Local Weather Forecast
Today: Current:83	Friday: 92/71	Saturday: 93/73
Complete Forecast for  Aug 21 2008

TOP JOBS

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer

The late Dr. Billy Jack Doggett, the second athletic director in Tyler Junior College history, was among seven inductees into the Apache Sports Circle of Honor on Saturday.

Not unlike past induction ceremonies, which began in 1995, the name of TJC’s first athletic director was invoked throughout the 2?-hour program at the Rogers Student Center.

The legendary Floyd Wagstaff, who put TJC sports on the national map beginning in the 1940s, coached five of the latest inductees — Doggett (1953-55), Ardie D. Dixon (1959-60) and Whitehouse’s C.L. Nix (1952-54) in basketball; Lloyd L. Pate (1958-59) and Robert “Bob” Price (1959-61) in football.

Also donning the trademark gold blazer upon induction were women’s tennis player Dessie M. Samuels (1973-75) and women’s basketball player Evelyn Jo Troell Newman (1975-77).

Current TJC head football coach Danny Palmer spoke on Doggett’s behalf and was passionate about his former coach and mentor.

Doggett coached Palmer starting in the seventh grade, culminating at John Tyler High School when Doggett guided the JT baseball team to consecutive state tournaments berths (1967-68).

“He picked me up from school my last two years of high school and brought me home,” Palmer told the crowd of about 200. “He attended my first high school game as a head (football) coach at Texarkana.”

Palmer then said Doggett’s widow, Audrey, who was in attendance, would bring homemade vegetable soup to the Palmer house during the holidays.

“I wanted to be like him,” Palmer said. “I hope when my life is through, people will say I was a lot like Billy Jack.”

Doggett’s achievements as athletic director included helping secure national championship tournaments for the city of Tyler in men’s and women’s tennis, and women’s basketball. He also worked with the Sharon Shrine Temple of Tyler in hosting the annual NJCAA Shrine Bowl for junior college football for 12 years.

C.L. Nix, a teammate of Doggett’s at TJC, may be the most recognizable name among East Texas sports fans for what he accomplished at Whitehouse High School.

Nix coached the Whitehouse basketball program for 30 years and retired with a record of 714 wins and 235 losses. He coached three teams to the state tournament and his 1978 squad won the state championship with his two sons on the team.

Nix’s Whitehouse teams won 18 district titles and made seven appearances in the regional tournament. He was recognized in 1988 by the Texas High School Coaches Association as being the third winningest active coach in Texas.

Former TJC coach and player Herb Richardson, who introduced Nix, said the East Texas icon has been successful off the court as well.

“Everything C.L. touched usually turned to money,” Richardson said. “He’s a good guy to know. He’s made a lot of money in the rose business.”

Nix, who met his wife of 54 years at TJC, said he lived by two rules of coaching: No. 1, the coach is always right; and No. 2, when the coach is wrong, refer to rule No. 1.

Ardie Dixon, another former basketball standout recruited by Wagstaff, is a business owner in Lufkin and currently supports another team in TJC’s conference — Angelina College.

But this weekend, Dixon was once again an Apache wearing the black and gold. And he quickly lightened the mood after going to the podium.

“I cherish the memories of TJC,” Dixon said. “Robert Wagstaff coached me at Lufkin High School. Lloyd Pate, he corrupted me and Bobby Price went to North Texas with me.

“Thank God I’m one of Wag’s boys. And just remember, I’ll tote your note (as owner of Dixon Furniture of Lufkin).”

Dixon, recruited as a highly regarded 6-4 forward, was a two-year starter for the Apaches. He played on the 1960 team that won the Region XIV title and finished second at the national tournament. He also started both years at North Texas.

TJC football was represented by inductees Pate and Price.

Pate, a junior college All-American at tight end in 1959, played on the 1958 team that lost the national championship game to Boise, Idaho.

Pate always said that had TJC been a four-year school, he never would have left after two years and transferred to East Texas State. He said one reason he came to TJC from Dallas Samuell High School was that he had relatives in Tyler.

After graduating with his master’s degree from ETSU, Pate coached in the Dallas Independent School District for 11 years before joining the Coca-Cola Bottling Co., where he worked for 30 years. He also worked as a Dallas Cowboys scout for 10 years.

Price, a community leader in Garland, brought with him Saturday a contingent that included longtime Garland ISD Athletic Director Homer Johnson, who is 80 years old and has a stadium named in his honor.

Before settling in the Metroplex, Price said he was a farm boy from Hallsville and his father owned a dairy business.

Price said he planned on playing for Kilgore College instead of TJC, where he played on the national championship team at the Junior Rose Bowl in California.

And Price said he might have ended up at Kilgore if not for Wagstaff being such a big fan of his mom’s cooking. Price was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers after playing at North Texas.

The ladies spoke last — going by the alphabet — and generally not as long as the men.

Tennis player Dessie Samuels may have the most impressive career r?sum? of the seven. She has made a career out of professional tennis, not as a player but as a certified USTA official since 1982.

She has officiated as a line umpire and/or chair umpire in the U.S. Open, including chairing five finals; and also worked Wimbledon, the Australian Open, the Davis Cup, the 1996 Olympics and the 2001 Federation Cup between Croatia and Venezuela.

Samuels’ love for tennis began as a sophomore at Terrell High School. Samuels was part of a milestone win at TJC under new coach Fred Kniffen when she won the conference doubles tournament in 1975 with Beverly Braswell.

Samuels said she never imagined that a homesick country girl at TJC would evolve into someone who spends more than 200 days a year on the road supervising professional tennis tournaments.

Evelyn Jo Troell Newman was one of the top female high school basketball players in the state out of George West High School near Corpus Christi. She helped lead her team to the state championship.

Recruiting to TJC by Richardson, the tenacious Newman led the Apache Ladies to their first conference championship in women’s basketball in 1977.

Richardson said it was a tough sell getting the homesick girl to stay in Tyler. But after a stellar two-year career at TJC, Richardson said Newman cried for another reason — she had to leave.

Richardson told the audience that Wagstaff remarked of Newman that she was about half mean — the type of girl Coach Wag liked.

And through Newman’s toughness, Richardson said the Apache Ladies were able to pull off a milestone win against defending champion Panola.

Notes: The master of ceremonies was Bill Coates of KTBB Radio. Coates is a 1977 TJC graduate and the voice of Apache football. … New TJC president Dr. Michael Metke gave the introduction, and Rev. Lou Gary Thomas, from Lanes Chapel United Methodist Church in Tyler, gave the invocation.