Three percent. When looking at that number from a critical viewpoint it may not seem all that impressive.
Still, three percent can be construed as a high margin in some cases. For example, when someone tells you have a three percent chance of meeting the love of your life in the next 30 minutes.
Those are pretty good odds and you are going to jump on the situation in most cases.
When the NCAA as part of its centennial celebration in 2006 announced its “100 Most Influential Student-Athletes” and it was revealed that the Southern Conference had three of the 100 student-athletes participate for either one of its institutions or a former member, it would be easy to articulate that three percent in those circumstances left the league overtly pleased with the acknowledgement.
NCAA president Myles Brand articulated it best when the list was announced, remarking “the list of 100 student-athletes represents the best of what college sports and higher education bring to our society. Their collective positive impact serves as a model for today’s student-athletes.”
Gaudy words made even glossier when the subconscious realizes that three of these 100 student-athletes participated within the SoCon, particularly when it is made known that two of the three made their name in golf.
It is no secret that the SoCon is a league of history and that it is the forerunner of both the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference, but what most people do not seem to realize is some of the individuals that suited up within the SoCon.
The fourth oldest conference in the United States, having opened their doors to institutions in 1921, the SoCon has featured many players and coaches that have reached almost mythical status.
Individuals such as Hot Rod Hundley (West Virginia), Randy Moss (Marshall), Frank Selvy (Furman), Adrian Peterson (Georgia Southern), Clint Dempsey (Furman), Dexter Coakley (Appalachian State) and even the suddenly immortal Terrell Owens (Chattanooga) have been a part of the conference before moving on to solid professional careers in their sports.
Listing people of this stature makes one realize just how much it means to be listed among these 100 individuals and what it means to have three from the SoCon listed among these elite individuals.
At No. 25 on the list of 100 stands an individual that many consider to be the standard in his sport. There are, of course, competitors to his throne, but there can only be one king.
Arnold Palmer won 92 events over his storied career, garnering 61 victories on the United States Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) Tour. Palmer added another 19 to his tally on foreign soil and another 12 on the Senior PGA Tour.
Amassing almost $5 million on the tours and over $2 million more on international grounds, Palmer ended his career with $6,572,519 made playing golf, with the majority of the money being matriculated prior to the advent of the inordinate purses that golfers see today.
Palmer’s influence on the game of golf can not be confined to the game. Instead, he is as much of an immortal and an influence to others due to his skills outside of the game, namely his personality that made him accessible to all others.
Normally thought of as a humble individual, Palmer’s real “successes” came in this realm where he was a highly successful businessman, a fixture on the advertising scene and a golf course designer and consultant.
The Latrobe, PA, native can draw a great deal of his later exploits to his experiences as a part of the SoCon at Wake Forest University (then college), which was a league member from 1936-1953.
During his time at Wake Forest, Palmer became one of the more dominant players of his era as well as the No. 1 man on the golf team at the institution, taking the individual medal at the NCAA competition in 1949 and 1950.
If Palmer is the king on the men’s side of SoCon golf then Furman’s Besty King will almost surely go down as the queen on the women’s side.
Just like Palmer, King is a native of the Keystone State, but made her way to the Carolina’s to find her way in golf.
A 1977 graduate of Furman University, King was a member of the 1976 National Collegiate Championship team at the school and was named Furman’s Athlete of the Year and Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year in 1977.
The Limekiln, PA, native has commandeered 34 victories and six majors in her career and has chalked up almost $8 million in career earnings.
An active alumnus of Furman, King was prominent in convincing former Furman president John E. Johns that the school needed a Pro-Am to help sustain the program, even convincing colleagues from the Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA) to give their time to the cause beginning in 1981.
The Furman Pro-Am has grown exponentially since its inception, growing from 17 professionals and 51 amateurs to todays prerequisite of 32 professional golfers and 128 amateurs.
The endowment from this particular event has grown from $9,500 the first year to more than $1.2 million.
The final SoCon student-athlete listed among the 100 student-athletes has never been mentioned as a deft swinger of a club, but is always noted among the upper echelon of his sport of choice.
Jerry West was a member of the West Virginia basketball team from 1956-1960.
Argurably one of the best players to play in the Southern Conference, West was voted to the SoCon’s 75th anniversary first-team in 1995.
It is not without merit, as the current Memphis Grizzlies executive was a two-time AP All-American for the Mountaineers and a three-time All-SoCon performer.
West went on to a multitude of successes in the National Basketball Association (NBA). West was a 14-time NBA All-Star and a seven-time all-league selection.
The NBA took notice of his smoothness forever immortalizing him as the figure so casually dribbling the basketball in its logo figured so passionately across the world.
These three SoCon student-athletes may or not make the NCAA’s Bicentennial Team, but odds are these three will never be forgotten, especially among those with a vested interest in the SoCon.