EKU Athletics Hall of Fame  |  2022 Ceremony Photo Gallery

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University inducted five distinguished individuals and a team of distinction into its Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday.
 
The 2022 induction class included: Alex Jones (women's basketball, 2009-13), Larry Marmie (football, 1962-66 & 1972-76), Chanze Patterson (softball, 2005-08), Neil Sellers (baseball, 2001-04), Jim Tanara (football, 1979-05) and the 1967 Grantland Rice Bowl champion football team.
 
The group was recognized at halftime of the Colonels' football game against Southern Utah.
 
For more information about the EKU Athletics Hall of Fame, please contact Karl Park, Executive Director of the EKU Athletics Hall of Fame, at karl.park@eku.edu.

Here are the biographies for the 2022 induction class:
 
Alex Jones (women's basketball, 2009-13)
Jones played for four years for Eastern Kentucky from 2009-2013.  She had a very steady career, playing in 115 games and averaging 29.5 minutes per game.  She finished her career with 1,290 points and 1,050 rebounds, becoming one of only two Colonels in history to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds.  She is Eastern Kentucky's all-time leading rebounder, finishing her career in grand style by averaging 10.3 rebounds her senior year.  Jones accumulated many Ohio Valley Conference recognitions during her career, including being a member of the 2009-10 all-newcomer team and second team all-conference designations her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons.  She was OVC Freshman of the Week five times, the most by any one player that season.  Jones posted career-highs of 34 points and 18 rebounds as a freshman against Morehead State.  She set a new career-best her senior year when she grabbed 21 boards, finishing that season as the OVC's top rebounder with her 10.3 per game average.  She was an outstanding free throw shooter, making more than 70 percent in each of her four years, topped in her junior season when she hit 78.8 percent.  Jones came to EKU as a top five player in Kentucky and the state's best low-post player by Blue Chip Basketball.  She was team MVP of the Kentucky-Ohio All-Star game and a two-time first team all-state choice.
 
Larry Marmie (football, 1962-66 & 1972-76)
Marmie was a four-year starter at quarterback for the football team from 1962-1965.  He started his Eastern Kentucky career playing for head coach Glenn Presnell and being named third team All-Ohio Valley Conference, setting a new school record for most yards passing with 172 against Middle Tennessee.  The Colonels were conference co-champs that year with a 4-2 league mark.  He was also adept rushing the football and picked up 242 yards that season on the ground and scored four touchdowns.  His sophomore season saw Marmie attain honorable mention All-OVC recognition as he led the team in rushing with 428 yards and throwing with 475 yards and three touchdowns.  His passing completion percentage picked up his junior season as he hit 54.8 percent of his passes while playing for first-year head coach Roy Kidd.  He also added another 334 yards rushing.  Marmie served as co-captain his senior year as he threw for 724 yards, completing 62.5 percent of his passes for a new school single season record.  He closed his career with school records for passing percentage, most passes completed in a game, career total offense yards and most yards passing in a game and a single season.  Marmie began his coaching career, which spanned 50 years, with a two-year stint as head coach at Berea High School.  His 28-year college coaching career included a five-year stint at EKU from 1972-1976.  Other coaching career highlights included serving as head coach at Arizona State University from 1988-1991 and 18 years as an assistant coach in the NFL from 1996-2015.
 
Chanze Patterson (softball, 2005-08)
Patterson started all four seasons from 2005-2008 at second base for the EKU softball team.  She put together quite a career, highlighted in 2007 with a runner-up finish for Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.  She made all-conference teams in three of her four years with the Colonels.  Patterson was a first-team All-OVC pick as a junior, while being selected second-team all-conference in 2006 and 2008.  She had a fantastic sophomore season in 2006, making only four errors in 226 chances for a .982 fielding percentage. Patterson finished her career with a .310 batting average and 70 stolen bases, which at the time of induction ranked her second on the all-time Eastern Kentucky list.  She was a part of 107 victories during her four seasons, highlighted by a 28-win season and a third-place finish in the OVC standings.

Neil Sellers (baseball, 2001-04)
Sellers started for four years for the baseball team from 2001-2004, playing both third base and second base during his career.  He was an everyday player, playing in every game in all but one season, posting batting averages of .275, .346, .407 and .351.  At the time of his induction, Sellers was Eastern Kentucky's all-time leader in doubles with 62 and in RBIs with 214, while also ranking high in at bats with 793 and hits with 279.  He was a three-time first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference player and served as team captain for two seasons.  Sellers' top season was his junior year in 2003 when he batted .407, had 24 doubles, 17 home runs and 85 RBIs, which still stands as an EKU record for RBIs in one season.  Entering his senior season, he was chosen pre-season All-America by several outlets and finished that year as a third team All-American.  He was also the only conference player selected for the nation's Fab 50 by Baseball America before his senior year.  Upon graduation, Sellers was selected in the 32nd round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Houston Astros.  He played eight plus seasons of professional baseball with the Astros, the Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins organizations.  Sellers led Class AA Reading in batting average in 2009, hitting .317 with 17 homers and 86 RBIs.  He then played for the Phillies' AAA team, Lehigh Valley, for two seasons.  He finished his career with the Marlins' Double A team in Jacksonville of the Southern League in 2011.  Sellers won many awards in his minor league career including the Unsung Hero, the Big Stick Award and the Most Inspirational Player Award in Double A. 

Jim Tanara (football, 1979-05)
Tanara came to Eastern Kentucky in 1979 to serve as the Colonels' defensive down linemen coach after 11 years on Bear Bryant's Alabama staff working with the Crimson Tide's defensive front.  He continued his career at EKU working with both head coaches Roy Kidd and Danny Hope.  Tanara was a part of 228 Colonel wins and 17 NCAA playoff appearances, including two national championship titles.  He closed his Eastern Kentucky career holding the title of defensive coordinator while also coaching the defensive line from 1999-2005.  In 2001 and 2002, his defense ranked atop the Ohio Valley Conference and was ranked among the top 10 nationally.  He guided five Colonels who received OVC Defensive Player of the Year honors – linebacker Justen Rivers, defensive back Yeremiah Bell, defensive lineman Chad Bratzke, defensive end David Wilkins and defensive tackle Aaron Jones. 
 
1967 EKU Football Team (Team of Distinction)
The 1967 football team began the wonderful Fall football tradition that we embrace.  They formed a team that was very versatile – one that had speed, talent at every position, toughness when needed, unmatched decision making and play-calling and a tremendous will to win.  It was Roy Kidd's fourth year and the groundwork had been laid with the three previous teams highlighted by the 1966 team that finished 7-3.  The '67 team finished the year as Ohio Valley Conference champs with a 5-0-2 record.  Eastern Kentucky was the OVC representative to play Ball State in the Grantland Rice Bowl which signified the NCAA champion of Division 2 schools which encompassed a 10-state area that included more than 100 schools.  The game was ABC-TV's Regional Game of the Week and it was played in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  Despite NCAA rules which prohibited the playing of freshmen in the game which took EKU's top tailback out of the game, Eastern Kentucky was still able to defeat the Cardinals 27-13 to secure the trophy on the strength of MVP for the game, quarterback Jim Guice hitting a record 16 of 19 passes and two touchdowns, plus a 60-yard fumble return for a TD by nose guard Teddy Taylor.  With 11 players receiving some sort of OVC post season recognition, Eastern Kentucky finished the year 8-1-2 and ranked fifth in the nation.