The Mount Olive College Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2009 was
inducted Saturday during ceremonies at the Lois K. Murphy Regional
Center on the Mount Olive campus. Matt Dudley (men’s
soccer/men's tennis), Billy Lee (men’s basketball), Heather
Parker Collier (softball) and Patrick Riley (baseball) comprise the
fourth Hall of Fame class. The induction ceremony was part of the
MOC Alumni Weekend and Pickle Classic festivities.
Inductees were allowed to choose their presenter. Three of the
inductees chose the coach they played for at Mount Olive.
More than 10 years after his collegiate athletics career
concluded, Matt Dudley '00 remains the Trojan men’s soccer
all-time goal-scoring and career-scoring leader. A three-time
All-Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference selection, Dudley
tallied 40 career goals and 93 career points. His 18 goals in 1996
are the second-highest single-season total in school history. The
Trojans were conference tournament runners-up in 1996 and earned a
school-record third-place finish in the conference regular season
standings.
Dudley gave special thanks to his collegiate coach Philmore
George, who presented the award to Dudley.
“You weren’t just my college coach, but you
instilled in me that soccer was a means for me to get my
education,” said Dudley.
George noted that Dudley made an impact on his life and on Mount
Olive College, but also let those in attendance know that Dudley
had his mischievous side.
“I had an old white car and after working late in the
office, I went out to the parking lot and my car was gone,”
said George. “I saw my car at the end of the soccer field
with black dots painted on it to look like a cow in a pasture. Matt
never admitted to being part of it, but I know how creative he
is!”
Billy Lee '69 was a member of the men’s basketball team
and went on to embark on a successful 30-year basketball coaching
career, amassing more than 400 victories at the collegiate and high
school levels. His greatest success came during his 18-year tenure
at Campbell University, earning Big South Men’s Basketball
Coach of the Year honors in 1986-87 and 1993-94, and also being
named 1995-96 Atlantic Sun Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year
after Campbell changed conferences. Lee guided Campbell to the 1992
Big South championship and the school’s first-ever NCAA
Tournament berth, where the Camels faced eventual national champion
Duke in the first round. Lee currently serves as a color
commentator for college basketball telecasts on MASN (Mid-Atlantic
Sports Network).
Lee’s acceptance speech included a story about the 1992
Big South Conference Tournament championship game which propelled
his Campbell team into the NCAA Tournament.
“I told my team all we had to do was inbound the ball and
hit our free throws, and we’re in the NCAA Tournament,”
said Lee, who is married to Trojan head women’s basketball
coach Wendy Lee. “In the huddle, one of my players says first
we’re going to pray. I don’t want to take any chances,
so I bow my head. He prays, ‘Please, please, please, let us
get the ball inbounds.’ I elbow him and the side and tell him
‘Don’t forget the free throws.’”
Lee’s high school coach Jimmy Williams presented the award
to Lee.
“We all know Billy was an outstanding athlete,” said
Williams. “You can read his bio in the program or you can ask
Billy yourself.”
Heather Parker Collier '98 became the first Mount Olive College
student-athlete in any sport to be named as an Academic
All-American, earning first team honors in 1998. A two-time
All-Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference outfielder, Collier
holds Trojan single-season records for most hits and most triples,
as well as the career record for most triples. Her career .379
batting average is the third highest in school history and she also
owns the second and fifth highest single-season batting averages,
.454 in 1998 and .425 in 1996. Mount Olive won the regular season
conference title in 1997 and was conference tournament runner-up in
1998.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t cry,” Collier
said, fighting back tears during her acceptance speech. Currently
coaching high school softball in Texas, Collier added, “I
love Mount Olive. If I could, I’d have all my players come
here.”
Collier chose her college coach and current Longwood University
head softball coach Kathy Riley to present her award.
“Mount Olive College is based on faith, commitment and
excellence,” said Riley. “I couldn’t have found a
better ambassador than Heather.”
Patrick Riley '84 was part of the Mount Olive College baseball
team that came within one game of reaching the National Junior
College World Series, just three years after the baseball program
was reinstated at Mount Olive. Riley was the 1983 Eastern
Conference Player of the Year and earned All-America honorable
mention. He batted .414 in 1983 with four home runs and 23 runs
batted in. Riley led the Trojans in the championship game of the
Eastern Conference Tournament with a home run and three rbi. He
went on to play two years at Division I Western Carolina, where he
broke the school single-season home run record with 15 home
runs.
“I want to thank Heather for crying so it’ll be okay
for me to cry,” said Riley. “I took a public speaking
course while I was here at Mount Olive. At the time, I didn’t
know why I needed to take the course since I didn’t plan on
doing any public speaking. But now 25 years later, here I am and
I’m getting to put the course to good use.”
Riley’s Trojan baseball coach and 2007 Mount Olive College
Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Larry Dean presented his award.
Dean talked about a play Riley made that helped start a
championship tradition for Mount Olive College baseball.
“It was the championship game of the 1983 Easter
Conference Tournament, just a few years after baseball had been
revived at Mount Olive,” said Dean. “Tie ballgame,
bottom of the ninth and runners on first and third. Patrick is at
the plate and delivers the game-winning single to win the
championship and put us in the district tournament. That was a
momentous accomplishment for the program.”
This year’s class brings the total number of inductees up
to 16. The inaugural class, inducted in 2006, was comprised of
Kenney Moore (baseball), Larry Nance (athletics director/coach),
Clarence Rose (men’s golf), Ray Scarborough (friend of the
college/baseball) and Russell Stephens (men’s basketball).
The Class of 2007 featured Jimmy Adams (athletics director/coach),
Charles Davis (baseball), Larry Dean (athletics director/coach) and
Sarah Leonard Richardson (women’s basketball). Last
year’s class was comprised of Bill Clingan (coach), Candy
Tefertiller (women’s basketball/women’s
volleyball/women’s tennis) and Darwin Carr (men’s
basketball/men’s tennis).
