Athletics Hall of Fame Induction

Athletics Hall of Fame Induction/CVC Donor Appreciation Dinner Opening Remarks
Friday, Feb. 8, 2008
Assembly Hall, Alumni Center

Thank you, Wil, and good evening to all of you. To our Hall of Fame inductees, welcome back to Ball State University! I hope that you have a wonderful weekend filled with fond memories that strengthen your connections to your alma mater. Take some time to walk around campus; we’ve made a few changes since you graduated.

I want to thank several groups, especially the Cardinal Varsity Club, that support our student-athletes on and off the field. When you give to our athletic programs, you share in the success stories that we celebrate here tonight in our alumni ranks and those we have been able to celebrate with our current scholar-athletes this year. Through your efforts, thousands of our students have learned valuable lessons about life through the combination of athletics and academics, preparing them for life after graduation.

Athletics are so important to our campus and, indeed, to this entire community. Tonight is really a celebration of that importance and of a great tradition here at Ball State—that of the scholar-athlete. This is an ideal that calls for a student to commit to excellence, develop character, and meet the challenge of competition, both inside and outside the classroom. Each of our inductees has fulfilled that ideal, one in which all of us at Ball State take great pride. Our university consistently ranks near the top in the NCAA’s Graduation Rate and Academic Progress Rate reports, even as it has a tradition of excellence in the Mid-American Conference. I could cite all of those figures, but the stories of four current Ball State scholar-athletes make the point much better than numbers ever could.

Our football Cardinals completed a great season last month by playing in the International Bowl in Toronto. That was our first bowl game in eleven years, when two of tonight’s inductees, Brent Baldwin and Brad Maynard, were leading the team as college roommates. One of this season’s stars was Chris Miller. He grew up in Libertyville, Illinois, not far from where Brad plays his home games with the Chicago Bears, and Chris is approaching many of Brad’s records here at Ball State. He has made the All-Mid-American Conference first team for three straight years, was a finalist for the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s outstanding collegiate punter, and was named an All-American at his position by the American Football Coaches Association. And Chris carries a 3.4 grade point average as a junior majoring in accounting.

Chris’ teammate, defensive end Brandon Crawford, was featured by several publications, including USA Today, before the International Bowl. He was named third team All-Mid-American Conference while leading the team in sacks, tackles for loss, and forced fumbles. But what attracted media attention is the fact that Brandon is thirty-one years old. He worked in an automotive factory after his high school graduation, then he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1999. After his honorable discharge, he made the commitment to attend college as a nontraditional student and the even more challenging commitment to restart his football career as a walk-on here at Ball State. Now he is a team leader on defense and well on his way to his degree in criminal justice.

Our women’s soccer team has won the conference’s regular season title in each of the last two years, finishing with a 13-5-1 record and a 9-1-1 mark in the MAC in 2007. The Cardinals tied a conference record by placing six players on the All-MAC first or second team, and matched a program record by having four players earn Academic All-MAC honors. Each of these young women has an interesting story, but junior forward Emily Rein was named to both squads. The team’s leading scorer in each of her three seasons as a Cardinal, she has twenty-two goals and fifty-four points in her career, ranking her third in Ball State history headed into her senior season. And she sports a 3.8 grade point average as a business major.

Finally, be sure to cheer for Peyton Stovall and his Cardinal teammates at tomorrow’s game in Worthen Arena. Peyton currently ranks sixteenth on Ball State’s career scoring list. He has persevered through two season-ending injuries to his left knee and has already earned his degree as a double major in sports administration and marketing. Last month, he was one of the five finalists for the Coach John Wooden Citizenship Cup, the first Ball State finalist ever for this most prestigious college award. Nominees are solicited from more than two thousand colleges and universities and judged on their excellence as students, competitors, and citizens. Peyton especially loves tutoring and mentoring children in our community and is well-known at area churches and elementary schools for his efforts.

As we celebrate the scholar-athlete at Ball State, we recognize our five inductees for their part in that tradition, both here on campus and in their lives after graduation. You will hear the stories in more detail later in the evening, but allow me to share a few highlights that show how they have committed to excellence, developed character, and met the challenge of competition:

Brent Baldwin broke his jaw in the first game of the 1995 season, but never missed a practice or a game, quarterbacking the Cardinals to a winning record with his jaw wired shut. The next year, able to be a more vocal leader, Brent captained the squad to a first-place MAC West Division finish and a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Phil Eatherton not only led his volleyball squad to two NCAA Championship appearances, but he also continued his commitment to excellence after graduation. In 2004, seven years after leaving Muncie, he made the U.S. men’s volleyball Olympic team as a middle blocker. He is just the third former Cardinal to appear in the Olympics and can’t be with us tonight—he plays in a game only hours from now in the Polish Professional League.

Brad Maynard became the first punter ever named Mid-American Conference player of the year and was a first team All-American as a senior. He used to practice by punting over and over again from the game field over the old press box and into the parking lot—a feat that might be more difficult at the newly renovated Scheumann Stadium! Brad punted for the New York Giants for four seasons and just finished his seventh year as the Chicago Bears’ punter.

Sarah Mikrut Doyle was the first gymnast in Ball State history to earn a perfect score of ten and the first to qualify for the NCAA championships. She returned to her high school to teach and coach and has led Carmel Catholic High School in Illinois to four straight state championship appearances, including fourth-place finishes in the last two seasons.

John Noble led his tennis team to four straight conference championships, winning the MAC number one singles championship in his junior and senior years. When a hand injury cut short his attempt at a professional career, he turned to the theater, where he has produced more than 20 plays around the world, including four that have earned Tony Awards.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this event possible. I congratulate our honorees and look forward to hearing more about your own stories of commitment, character, and competition as we continue this wonderful evening.