletics Hall of Fame Saturday night at Scott’s Downtown.
The ceremony will honor the 1957 Fair Street Tiger football team, legendary Gainesville football coach Bobby Gruhn, athletic superstars Tasha Humphrey, Micah Owings, Cris Carpenter, Tommy West, Tommy Aaron and Thomas Paris Sr.
Gainesville High Athletics Director Adam Lindsey tossed the idea out to GCSS Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Williams and Gainesville Athletic Club President Kris Nordholz last year. The lore of Gainesville's incredible athletic history drove Lindsey to push for the idea to become a reality and, a year later, the system will honor its first class.
"Gainesville has never had a hall of fame that was affiliated with the school system," Lindsey said. "So it's kind of one of those things that I recognized right off the bat. I was kind of surprised with the 126 years of Gainesville High School that there was not a way to recognize the many athletes that had come through here."
His intention was to develop a place to recognize the many great athletes in the system's 126-year history. He also wanted to include athletes and teams from the former E.E. Butler and Fair Street high schools.
"It was a conversation I started very early on with Dr. (Jeremy) Williams and GAC president Kris Nordholz about trying to start something," he said. "It was one of the things I was excited about to start this process being new to GHS – to be able to have the opportunity to really kind of spend some time learning about all the great athletes in every sport that have come through Gainesville.
Of course, with 126 years of athletic history, the process was not easy. The HOF committee, Gainesville Superintendent Dr. Williams, Lindsey, GAC President Nordholz, GHS faculty representatives Wayne Vickery and Katie B. Davis, GHS alumni appointees Jerome Yarborough and Wesley Martin and GHS coaching staff member Kendall Gruhn sifted through the more than 40 nominations to find the inaugural class.
"There was no doubt it was a very difficult process the first year," he said. "Making sure the first class was one that everyone would be happy with. We also know that the well is not going to be running dry anytime soon with candidates.
The nomination process is open year-round. If you would like to nominate someone for the 2020 Gainesville Athletics HOF, go to www.gainesvilleredelephantathletics.com.
"We count on the community to nominate," he said. "We expect that number to continually grow each year as people continue to hear about this hall of the fame. Of those first nominations, all of them could be in this class."
Below is the inaugural class: Each inductee class with be comprised of one team, an athlete that graduated in the last 10-25 years, an athlete that graduated in the last 26-50 years, an athlete that graduated in the last 50 or more years, and an athletic supporter (i.e. coaching staff or administrative staff, media member, supporters or sponsors, volunteers, etc.).
TEAM
— 1957 Fair Street Tigers Football Team — Coach by Elbert Cabbell, the 1957 Fair Street Tigers is the only Gainesville football team to win back-to-back state championships (1956 & 1957). During that time, they outscored their opponents 673-77. The Tigers also were undefeated from Oct. 11, 1956, to Nov. 21, 1958.
Other notables:
Semifinal appearances in 1954 & 1955
ATHLETIC SUPPORTER/COACH/ADMIN
— Bobby Gruhn coached the Gainesville football team for 29 years, compiling a 256-103-5 record and is tied for 18th on the all-time win list of Georgia high school football coaches. His teams made the playoffs 23 times, were region champs 16 times, made eleven trips to the semifinals and played in the state finals four times. The football field at City Park is named for him.
Other notables:
-- 23 straight winning seasons
-- 19 sub-region titles
-- Played for state title four times
-- Four North Georgia Championships
-- Three golf state championships
-- Coached two basketball teams to the state finals
-- 1983 Athletic Director of the Year
-- 1982 National Golf Coach of the Year
-- Northeast Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
-- Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
ATHLETE CATEGORY – 10-25
— Tasha Humprey led the Gainesville Lady Red Elephants to three state titles (2001, '03-'04) and went on to become the University of Georgia's second all-time scorer and fourth all-time rebounder. Humphrey then played for Team USA in the 2007 Pan-American games, where she led the team to a gold medal. In 2008 she was drafted in the Women's National Basketball Association and played for the Detroit Shock and the Washington Mystics.
Other notables:
-- 2-time Miss Georgia Basketball
-- 2004 McDonald’s All American
-- Gold Medal USA Pan-Am Games 19U 2004
-- 2005 National and SEC Freshman of the Year
-- Three-time first team All-SEC
-- All-time UGA leader in free throw attempts
-- 11th overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft.
-- 2017 SEC Women’s basketball legend
-- A member of the Northeast Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
— Micah Owings was a dominant force for Gainesville High, helping the Red Elephants to baseball state championships in 2001-02. In two seasons, he hit 40 home runs and pitched his way to 24 wins and a 1.39 ERA. Owings played collegiately for Georgia Tech before transferring to Tulane where he played in the College World Series. He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005 and played with them for two years before joining the Cincinnati Reds.
Other notables:
High School
-- Two-time All-District, All-Region, All-State and All-American in baseball
-- 2001, 2002 Georgia state home run record
-- Holds school records for pitching and hitting
-- Helped the Gainesville basketball team to the 2001 & 2002 state final four
College Career
-- Drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the second round out of high school
-- 2003 Georgia Tech All-American, All-SEC as a freshman
-- 2004 All-ACC MVP, All-ACC, All-American
-- 2005 Conference USA Player of the Year at Tulane University, College World Series, Tulane Hall of Fame.
-- Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third round in 2005
Professional Career
-- Major League Baseball debut in 2007 against the Washington Nationals
-- 2007 MLB Silver Slugger
-- 2011 MLB 11-0 record with the Diamondbacks
-- 2017 Assistant to the general manager with the Cincinnati Reds
-- 2018 Assistant coach with the Cincinnati Reds
-- 2018 inducted into the Tulane University Baseball and Sports Hall of Fame.
ATHLETE CATEGORY – 26-50
— Tommy West helped lead the Gainesville Red Elephant football team to two state football runner-ups and was named an All-State, All-Southern and All-American while in high school. He was a four-year letterman in football, basketball and baseball. West continued his career at the University of Tennessee, playing both football and baseball. He was a fifth-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs. Instead of playing pro ball, West decided to go the coaching route. He was the head coach at UT-Chattanooga (1993), Memphis (2001-09) and, most notably, Clemson University (1993-98).
Other notables:
High School Career
-- More than 50 scholarship offers in football
-- Three-time defensive player of the year in basketball
-- Lanierland MVP
College Career
-- 32 consecutive starts at UT
-- Second-team All-SEC
-- Played in the Blue-Gray College All-Star Game
-- Drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
-- Fourth in SEC batting average in 1974
-- All-SEC baseball team in 1974
Professional Career
-- Four bowl appearances (3 Peach Bowl & one Gator Bowl) at Clemson
-- Five bowl appearances while at Memphis
-- 1995 Palmetto Coach of the year
-- Broyles Award (College football assistant coach of the year)
-- All-American Football Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award
-- Northeast Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
— Cris Carpenter was a four-year letterman in football, basketball and baseball while at Gainesville and was named the Georgia Athlete of the Year in 1984. He helped the 1983 Red Elephant football team to a 1983 state runner-up finish. He also led the basketball team to back-to-back state titles in 1983 & 1984. He was a two-time All-American pitcher and All-SEC punter for Georgia. He lettered in baseball (1985-87) and football (1985-86) and helped Georgia to its first-ever College World Series appearance in 1987 as the Bulldogs went 42-21 and finished ranked No. 7. He was drafted in the first round by the St. Louis Cardinals. He played five years with St. Louis. He also pitched for the Marlins, Rangers and Brewers in his eight-year MLB career.
ATHLETE CATEGORY – 50-plus
— Thomas Paris Sr was a four-year letterman in football, basketball, baseball and track at Gainesville. In three seasons at quarterback, he led the Red Elephants to a 29-0 record and outscored their opponents 1,200-63. He also ran to the 1924 state hurdles championship and was the district track champion in the 100 and 200-yard dash. He went on to start at quarterback at the Unversity of Georgia as a freshman, upsetting Yale, 15-0, in the inaugural game in Sanford Stadium.
Other notables:
-- Headed the recreation program at Chicopee Mill
-- Successful baseball coach and football official
-- He was an integral part of the construction of Chattahoochee Golf Course in 1958 as greens chairman and a charter member of CCC. The Tom Paris Invitational Golf Tournament was established in his honor
-- Inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1961
-- Served on the UGA Athletic Board
— Tommy Aaron is best known for winning The Masters at Augusta in 1973 but, before that, he made his mark high school. Although Aaron was a four-year letterman in football, basketball and golf, he captured the 1955 state golf championship. While at the University of Florida, Aaron became the 1957 and 1958 Southeastern Conference individual golf champion and the 1957 Georgia state amateur champion.
Other notables:
-- All-American at University of Florida
-- First-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals
