Inductees reminisce about good, old SWC days

Dan Hampton wasn't in attendance at the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame ceremony Monday afternoon in Little Rock, but he couldn't resist taking a shot at the Arkansas Razorbacks' most hated rival from the SWC days, via tape.

Hampton, an All-American defensive lineman at Arkansas in 1975-1978, recalled the Razorbacks' 28-21 loss to Texas in 1978 in Austin, Texas.

"Due to some really crappy calls by the officials, it led us to get out of the conference," said Hampton, who works as a TV analyst for a Fox affiliate in Chicago, drawing a roar from the crowd at the Embassy Suites. "We had a chance to run the table, but we lost."

Arkansas, which was the only non-Texas school in the Southwest Conference, left the league after the 1991 season and the Razorbacks began playing in the SEC in 1992.

For the third consecutive year, former Arkansas athletes were honored by the defunct conference's hall of fame.

The 2016 class of former Arkansas athletes and coaches included Hampton, football players Quinn Grovey and Cliff Powell, basketball player Lee Mayberry, baseball player Kevin McReynolds, track and field stars Joe Falcon and Frank O'Mara, golfer R.H. Sikes and women's track coach and women's athletic director Bev Lewis.

Before the inductees spoke, emcee David Bazzel, Arkansas fan Canaan Sandy and country music star Justin Moore, of Poyen, led the crowd in the Hog call.

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.

Grovey, a three-year starter at quarterback, led the Razorbacks to two consecutive Southwest Conference titles in 1988 and 1989. He passed for 4,496 yards and rushed for 1,746 yards in his career at Arkansas.

When he was recruited by then-Arkansas Coach Ken Hatfield, Grovey, a native of Duncan, Okla., had big goals in mind for his college football career.

"I told you, 'I wasn't coming to win games, I was coming to win championships,' " Grovey remembered telling Hatfield. "And we did."

Grovey credited Hatfield for his career at Arkansas and said he was glad to play for him.

"Just know, the opportunity you gave me to be the quarterback at the University of Arkansas was a life-changing opportunity," said Grovey, who is currently the sideline reporter on the Razorbacks' football radio broadcasts. "I wouldn't be here today without you."

McReynolds, who went to high school at Sylvan Hills, helped lead the Razorbacks to the 1979 College World Series as a freshman. He was an All-American and All-SWC player in 1980 and 1981 before being drafted by the San Diego Padres with the sixth overall pick in the 1981 major league draft. McReynolds played 12 seasons for the Padres, New York Mets and Kansas City Royals.

McReynolds' speech was short, but he credited his coach Norm DeBriyn, also a Southwest Conference Hall of Famer, for his success at Arkansas.

"It was a great run," McReynolds said. "I'll say thanks to the coaches because other than my parents, nobody else really put that much interest in me like that."

When Hampton arrived at Arkansas in 1975, he joked that he and his teammates all played 8-track tapes. But playing in the Southwest Conference was a memory that Hampton cherishes to this day, despite his feelings on the 1978 Texas game.

"Even though the Southwest Conference went the way of the cassette and the 8-track, it doesn't diminish the fact that at that one moment, those great days and years of the 70s, it was the best football conference in America," Hampton said. "At any one time in a season, we would have four of five teams in the top 10. Texas, Texas A&M, SMU and of course, what we did at Arkansas was fantastic."

Mayberry was part of three Southwest Conference championship teams with the men's basketball team in 1989, 1990 and 1991. The Southwest Conference Tournament was held at Dallas' Reunion Arena during Mayberry's Arkansas career and he didn't forget how Razorbacks fans supported their team.

"One of the most memorable times was when the state of Arkansas took over the city of Dallas during the Southwest Conference tournament," Mayberry said. "I can remember being on the bus driving through the city and pulling up at the arena. It was Barnhill South with Razorbacks paraphernalia, red and white everywhere."

Sports on 10/25/2016