College Sports

ATHENS — Ten former Cardinal players and coaches have been chosen to be the first members of the Cardinal Hall of Fame, Trinity Valley Community College officials announced.

A committee made up of Trinity Valley Community College faculty and staff, as well as community members, met earlier this month and agreed on 10 inductees.

“We think we have selected the best of the best with this class,” said TVCC athletic director Michael Landers. “It was difficult, but we feel we have chosen a great first class.”

Those nominees have been contacted, said Landers, and are willing and excited to journey back to TVCC in October to be officially inducted into the HCJC-TVCC Cardinal Hall of Fame (TVCC was previously known as Henderson County Junior College and was renamed in the 1980s).

The inductees for the Cardinal Hall of Fame inaugural class are:

Adkins was a receiver on the Cardinal football teams of 1964 and 1965. During those years, the Cardinals were a force in national junior college football. Adkins played in the college’s first Junior Rose Bowl championship game.

After leaving HCJC, Adkins signed as a wide receiver for the Ottawa Rough Riders, a Canadian Football League team. He later was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys and was part of the Cowboys Super Bowl VI championship team in 1971.

Adkins later played for the New Orleans Saints and the New York Jets.

Baccarini was the coach of Cardinals football from 1960 to 1972. He led the team to numerous bowl games, including two trips to the Junior Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

In 1965, the Cardinals were declared the top junior college team in the nation.

Baccarini was named Junior College Coach of the Year by both the Sports Writers Association and the Dallas Morning News. In 1996, he was named to the National Junior College Hall of Fame.

His record as a Cardinals coach was 51-19.

Budke coached the Lady Cards to national championship titles in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1999.

During his years at TVCC from 1993-2000, the Lady Cardinals played in six national tournaments. He led the team to an undefeated 36-0 season in 1999. He left TVCC with an overall coaching record of 273-31.

Budke was the youngest coach inducted into NJCAA Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named the NJCAA National coach of the year twice.

From 2002 to 2005, he coached at Louisiana Tech, where he compiled an 80-16 record highlighted by three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

Budke is now the head women’s basketball coach at Oklahoma State.

Cloudy helped lead the Cardinals basketball team to a third place finish in the 1982 national tournament, the closest the Cardinal team has ever come to a national title.

Cloudy set a Cardinal record in December 1981 for highest percentage of field goals made in one game. He shot 14-of-14 from the field.

After leaving TVCC, Cloudy signed with the University of Nebraska. During the 1982-83 season, the team competed in the NCAA Tournament. Cloudy led the team in tournament play.

Cloudy is ranked as one of the top Cornhusker players of all time. Cloudy signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1985 as a free agent, but was released due to injury.

Enis was a force on the 1993-95 Lady Cardinals basketball team and played on the first national championship team. She averaged 25.4 points per game her freshman year and averaged 30 points per game as a sophomore.

She was named the Texas Eastern Conference Newcomer of the Year as a freshman.

She holds two TVCC records — career shots made (326) and points in a season (194).

Enis signed with the University of Alabama and later went on to play in the WNBA. In the third round of the 1999 WNBA Draft, Enis was chosen by the Washington Mystics. She played from 2000 to 2003 for the Charlotte Sting.

Hill played for the Lady Cardinals basketball team from 1986-88. She was named the Junior College Player of the Year in 1988 and was a two-time Kodak All-American.

She averaged 26 points per game her freshman year and 24 points per game her sophomore year. She scored a total of 1,451 points at TVCC, including a school record 50 points in one game as a sophomore.

She still holds four other TVCC records:

Career field goal percentage – 632-928 68%;

Known as HCJC’s “Little General,” Perez was the heart of the 1965 and 1966 Cardinals. He led the team to a victory at the 1965 Junior Rose Bowl.

During the 1966 season, the quarterback threw for more than 100 yards per game. The Cardinals of 1966 went 10-1 and were the first unbeaten regular season team in Cardinals history. The team’s only loss that year came during the Junior Rose Bowl in California.

Perez also played punter for the Cardinals.

During her 33 years as a coach at HCJC-TVCC, Russell led the Cardinal Cheerleaders to five national championships.

Russell was hired as the assistant director for the Cardettes in the 1960s and also coached the basketball team for several years.

In the mid-1980s, under Russell’s leadership, the Cardinal Cheerleaders began competing on the national level. In 1989, the squad captured its first national title at a competition in Dallas.

In 1996, the same year the team took its fifth national title, the cheerleaders were invited to perform in the Opening Ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics.

After leaving TVCC, she briefly coached at Paris Junior College. She has served as a consultant for various universities.

During his 40 years as a Cardinals coach and athletic director, Spencer became the face of Cardinals basketball.

Spencer was a student and player at HCJC in 1957 and 1958. He returned as a coach in 1964 and retired in 2006. Spencer retired as the winningest coach in junior college history. He has a career record of 809-492.

Spencer was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 1996. He led the team to three national tournament appearances, including a third place finish in 1982.

He served as coach at the National Sports Festival, USA International Cup and World University Games.

Thomas played for the Cardinals basketball team in 1968-1970. As a sophomore, he led the nation in rebounding.

While Thomas played for the Cardinals, the team had a 52-10 record.

Thomas still holds four TVCC records:

Career Scoring: 1,439 pts. (62 games);

Thomas left TVCC and went on to play in the American Basketball Association. He was drafted by Memphis and later played for the Kentucky Colonels.