By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the 100 years Tennessee Tech has fielded a varsity men's basketball team since 1922-23, there have been a tremendous wealth of exciting players, legendary moments, and fantastic finishes. Among the cream of Tech's crop, there are student-athletes who went on to become award winners, professional players, and even Hall of Famers.
To coincide with Tech Men's Basketball's 100th Anniversary Celebration event during Homecoming weekend (Nov. 4-5), a team encompassing all 100 varsity seasons between 1922-23 and 2021-22 has been created to embody the success of the program in its first century.
The selection undertook several stages with an inaugural matrix of more than 150 names taken across every roster in program history, taking into account several criteria, including 1,000-point scorers, Ohio Valley Conference champions, Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Famers, All-American honors, All-OVC awards, drafts into professional leagues, as well as individual game, season, and career records. Following the initial recommendation, the list was refined by a select committee, whittling the candidates down to 100 names over the program's 100 years.
There's no question there are notable omissions, but to create a broad picture of the entire 100-year history to date and be equitable to every era of Golden Eagle men's basketball, it is difficult to get every legendary player in on a list of 100. However, we feel confident that the list presented is a tremendous representation of the program's first century.
Here is the Tennessee Tech Men's Basketball All-Century Team:
COACHES:
John Oldham | Championships 1956, 1957, 1963 | 118-83
Tom Deaton | Championship 1985 | 106-119
Jeff Lebo | Championships 2001, 2002 | 75-43
Mike Sutton | Championship 2005 | 149-130
STUDENT-ATHLETES:
Eddie "Jelly" Watson | G | 1922-28
Albert Jobe | G/F | 1927-30
Joe Sills | C | 1927-31
David Williamson | G | 1927-33
Earl Carrier | F | 1929-34
Elwin "Wink" Midgett | F | 1930-34
Banis Norris | G | 1931-35
Raymond "Bull" Brown | G/F | 1933-37
Homer Hamdorff | F | 1936-39
Hulon Draper | G | 1937-40
Glen "Pete" Davis | G | 1938-42
Dr. William Headrick | F | 1941-43
Charles Pangle | G | 1943-45
James "Red" Jarrell | C | 1944, 46-49
L.D. "Speedy" Carden | F | 1946-50
Don Cook | G | 1948-51
Flavious Smith | F | 1948-52
Tommy Downing | F | 1949-53
Paul Hughes | F | 1951-54
Bruce Harris | F | 1952-56
Herbie Merritt | C | 1953-57
Kenny Sidwell | G | 1954-58
Jimmy Hagan | C | 1957-60
Ron Shumate | F | 1957-61
Tommy McKinney | F | 1959-62
Tom Rychener | G | 1960-63
Bobby Young | F | 1961-64
Charles Wood | F | 1962-65
Ron Filipek | F | 1964-67
Dave Pratt | G | 1964-67
Henry Jordan | F | 1965-66
Frank Bartleson | F | 1966-69
Jim Sutton | G | 1966-69
Ron Sutton | F | 1967-70
Rich Stone | F | 1969-73
Wayne Pack | G | 1970-73
Al Lewis | G | 1970-73
Frank Jones | G | 1972-76
Tony DiLeo | G | 1973-75
Tom Schmidt | F | 1973-76
Bobby Porter | C | 1973-78
Jimmy Howell | G | 1975-79
Brian Troupe | F | 1977-79
Marc Burnett | G/F | 1977-82
Pete Abuls | F | 1978-82
Steve Taylor | C | 1981-83
Carlton Clarington | G | 1981-85
Lonnie Boone | F | 1981-85
Jimmy Elliott | G | 1982-85
Stephen Kite | F | 1982-86
Anthony Avery | G | 1985-89
Earl Wise | F | 1986-90
Milos Babic | C | 1987-90
Jerome Rodgers | F | 1987-91
Van Usher | G | 1989-92
John Best | F | 1989-93
Mitch Cupples | G | 1989-93
Charles Edmonson | F | 1990-92
Maurice Houston | G | 1990-94
Rob West | G | 1990-94
Greg Bibb | F | 1992-96
Carlos Floyd | G/F | 1993-94
Lorenzo Coleman | C | 1993-97
Chris Turner | G | 1994-97
Ryan Black | G | 1995-97
Ricky Cabrera | G | 1996-98
DeAntoine Beasley | G | 1997-02
Josh Heard | G | 1998-00
Corey Hemphill | G | 1998-00
Joey Westmoreland | F | 1998-02
Larrie Smith | F | 1999-01
Brent Jolly | G | 1999-03
Leigh Gayden | G | 1999-04
Cameron Crisp | G | 2000-04
Damien Kinloch | C | 2001-03
Greg Morgan | C | 2001-03
Milone Clark | G | 2002-06
Keyon Boyd | G | 2002-06
Willie Jenkins | F | 2003-05
Jonathan Jones | F | 2003-07
Anthony Fisher | G | 2004-08
Amadi McKenzie | F | 2004-08
Belton Rivers | G | 2005-07
Frank Davis | G | 2006-10
Daniel Northern | C |2007-09
Elijah Muhammad | G | 2008-10
Kevin Murphy | G/F | 2008-12
Zach Bailey | G | 2008-12
Jud Dillard | G | 2009-13
Dennis Ogbe | F | 2010-14
Jeremiah Samarrippas | G | 2012-14
Anthony Morse | F | 2012-16
Charles Jackson | C | 2014-15
Torrance Rowe | G | 2014-16
Aleksa Jugovic | G | 2014-18
Ryan Martin | F | 2015-16
Curtis Phillips Jr. | F | 2016-18
Kajon Mack | G | 2016-18
Micaiah Henry | C | 2016-19
Jr. Clay | G | 2018-22
