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BLUE RAIDER HALL OF FAME
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    • Jayhawk Owens

    Inducted: 2012
    Sports: Baseball

    Claude Jayhawk Owens II was one of the best baseball players to ever attend MTSU. He became a Blue Raider despite having been drafted in the second round by the Boston Red Sox out of high school. Recruited by John Stanford and coached by Steve Peterson, Owens was moved from outfield to catcher his sophomore season and from there his career blossomed.

    A pure athlete with exceptional speed, Owens was named to the All-OVC team in 1988 and was the league's Player of the Year in 1990. At the conclusion of his junior year, Owens became the Blue Raiders' highest-ever MLB draft pick when he was taken in the second round by the Minnesota Twins. By the time he was 24, Owens was the starting catcher for Colorado but a thumb injury ended his career after only four years with the Rockies.

    Class of 2012

    Mike Caldwell
    Football

    Diane Cummings Turnham
    Athletic Administration

    Harry Gupton
    Basketball, Baseball

    Tawanya Mucker Wilson
    Basketball

    Jayhawk Owens
    Baseball

    History of the Hall of Fame

    In the early spring of 1975, a pair of long-time supporters of Middle Tennessee State University's athletic program decided that the University should honor its greatest athletes. Homer Pittard, alumni director, and Gene Sloan, public relations director, came up with the idea and asked sports information director Jim Freeman to join them in setting up an athletic hall of fame.

    After getting approval for the Hall of Fame from President M. G. Scarlett, the trio began laying the groundwork to select the first inductees. Others, including Bob Womack and Joe Nunley, were also involved.

    "We decided not to have categories but to put all candidates in one group," said Freeman. "We also decided against inducting a large group to start with and felt that three per year was the ideal number. That way, everyone got a good share of the spotlight."

    The nominating and voting for the first several years was done by members of the old "T" Club, now reorganized and called the Varsity Club. Nominations were solicited, and the the list of candidates was mailed to the voters. They selected Horace Jones, Charles "Bubber" Murphy and Teddy Morris as the initial inductees in 1976.

    The Blue Raider Hall of Fame was originally housed in the old Blue Raider Room under the west side of the football stadium. It had to be torn down when then stadium was expanded in 1998. After several years without a home, the Hall of Fame moved into the new Rose and Emmett Kennon Sports Hall of Fame building in 2004.