ARKANSAS RAZORBACK AFRICAN AMERICAN ATHLETES Recognizing Coaches John McDonnell and Norm DeBriyn
ARKANSAS RAZORBACK AFRICAN AMERICAN ATHLETES
Recognizing Coaches John McDonnell and Norm DeBriyn
Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (MTCC), a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, in partnership with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville will host the ARKANSAS RAZORBACK AFRICAN AMERICAN ATHLETES Recognizing Track Coach John McDonnell and Baseball Coach Norm DeBriyn. The event will take place at the MTCC Auditorium, located at 501 W. 9th in Little Rock, on Friday, February 25, 2011, at 10:00 A.M. This event is FREE and open to the public.
The event will acknowledge the 40-year racial integration history of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. the athletes who broke barriers will offer recollections. Muskie Harris, former Razorback football player, is spearheading this effort. “I grew up in a segregated world and playing for the Razorbacks was an opportunity to improve my life and my family,” Muskie Harris said.
Coach Norm DeBriyn has the most wins as a coach in Arkansas baseball history. DeBriyn coached the Hogs to Southwest Conference championships in 1989 and 1990 and going into the 1992 season he had taken the Razorbacks to 10 NCAA tournaments, including four trips to the College World Series. Coach McDonnell is the most successful coach of any sport in the history of Arkansas athletics. His teams dominated the sport in the decade of the 1980s, winning 24 Southwest Conference championships and 10 national titles in indoor track, cross country and outdoor track during the decade. McDonnell’s teams had won 35 SWC championships entering the fall of 1990.
For more information please call 501-683-3593 or email crystal@arkansasheritage.org.
Since 1975, the Department of Arkansas Heritage has been committed to the discovery, preservation and presentation of our state’s natural and cultural heritage. In addition to the MTCC, the department accomplishes its goals through the work of six other agencies: the Arkansas Arts Council, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Historic Arkansas Museum and the Old State House Museum.
