Three members were inducted into the Trojan Hall of
Fame, as well as the first ever recipient of the Hall of Fame
Pioneer Award, Saturday afternoon in the Lois K. Murphy Regional
Center on the campus of Mount Olive College.
Tangela (Grant) Faulkner, Scott McKee, Mike Neill, and the
1965-66 Men's Basketball Team were the 2013 inductees into the
Trojan Hall of Fame.
A three-sport student-athlete, Tangela (Grant) Faulkner earned All-
CVAC (Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference, now Conference
Carolinas) honors in basketball in each of her two years at Mount
Olive after transferring to MOC. As a junior, she ranked fifth in
the nation with a school record 22.7 points per game scoring
average during the 1996-97 season. Her 600 points that year remain
the second highest single-season total and her 35-point performance
against Belmont Abbey is still the third highest single-game
scoring total in school history. She added 452 points in her senior
year to put become the only player in Trojan women's basketball
history (since becoming a four-year college in 1985) to surpass the
1,000-point mark in just two seasons.
Grant led the Trojan volleyball team in kills and blocks in her
junior year, and was an all-conference selection as a senior. She
had the second highest hitting percentage in the conference and
ranked fifth in kills. Mount Olive won the 1997 CVAC Women's
Volleyball Championship for the Trojans' lone conference tournament
title. In addition to basketball and volleyball, Grant also
competed in cross country. She is married to Trojan baseball alum
Jeremy Faulkner.
"My team mates made me look great and I accept this on
behalf of everyone I have ever played with. God used Mount Olive
College to make my dreams come true" said Grant upon being inducted
into the Hall of Fame.
Scott McKee was a three-year starting catcher for the Trojans,
earning All-America and Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference
Player of the Year honors in 1997. He batted .409 that year for
what was the second highest single-season batting average in Trojan
history at that time. McKee was also an All-CVAC first team
selection in 1999.
McKee was part of the 1999 team that posted a 48-9 record, which
was the highest single-season win total until the Trojans' 49-win
season in 2007. Mount Olive compiled a 120-42 record with three
NCAA Tournament appearances, three conference tournament
championships and three regular season titles during McKee's three
years.
McKee shared an emotional moment saying "the best part
of my career at Mount Olive College was playing with my
brother Trey".
Mike Neill was at Mount Olive for two years and was a teammate of
McKee in 1997 and 1998. Neill's .402 career batting average was the
best in Trojan baseball history until 2012 and is just one point
behind the all-time record. In 1998, Neill batted a then-school
record .419, now the sixth highest single-season batting average in
Trojan history.
Neill was an All-CVAC first team selection in each of his two years
at Mount Olive. He also earned All-America honors in 1998.
"I want to dedicate this to my sister, she has been an
inspiration to me and I love her very much" said Neill in his
closing remarks.
While men's basketball was not the first sport Mount Olive College
sponsored, it is the longest-running Trojan sport. (Mount Olive
added baseball the previous year, but the sport was discontinued
before being reinstated in 1980.)
The inaugural Mount Olive College Pickle Classic (originally called
the Holiday Classic) took place during the 1965-66 season. The
first tournament was won by Southwood College and the Most Valuable
Player was eventual college and pro basketball Hall of Famer
"Pistol" Pete Maravich.
Bobby Frank was the Trojans' first-ever head men's basketball
coach. The 1965-66 roster included Tim Daniels, Duane Gwyn, Willie
Houston, Tyrone Lucas, Dickie Reaves, Doug Simmons, Gary Steppler,
George Thigpen, Jackie Turlington, Gerald Waddell and Johnnie
Wadsworth.
Jackie Turlington spoke on behalf of the players and Coach Bobby
Frank, and said "it was fun and I will never forget those years and
I am so glad that I came here. I am very grateful to speak upon the
pioneer team".
This year's class is the eighth Hall of Fame Class and brings the
total number of individual inductees up to 28. The 1965-66 men's
basketball team joins the 1992 baseball team as the only teams to
be inducted.
