SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE HALL OF FAME

Hooray for Hogs

SWC inductees, OT victory applauded

Southwest Conference Hall of Fame inductees Wayne Martin, Chuck Dicus and Bill Burnett talk together before their induction ceremony on Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
Southwest Conference Hall of Fame inductees Wayne Martin, Chuck Dicus and Bill Burnett talk together before their induction ceremony on Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

There were two causes for celebration Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club -- one scheduled, the other impossible to predict.

The planned program was the induction of nine former Arkansas athletes into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame.

The audience at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock warmly greeted an induction class that included former Arkansas football Coach Ken Hatfield, former Arkansas football players Bill Burnett, Chuck Dicus, Wayne Harris, Wayne Martin and Billy Ray Smith Jr., along with basketball stars Todd Day (1991 SWC player of the year) and Bettye Fiscus, along with the late distance runner Niall O'Shaughnessy.

Club members cheered again when emcee David Bazzel and his Little Rock Touchdown Club staff played the radio play-by-play audio from Chuck Barrett and Keith Jackson describing the fourth-and-25 lateral for the Razorbacks that extended the game and eventually led to a 53-52 victory over Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.

Hatfield, who coached at Arkansas in 1984-1989, credited offensive lineman Dan Skipper for deflecting tight end Hunter Henry's lateral pass to running back Alex Collins, who went on to get the first down.

"I'm just glad Skipper was at least 6-10 and not 6-4," Hatfield said. "If he had not been able to tip that ball, we wouldn't have won the game."

Hatfield was Arkansas' coach near the end of the Razorbacks' 76-year tenure as a member of the SWC (1915-1991) before Arkansas joined the SEC.

The SWC dissolved in 1996, and its property rights were transferred to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. In 2013, the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame was created.

Arkansas was the only non-Texas school in the conference during its heyday and Hatfield called the SWC the most unique conference in college sports, past or present.

"There was so much pride wearing the red and white in every stadium in the Southwest Conference," Hatfield said. "I'd also like to thank the most rabid and the craziest fans in all of the world. There's nobody you see that has the guts to wear them Hog hats and them Hog noses all over Texas and get up and call the Hogs. They're special and they're unique."

Burnett, a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, played at Arkansas in 1968-1970 and holds the school records in single-season rushing carries and career rushing touchdowns (46). He rushed for 2,204 yards and 46 touchdowns on 526 carries, earning All-SWC honors in 1969 and 1970. He led the SWC with 900 rushing yards in 1969.

During his speech, Burnett talked about being the No. 9 tailback on the Razorbacks' depth chart early in his career. He was sitting in a pole-vault pit during a spring scrimmage when assistant coach Charley Coffee yelled, 'Put Burnett in there. He'll run it.'"

Burnett came on the field and went on to become one of Arkansas greatest all-time football players.

Day was a four-year letterman for Nolan Richardson at Arkansas from 1989-1992. He remains the leading Razorbacks basketball scorer with 2,395 points.

When asked by his son what it meant to be inducted in a hall of fame, Day was humbled.

"It's validation that I gave my all to a sport," said Day, who led Arkansas to the Final Four in 1990 and was drafted eighth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1992 NBA Draft. "I gave great sacrifices -- some good, some bad -- for the love of the game. It means that all the hard work, sweat, tears, frustration, cussing outs, joy, pain, would be recognized forever.

"I'll be recognized as a contributor to the Arkansas basketball program for years to come."

Dicus left Arkansas after the 1970 season as the school's top wide receiver. He compiled 118 catches and 1,854 yards in three seasons (1968-1970), which are still the program's career records.

Fiscus was the first Arkansas women's basketball player to score 1,000 points and became the only player in school history to score more than 2,000 points. She averaged 18.5 points per game during her career and her No. 5 was the first basketball number to be retired at Arkansas, male or female.

Harris, nicknamed "The Thumper" for being a hard-hitting linebacker, was a two-time All-SWC player in 1959 and 1960 and was the SWC's most outstanding player in 1960. He died in June at the age of 77 from vascular dementia and his wife Anne accepted Monday's SWC honor for him.

Martin is still the school's career leader in sacks with 25.5. He helped lead the Razorbacks to four bowl games and a SWC championship in 1988. Following his career at Arkansas, Martin played 11 seasons with the New Orleans Saints.

O'Shaughnessy, who died in September at 59 from brain cancer, holds the Arkansas record in the mile with a time of 3:55.4, the ninth-best in collegiate history, and helped Coach John McDonnell set the standard for what have become the most successful cross country and track and field programs in NCAA history.

Smith was a two-time All American and All-SWC defensive end. He had 299 career tackles at Arkansas in 1979-1982 and was a first-round draft pick of the San Diego Chargers in 1983, spending his entire 10-year career with the AFC West team.

Day summed up the feelings of a Razorback in a Texas-based conference.

"A wise man once said, and he's not from Texas," Day said. "He said, 'When a Razorback is born, a Razorback is bred. And when I die, I'll be Razorback dead."

Sports on 11/10/2015

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