Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame
Members of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2021 gather before Friday night’s ceremony at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. They are (from left) Lawson Pilgrim, Lance Harter, Jesse Mason Jr., Kevin Kelley, Tim Horton and Billy Joe Murray. Fellow inductees Johnny Ray, Joe Johnson and Lisa Cornwell were not in attendance.
Even when University of Arkansas women’s track and field Coach Lance Harter isn’t recruiting, he’s recruiting.
“If any of you out there are really good and can run fast or jump high, I’ll be glad to meet you afterwards,” Harter jokingly told those in the audience during the 63rd annual Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame banquet Friday night. “But just in a coincidental fashion because the NCAA frowns on that until June 1.”
Harter was full of appreciation for those who actively recruited him and eight others into the state’s most prestigious sports group in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
Attendance numbers for this year’s ceremony were way up compared to the 2020 event when the turnout was limited because of covid-19. Coronavirus guidelines, such as wearing a mask while outside the Wally Allen Ballroom, were still in place, but that did little to dampen the mood.
“Tim [Horton], when he was in high school, held the Conway record, and I’m so old, I don’t know if it was the 100-yard or 100-meter dash,” Greg Flesher, the Hall of Fame’s outgoing president, said of the former Arkansas letter-winner who was inducted Friday. “When I was watching, I always thought he was our slow white receiver at Arkansas. He really wasn’t.”
This year’s group featured inductees from five different sports, including four who made their marks in basketball.
Joining Harter and Horton in the class were Lisa Cornwell (golf), Jesse Mason Jr. (basketball), Johnny Ray (baseball), Lawson Pilgrim (basketball), Kevin Kelley (football), Joe Johnson (basketball) and Billy Joe Murray (basketball).
Concerns about covid-19 kept Cornwell and Ray from taking part in the celebration. Johnson was unable to attend because of a scheduled workout with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.
Ray, who was a two-time all-Southwest Conference second baseman at Arkansas and put together a 10-year Major League Baseball career, had his induction accepted by his college coach and 1991 Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Norm DeBriyn. Cornwell expressed her gratitude in a video that was played during the ceremony.
“I look at some of the backgrounds and resumes of not just my fellow inductees, but people who have been inducted in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame over the years,” she said. “I promise you, everyone I talk to tells me how special it is, how big it is. That’s why I’m very hopeful to come back next year just to watch the ceremony in person.”
Each of the recipients offered their gratitude in their speeches, all of which drew extended applause. Murray, who received a kidney transplant last year, shared his feelings about the honor in detail while showering praise on his mother, Roxie.
“I just thank the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame for the nomination and all those who voted for me,” said Murray, who was a two-time All-Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference performer at Arkansas Tech in 1974-75 before going on to capture seven high school boys state basketball championships during a 38year coaching career. “I owe it all to my mother. If my mother was still alive, she’d have a real big smile on her face. I know now she’s smiling down from heaven.”