Vanderbilt's Brad Gaines and Tennessee's James Stone headline Metro Hall of Fame
A former Vanderbilt football star, a former Tennessee football standout along with a ex-Vols basketball player headline the Metro Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame 2023 class.
The 10-member class includes DuPont's Brad Gaines, who went on to play at Vanderbilt (1986-89), Maplewood's James Stone, who played football at Tennessee (2010-13) and Hillwood's Charles Hathaway, who played basketball for the Vols (1996-2001).
Others in the class are Father Ryan's Scott Brunette (administrator), coaches Carlton Collier (posthumous) from Madison and Hunters Lane and Glenn Falls from Glencliff and Martin Luther King, Antioch softball player Robin Whitaker, Pearl basketball players Joe Herbert and Helen Beard along with Hillwood tennis player Brian Baker.
Gaines, a running back, broke the DuPont rushing record previously held by his brother Chris when he gained 1,324 yards in his senior season in 1985. He was one of the nation's top high school prospects and made The Tennessean All-Metro Team as a defensive back. He picked Vanderbilt over Texas, however, for the opportunity to play on offense.
At Vanderbilt, Gaines was used as a running back and receiver. He had 933 career receiving yards on 91 catches and 308 rushing yards on 90 carries.
Brad Gaines, who is also in the DuPont All-Sports Hall of Fame, became the third member of his family in the Metro Hall of Fame joining Chris and his other brother Greg.
Stone was the 2009 Tennessee Mr. Football Lineman and on The Tennessean Dream Team. He made the 2008 Tennessee Sports Writers Association 4-A All-State Team.
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Stone narrowed his college choices to Alabama, Auburn, Vanderbilt and Stanford before choosing Tennessee where he went on to make The Sporting News Freshman All-America Team. He started 24 consecutive games in his junior and senior seasons.
The 6-foot-10 Hathaway was a McDonald's All-American, Class 3A Mr. Basketball and all-state center in 1996. He averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds as a senior. He went on to start in 61 games at UT including 27 as a senior and scored 612 career points while grabbing 559 rebounds.
Brunette was an all-state wrestler on Father Ryan's first state championship team in 1969. He went on to coach at McGavock and then spent 18 years as the Metro Nashville Athletic Director before retiring in 2010. Brunette was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame that year.
Collier, a native of Erin, Tennessee, moved from Bailey Junior High after one season to become the boys' basketball coach at Madison in 1966-67. He was The Tennessean coach of the year in 1973-74. He became the first coach at Hunters Lane when it opened in 1986 and remained there 15 years. The Hunters Lane gym was named in Colliers' honor. He died in 2015.
Falls, a Joelton native, spent more than 50 years coaching in Metro. He recorded more than 1,200 victories, won the 1986 state title and made 14 state tournament appearances as the Glencliff volleyball coach. He posted a 460-297 record as the Colts girls' basketball coach (1983-2012) and made two state tournament appearances.
The Glencliff court was named in Falls' honor in 2013.
Whitaker was The Tennessean softball player of the year in 1983. She was a pitcher on the All-Nashville Interscholastic League team who went on to play at Southern Miss.
Herbert was a starting guard on the 1966 Pearl state championship team. He had 10 points and three rebounds in the second-round state tournament game against Jackson Merry and six points and five rebounds in the title game against Treadwell. Herbert went on to spend 43 years as an educator in Rutherford County.
Beard was a four-year starter at Pearl (1980-83), who made The Tennessean 1982-83 All-NIL team. She played at Fisk where she became one of the nation's leading scorers averaging 23 points per game as a senior.
Baker established himself as one of the state's top youth tennis players as a 7-year-old in 1992. As a 12-year-old competing in two age groups above his age, Baker won the 16s City Closed. He reached a No. 2 ranking in the world as a junior.
In 2000, as a freshman at Hillwood, Baker became Nashville's first public school state tennis champion in 60 years. He also became the first boys' player to reach the final in 18 years. He was The Tennessean Midstate player of the year and then chose not to compete in high school postseason tournaments, opting instead for international junior tournaments.
Baker attended Belmont and as a professional reached a No. 52 world ranking and the fourth round at Wimbledon.
The 2023 class induction ceremony will be in April.
Vol State's Jim McGuire named 2023 Mr. Baseball
Former MTSU baseball coach Jim McGuire, now at Volunteer State, was named the 2023 Mr. Baseball by the Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association.
McGuire, who played at Cumberland (1984-85), is in his second season at Vol State. He was the coach at MTSU from 2013-18 where he guided the Blue Raiders in their move from the Sun Belt to the Conference USA.
Also, longtime Crieve Hall Park umpire Pat Satterfield was inducted into the Umpires Hall of Fame and Jim Pittman into the Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday at the Nashville Old Timer’s Baseball Association banquet.
MTSU's Jordan Ferguson named Hula Bowl MVP
MTSU defensive end Jordan Ferguson was the most valuable defensive player in the Hula Bowl.
Ferguson had two sacks and forced a fumble.
Ferguson, an Atlanta native who finished one sack shy of the MTSU career record with 21, also was named MVP of the Hawaii Bowl after helping to lead the Blue Raiders to a 25-23 win over San Diego State.
His performances in the two bowl games likely improved Ferguson's NFL draft status.
Former Mr. Football Devon Starling transferring from TSU to Northern Arizona
Former Cane Ridge running back Devon Starling, who spent the last three seasons at TSU, is transferring to Northern Arizona.
Starling, the 2018 Class 6A Mr. Football, rushed for 1,947 yards and seven touchdowns at TSU. He was the Tigers' second-leading rusher behind Jalen Rouse last season.
Starling was a HERO Sports FCS Sophomore All-American and an All-OVC selection in 2021.
He spent the 2019 season as a redshirt freshman at Memphis.
Trevecca will revamp TPS athletic facilities
In conjunction with the city, Trevecca will restore the football field and track and field facilities at old Tennessee Preparatory School.
Trevecca will use the football field for the women’s lacrosse team it will launch in the spring. The Trojans track and field teams, which currently don't have a home facility, will use the historic track. The facilities stopped being used when TPS closed in 2002.
East Nashville's football team used the TPS field in 2008 before its new stadium was built.
Austin Selby, who coaches the Trevecca men’s and women’s track and field teams, came up with the idea to revamp the facility where the TSSAA state meet and the Buster Relays, which served as a tune-up for the state meet for local teams, were once held.
Trevecca’s track teams have used the facility for practice for several years. After the renovation, Trevecca plans to host NCAA-level events at TPS, including conference championships.
Trevecca currently uses several different high school tracks in the area for practice and home meets.
Construction will begin in the summer and the first competitions will take place in the spring of 2024.
McGavock alumni baseball game set for March 12
A McGavock alumni baseball game will be played on March 12 at noon.
The game will be played on McGavock’s field, which will be open at 10:30 a.m. for warmups.
Any former Raider is eligible to play.
Cumberland installing artificial turf
Cumberland will install artificial turf at the Nokes-Lasater football field after the 2023 football season.
The hope is that adding turf in place of grass will make the field more durable and lessen injuries by being more slip-resistant.
“Although we planned to break ground this spring, continued supply chain issues and increased material costs have delayed our original timeline,” athletic director Ron Pavan said.
Other aspects of the project are expected to proceed throughout the year including the installation of a new scoreboard and the building of a recruiting pavilion.
Roosevelt Sanders receives top TSSAA award
Former Metro Public Schools athletic director Roosevelt Sanders received the 2022-23 TSSAA Distinguished Service Award winner.
Sanders was a basketball standout at Glencliff in the late 1970s. After graduating from Austin Peay, where he also played basketball, Sanders returned to Glencliff as a teacher and coach in 1984 and remained in the Metro Schools system for 38 years.
He served as the system’s athletic director from 2010-2021 and in 2018 was named the TSSAA High School Athletic Director of the Year.
Mississippi Valley's Jalen Bell transferring to TSU
Former Mississippi Valley State defensive lineman Jalen Bell is transferring to Tennessee State.
Bell, a Detroit native, is a junior who was the Delta Devils’ fifth-leading tackler last season with 43 total stops. He had 10.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks along with two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
440 Sports adds Paul Kuharsky podcast
Independent Nashville sports network 440 Sports added the “The Paul Kuharsky Podcast” to its line-up of shows.
“We are ecstatic to become the exclusive distributor of The Paul Kuharsky Podcast and to partner with PaulKuharsky.com to provide Titans fans with the best possible audio and video content,” 440 Sports owner Braden Gall said. “Paul has long embodied the style of content and community that we at 440 have strived to deliver.”
After two decades of covering the Titans including a stint at The Tennessean, Kuharsky launched his web side in 2017.
Tennessee Tech will play SEC football opponents in 2024, 2025 and 2026
The Tennessee Tech football team has added Kentucky to its 2025 schedule. The Golden Eagles will travel to Lexington on Nov. 15 of that season.
Tech now has games scheduled against SEC opponents for three consecutive seasons. The Golden Eagles will play at Georgia on Sept. 7, 2024, and at Mississippi State on Nov. 21, 2026.
Ten inducted into Riverdale Basketball Hall of Fame
The 2023 Riverdale High Basketball Hall of Fame was inducted last week.
It included John Cheesebrew, Natalie Lanning Forkum, Ashley Henry, Heather Jones, Angie Nobles, Jimmy Oden, Rachel Short Krueger, Candace Spurlock, Alex Middleton, Jimmy Oden and Kenny Wilson.
Austin Peay's Governor Peay finishes second in mascot competition
Austin Peay’s mascot Governor Peay finished second in the Open Mascot Division at the Universal Cheerleading and Universal Dance Association national championship at Walt Disney World Resort.
Delaware’s fighting blue hen YouDee mascot finished first. Austin Peay’s cheer team finished fourth in the Small Coed Division I competition.
Cumberland baseball banquet is Jan. 27
Cumberland’s baseball team will host its annual Leadoff Dinner and Auction on Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m.
The event will be at the Alumni Hall on campus and the first live dinner since COVID-19 faced the event to switch to online.
Former Cumberland catcher Marc Suarez (1996-97) will be honored during the event.
The cost is $25 per person. Tickets are available at bit.ly/3wdLFWl.
If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football's Brad Gaines headlines Metro Sports Hall of Fame
