MEAC Announces 2013 Hall of Fame Class

NORFOLK, Virginia  --  The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced today the five members of its 2013 Hall of Fame Class. The inductees will be enshrined during a brunch on Friday, March 15, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Sheraton Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Hall of Fame class will also be recognized during the 2013 MEAC Basketball Tournament, March 11-16 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Virginia.

"I'd like to applaud the 2013 Hall of Fame class for all of their accomplishments both athletically and professionally," said Dennis E. Thomas, MEAC Commissioner. "They have made significant contributions to their communities, institutions and the conference."

Tickets for the induction brunch are $35 per seat or $300 per table (10 persons). Tickets can be purchased by calling the MEAC office at 757-951-2055.

The MEAC Hall of Fame highlights former student-athletes, coaches, university and/or conference administrators as well as special contributors, who have enriched the legacy of the conference since its inception in 1970. Enshrinees were selected by a 13-person committee made up of administrators and representatives from member institutions.

The inaugural Hall of Fame class was inducted on May 29, 1981, during a 10-year anniversary banquet in Greensboro, North Carolina. Since its establishment, the Hall of Fame has enshrined 118 people, including the class of 2013.

The 2013 MEAC Hall of Fame Inductees are:

Inducted as Student-Athletes:

John H. Alford, South Carolina State - Alford led a South Carolina State football defense that ranked among the best in NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) during his junior and senior seasons. The Bulldogs won three MEAC titles during his tenure (1977, 1978, 1980). As part of the 1980 team that went 10-1 overall and 5-0 in the MEAC, the 1980 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year led his team in tackles and was named an All-MEAC first team honoree and was selected to the Black College All-Star Team.

Alford was also a member of the Bulldog wrestling team. He was drafted in the 12th round of the 1981 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. Alford was inducted into the South Carolina State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 and was named to the university's Centennial (1907-2007) football team in 2007. He is currently a member and Treasurer of the former South Carolina State Athletes Association.

LOUIS BREEDEN

Louis Breeden, North Carolina Central - Breeden was a four-year letterwinner at North Carolina Central. He is tied for fourth among NCCU's career interceptions leaders with 17 and led the team in interceptions for three straight seasons (1974-1976). Breeden holds the NCCU record for career punt return average with 20.2 yards per return. He is also tied for fourth in single season interceptions with seven for NCCU. He received All-MEAC second team honors in 1974 and was an All-MEAC first team selection in 1975 and 1976. The Cincinnati Bengals selected Breeden in the seventh round of the 1977 NFL Draft, where he played 11 seasons. On November 8, 1981, he set a club record with a 102 yard interception return against San Diego. He was named to the All-Pro first team in 1982 and inducted into the NCCU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985. He was named one of NCCU's Centennial 100 Sports Legends in 2009. Breeden is a co-founder of the Curtis-Breeden Foundation, which raises over $300,000 for local charities in Cincinnati.



YVETTE LEWIS

Yvette Lewis, Hampton - Lewis, a track and field student-athlete from 2004-2007, earned four All-MEAC first team selections, three All-MEAC second accolades and one All-MEAC Third Team honors during her tenure at Hampton. She was a four-time NCAA All-American in both indoor and outdoor track and field and holds MEAC indoor track and field records in the high jump (1.78m, 2005) and individual points (48, 2006). She also holds MEAC outdoor track and field records in the triple jump (13.34m, 2007) and individual points (58, 2006). She is Ethe Hampton record holder in the indoor 200m dash (23.82), indoor long jump (6.17m), indoor triple jump (13.21m), indoor pentathlon (3,852 points), indoor individual points (48), outdoor 100m hurdles (13.06), outdoor high jump (1.78m), outdoor long jump (6.26m), outdoor triple jump (13.73m), and outdoor individual points (58). Lewis is a two-time NCAA champion, winning the indoor triple jump in 2006 and the outdoor triple jump in 2007. She has represented the USA as a professional track runner since 2007, winning a gold medal in the 2011 Pan-American Games 100m hurdles and ranking eighth in the world.

Inducted As Coaches:

COACH SHARON D. BRUMMELL

Sharon D. Brummell, Maryland Eastern Shore - Brummell coached Maryland Eastern Shore's bowling team for 14 seasons. She became the first African-American and woman to win a woman's bowling national championship in 2008. The title was also the first for a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). In 2011, under Brummell's tutelage, the Lady Hawks repeated the feat to win the team's second NCAA title. During the same season, UMES won the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC), becoming the first team to win two national championships during the same year. For her efforts, she was named National Coach of the Year in both 2008 and 2011.

Brummell is a five-time MEAC Coach of the Year (2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010). She won five MEAC titles and was named MEAC Outstanding Coach five times. From 2007-2012, she won 82-percent of her matches and amassed nearly 600 wins. She coached several MEAC Players of the Year, All-MEAC first and second team selections, National Tenpins Coaching Association (NTCA) All-Americans, and MEAC Women of the Year during her tenure.

COACH STEVE WILSON

Steve Wilson, Howard University - Wilson coached the Howard football team from 1989-2001. He led his team to an 8-3 overall record and was named MEAC Coach of the Year in his first season with the Bison. During the 1990's he recorded a 70-percent winning percentage and his team was named Black College national champions twice. His 1993 team recorded an 11-0 overall mark and competed in the NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) playoffs for the first time in school history. During that same year, Wilson earned MEAC Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career. Wilson, Howard's winningest football coach, won the Heritage Bowl in 1996. Several of his players earned All-MEAC first and second team honors, All-American accolades and Player of the Year recognition. Wilson's former players, such as Roy Anderson (Indianapolis Colts), Pep Hamilton (Offensive Coordinator at Stanford), Gary Harrell (current Howard Head Football Coach), Jay Walker (ESPN analyst) and Ted White (current Offensive Coordinator/QB's at Howard, played professionally in the National Football League (NFL).

Wilson in a member of the Black College Hall of Fame and was named a MEAC/SWAC Challenge Legend in 2012.

By MEAC MEDIA RELATIONS