Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Induction

Langston Rogers

The 51st annual BanCorpSouth Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Induction Weekend is slated for August 2-3, highlighted by the induction banquet at the Jackson Hilton on Friday night, August 2, and also including activities at the Hall of Fame Museum on Saturday.

There will be a reception on Friday night at the Hilton beginning at 5:30 p.m., followed by the banquet at 7 p.m. Saturday’s activities include a meet and greet with Hall of Famers (9:30-11) and the annual Drawdown of Champions, sponsored by Wells Moore Simmons & Hubbard and Puckett Machinery. There will also be a silent auction of sports memorabilia and other items.

The Class of 2013 includes (in alphabetical order):

• Bill Buckner: Buckner, a native of Starkville, has the unique distinction of being selected his football team’s MVP four times in five years — at three different schools. Those schools included Starkville High, East Mississippi Junior College (where he played for Hall of Famer Bull Sullivan) and Delta State where he was an All American. Buckner also played one season at Mississippi State (1965), when he threw the first two touchdown passes in the Houston Astrodome against the University of Houston. Buckner, the state director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for 25 years, already has been inducted to the Mississippi Community College Hall of Fame, the Delta State Hall of Fame and the East Mississippi Community College Hall of Fame.

• Jimmy Giles: Giles, a native of Greenville and a former standout for Hall of Famer Marino Casem at Alcorn State, was inducted into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor in 2011. He was named to the All-Time Tampa Bay Buccaneer team in 2004 and to the All-Time NFC Central Division team in 2001. Giles, a tight end played in 188 NFL games, caught 350 passes for 5,084 yards and 41 touchdowns. He played in four Pro Bowls. Giles was All-SWAC in football and baseball at Alcorn for two seasons.

• Gerald Glass: Glass, a native of Greenwood, was named to the Ole Miss basketball All-Century Team in 2009. After graduating for Amanda Elzy at age 16, Glass starred first at Delta State where he was All-Gulf South Conference in both 1986 and 1987 and the league’s MVP in 1987. He led DSU to two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and scored 1,249 points in just two seasons. He followed Coach Ed Murphy to Ole Miss, where he was a two-time All-SEC player who averaged 24 points per game as a senior. He was a first-round draft choice of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA. Glass has returned to his high school alma mater, where he coached Amanda Elzy to a state championship in the 2011-12 season.

• Earnest Larry “Doc” Harrington: Harrington, a Hattiesburg native, served Southern Miss as head athletic trainer for 39 years and as the head tennis coach 27 years. He also served as a trainer in the Senior Bowl for 25 years. Doc served as trainer for U.S. Olympic teams and has lectured in athletic trainer clinics around the world. This will be Doc’s fifth Hall of Fame induction, following his induction into the Southeast Trainers Association Hall of Fame (2007), the Mississippi Athletic Trainer Association Hall of Fame (2003), the national Athletic Traner Association Hall of Fame (1987) and the Southern Miss Athletic Hall of Fame (1987). His USM tennis teams compiled a match record of 407-179-2.

• Langston Rogers: One of the nation’s most decorated and award-winning sports information directors, Rogers is a native of Calhoun City and a graduate of Delta State where he played baseball for Hall of Famer Boo Ferriss. Rogers has received every honor that can be bestowed upon an active or past member of CoSIDA, the national sports information directors association, including induction into the organization’s Hall of Fame. He also played baseball for Hall of Famer Bull Sullivan at East Mississippi Community College. He has been inducted into East Mississippi, CoSIDA, Delta State, Mississippi Sports Writers Association and Ole Miss Halls of Fame. He won CoSIDA’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 and served as the organization’s national president in 1980-81.

• Michael Rubenstein: The late Michael Rubenstein, a native of Booneville, was one of the founders of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and the museum’s only executive director until his death in December, 2011. Rube, as he was known, helped create the Conerly, Howell, Gillom and Ferriss trophies. The Vanderbilt honors graduate was the sports director of WLBT in Jackson from 1974 until 1991 and is generally considered the most popular and most highly rated sports anchor in Mississippi TV history. He pioneered TV coverage of Mississippi’s SWAC schools and won numerous broadcasting and reporting awards. In 2012, Boo Ferriss was named the first-ever winner of the The Rube, an award established in Rubenstein’s honor to celebrate contributions to Mississippi sports.

–– Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame