SoCon Hall of Fame page

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Southern Conference Hall of Fame week kicks off Monday, as the league will announce one member of the 2022 induction class each day from May 16-20. DeShawne Blocker, who played women’s basketball at ETSU from 1991-95, is the first member of the new class.
 
Student-athletes who competed for a minimum of two seasons in the Southern Conference were eligible for consideration, along with coaches and administrators who spent at least five years in the league. A pool of more than 200 candidates from the conference’s current and former member institutions were nominated for consideration. The pool of former student-athletes, coaches and administrators was cut down to 40 individuals who comprised the final ballot. A voting panel of 20 media members and league administrators made the selection of the induction class.
 
Blocker, who earned All-America honorable mention after her junior and senior seasons, led the NCAA in total rebounds with a SoCon single-season record 450 in 1993-94, while her average of 17.3 per contest not only led the NCAA but still ranks fourth in a season in NCAA history and second in a season in SoCon history, 28 years later. She had the NCAA single-game high for rebounds in 1992-93 with 25 against Marshall and in 1993-94 with 28 against Covenant, which remains a SoCon single-game record.
 
The Augusta, Georgia, native finished her career with 2,086 points, which is third in ETSU program history and tied for seventh in SoCon history, and a career average of 19.5 points per game, which ranks fifth in league annals. Blocker totaled 1,361 rebounds (third in SoCon history), with her career average of 12.7 boards per game ranking eighth in NCAA Division I history at the end of her career and 12th today. That mark remains second in SoCon history nearly three decades later, while her career 59.8 field-goal percentage is third in SoCon history.
 
The 1991-92 SoCon Freshman of the Year, the 1992-93 and 1994-95 SoCon Player of the Year and the league’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1994-95, Blocker is one of just five women’s basketball players in league history to earn first-team All-SoCon honors four times.
 
She was the SoCon tournament Most Outstanding Player in 1995, despite the regular-season champion Bucs falling to Furman in the title game, 88-85. Blocker’s 1994-95 squad went on the play in the postseason in the National Women’s Invitational Tournament.
 
Following her collegiate career, she played professionally for three years in Spain, Greece, Austria and Finland. She would later return to ETSU as an assistant coach from 2006-13, helping lead the Bucs to postseason play four times in that span.
 
Blocker was named to the SoCon’s 25th Anniversary Team celebrating a quarter century of women’s athletics in 2007-08 and earned a spot on the 100th Anniversary Team as the league celebrated its centennial in 2021. She was inducted into ETSU’s Hall of Fame in 2005.
 
Blocker becomes the fifth women’s basketball player to be enshrined in the SoCon Hall of Fame and the first from ETSU.
 
“I’m excited about being awarded such an honor,” Blocker said. “To be listed among some of the best in the conference, it speaks volumes, and I would not have been able to receive such an award without some amazing teammates and coaches and family backing. I’m just so thankful.”
 
2022 Induction Class
DeShawne Blocker, ETSU, Women’s Basketball
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2020 Induction Class
Lynne Agee, UNCG, Women’s Basketball
Eric Breitenstein, Wofford, Football
Terrell Owens, Chattanooga, Football/Men’s Basketball/Men’s Track & Field
Rod Thorn, West Virginia, Men’s Basketball/Baseball
Wayne Tolleson, Western Carolina, Baseball/Football
 
2018 Induction Class
Mike Ayers, ETSU/Wofford, Football
Ron Carter, VMI, Men’s Basketball
Susan Gardner Mayhorn, Western Carolina, Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country
Chal Port, The Citadel, Baseball
*Les Robinson, The Citadel/ETSU, Men’s Basketball/Administration
Debbie Southern, Furman, Women’s Tennis
 
2016 Induction Class
Stephen Curry, Davidson, Men’s Basketball
Armanti Edwards, App State, Football
Brad Faxon, Furman, Men’s Golf
Keith “Mister” Jennings, ETSU, Men’s Basketball
Karen Pelphrey, Marshall, Women’s Basketball
 
2014 Induction Class
Rushia Brown, Furman, Women’s Basketball
Eddie Cameron, Duke, Football/Men’s Basketball
Clint Dempsey, Furman, Men’s Soccer
Jerry Moore, App State, Football
Charlie Teague, Wake Forest, Baseball
 
2012 Induction Class
Angie Barker, ETSU, Women’s Track & Field
Percy Beard, Auburn, Men’s Track & Field
*Jim Burch, Southern Conference
Dick Modzelewski, Maryland, Football
Paul Scarpa, Furman, Men’s Tennis
 
2011 Induction Class
Dexter Coakley, App State, Football
Lefty Driesell, Davidson, Men’s Basketball
Regina Kirk, Chattanooga, Women’s Basketball
Gen. Robert Neyland, Tennessee, Football
Vic Seixas, North Carolina, Men’s Tennis
Shannon Wommack, Chattanooga, Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country
 
2010 Induction Class
Everett Case, NC State, Men’s Basketball
Mary Jayne Harrelson, App State, Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country
Fred Hetzel, Davidson, Men’s Basketball
“Hot” Rod Hundley, West Virginia, Men’s Basketball
Banks McFadden, Clemson, Football/Men’s Basketball
Wallace Wade, Alabama/Duke/SoCon, Football/Commissioner
*J. Dallas Shirley, Southern Conference
 
2009 Induction Class – Inaugural Year
Megan Dunigan, Furman, Women’s Tennis
Dick Groat, Duke, Men’s Basketball/Baseball
Sam Huff, West Virginia, Football
Charlie Justice, North Carolina, Football
Melissa Morrison Howard, App State, Track & Field
Arnold Palmer, Wake Forest, Men’s Golf
Adrian Peterson, Georgia Southern, Football
Frank Selvy, Furman, Men’s Basketball
Jerry West, West Virginia, Men’s Basketball
Valorie Whiteside, App State, Women’s Basketball

* Special Contributor
 
 
ABOUT THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
The Southern Conference, in its 101st season of intercollegiate competition, is a national leader in emphasizing the development of the student-athlete and helping build lifelong leaders and role models. The conference has been on the forefront of innovation and originality in developing creative solutions to address issues facing intercollegiate athletics. From establishing the first conference basketball tournament (1921), to tackling the issues of freshman eligibility (1922), to developing women’s championships (1984) to becoming the first conference to install the 3-point goal in basketball (1980), the Southern Conference has been a pioneer. The Southern Conference is the nation’s fifth-oldest NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association.
 
The conference currently consists of 10 members in six states throughout the Southeast and sponsors 21 varsity sports and championships that produce participants for NCAA Division I Championships.