Hendrix College Alumni, Coaches and Athletes in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame
Bios are from the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame website
Ivan H. Grove - Inducted 1959Â Â *Â
Inducted into NAIA Hall of Fame 1957
All-around athlete and former Hendrix coach, Grove was born in Denver, CO in 1894. He participated in all of the major sports at Tulsa's Henry Kendall College, earning all-conference honors in football, basketball, track and baseball. He was an All-American football selection in 1916. Grove coached at Oklahoma Baptist prior to joining the Hendrix staff in 1924.
Elmer Smith - Inducted 1968
Smith was a Hendrix all-sports star and AIC football coach. He was born in Casa in 1907. He played basketball and football at Danville and was a four-sport letterman at Hendrix from 1927-31. Smith was the Hamburg High School coach from 1931-33. He was an assistant coach at Hendrix in 1933-36 and at Centenary from 1936-42. He was head coach at Southern State from 1946-54, with an eight-year record of 57-27-2. His teams won AIC titles in 1951 and 1952. Smith was an assistant coach at Texas A&M from 1954-68.
Franklin "Swede" McCormack - Inducted 1971
McCormack was a standout Hendrix performer from 1926-28. He was born in Malvern in 1904 and became an all sports performer for the school in 1920-22. McCormack was an All-State end at Hendrix in 1926-27 and All-Southern in 1927. He held records in the 220-yard dash, 440-yard dash and the broad-jump for Arkansas colleges. He later served for seven years as a member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission from 1949-56.
John Thompson - Inducted 1974
Thompson was a Hendrix College standout and coach. He was born in Amity in 1898. He lettered on a college team while in Hendrix Academy from 1917-20. He was a football, basketball and track star, who received 13 letters. He was a three time All-State selection in basketball. At one time Thompson held six state college track records from 1920-24. He reached the Olympic trial finals in the decathlon in 1924. He also coached at McGhee, Warren, El Dorado and Ft. Smith. In 37 years, he compiled an overall coaching record of 156-62-20.
Ambrose "Bro" Erwin - Inducted 1982
Erwin was a basketball coach, teacher and superintendent at Beebe High School for 38 years before retiring in 1969. He won the state title in 1941 and fielded strong contenders from 1933 through 1948. He won 40 games in 1937 and reached the semifinals of the state twice and the finals in 1944. Erwin won seven district football titles and 17 district track championships in 23 years. He was a Hendrix College track, football, basketball and swimming star. He was a native of Des Arc.
Bob Courtway - Inducted 1995Â *Â
Inducted into NAIA Hall of Fame 1979
Courtway was a long-time Hendrix College Athletic Director. He was one of the pioneer figures of swimming in Arkansas and became the first swim-related figure to go into the Hall of Fame. He was a charter member of the Arkansas Swimming Hall of Fame and a standout coach and teacher for three decades. Courtway won nine Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference titles, including seven in a row. He also won an area championship as water polo coach. Courtway served as the NAIA's representative on the United States Men's Olympic Committee and officiated at several national meets. He is also a charter member of the Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor.
Bill Dunaway - Inducted 1995
Dunaway was selected to the Helms Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach and is a charter member of the Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor. He earned four letters each in basketball, tennis and baseball. He served as coach of the AAU National Championship women's basketball teams (Lewis-Norwood Flyers) of 1937, 1940 and 1941. His overall record was 143-8. Dunaway would have coached the U.S. Women's 1940 Olympic team except for World War II.
Willis Watkins - Inducted 1997
Watkins, a native of Conway, was considered one of the state's top amateur golfers. His career spanned more that 45 years and he won 93 tournaments. Watkins was the Arkansas stroke play champion in 1972 and the senior's champion in 1982 and 1983. He twice represented Arkansas in the United States Golf Association Amateur Seniors Championship.
J.W. "Chick" Austin - Inducted 1998
Austin, a Bauxite native, played football and basketball at Hendrix College then had a successful 38-year coaching career. After six years as an assistant in all sports at Hendrix, Austin coached at West Memphis, Magnolia, Hot Springs Lakeside and Searcy. He ended his career with an overall record of 126-66, winning nine football conference titles. He was the Region Coach of the Year eight times and was an All-Star assistant coach four times. He was the recipient of the Curtis King Award in 1982. Lakeside renamed its football field J.W. Austin Field in 1986. He was inducted into the Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor in 1997 and into the AHSCA Hall of Fame in 1997.
Bill Meriwether - Inducted 2000
Paragould's Meriwether was an exceptional all-around athlete. Mr. Everything at Hendrix College, Bill lettered in football, baseball, golf, swimming and track and field. He was best known for his exploits on the gridiron. He was captain of the team as well as an All-Arkansas selection. Old-timers swear not once but twice he punted the ball from behind his goal line to the other end zone. A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he received the Bronze Star following the Battle of the Bulge.
Cliff Garrison - Inducted 2004
A 40 year veteran of the coaching ranks in Arkansas. His overall record including high school is 578-415. Spent 31 seasons as the head coach at Hendrix College. Posted a record of 463-376 making him the third winningest college basketball coach in state history. His Hendrix teams won 5 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championships. Three times Cliff was named AIC Coach of the Year. Twice he was chosen NAIA District 17 Coach of the Year. One of only 10 men's coaches in Arkansas to win more than 300 games. Also served as Athletic Director at Hendrix where he's a member of the Hall of Fame as well as the Forest City Hall of Fame. A native of Forrest City.
Doyne Williams - Inducted 2005
Having racked up 14 World Championships and tying for another he's one of the elite trapshooters in the world. Five times he was chosen to the prestigious ATA All-American team. Three times he had the distinction of being captain of the Veterans All-American squad. He's won more than 75 trophies in competition at the Arkansas State Shoot. One can add to that 91 titles in State Shoot tournaments throughout the nation as well as 26 more in regional events. Twenty-four times he's been chosen to the Arkansas State Trapshooting team, one of the few in our state to achieve that level. He's shot more than a quarter of a million tournament targets. Inducted into the Arkansas Trapshooting Hall of Fame in 1995. A native of Little Rock.
Jim Rasco - Inducted 2017
Rasco was an all-around athlete at DeWitt High School. He quarterbacked the football team; set the single-season scoring record in basketball; pitched two no-hitters in baseball; won medals in the first two Arkansas "Meet of Champions" track meets; won the individual 880 at the University of Arkansas Relays; and set the school record in the 880, which stood for 29 years. He chose to attend Hendrix College on a basketball scholarship. As a freshman in 1960, he set the meet record for the 880 while picking up the gold medal in the Harding Invitational track meet; and won five medals in a series of AAU Olympic Development track meets held as preliminaries to the 1960 Olympic Trials. He was inducted into the Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor in 2006. After college, he took up tennis and won over 50 tournaments. As a "sports historian", Jim started the tradition of introducing each of the prior inductees at the annual banquet of the ASHOF. He has handled this duty for the past 27 years. He is a member of several sports research organizations and has had numerous research articles published. In 2005, Jim received an award for his "extraordinary work" in sports research from A.H. "Bud" Selig, the Commissioner of Baseball. Currently, during football season, Jim researches and introduces each of the guest speakers at the weekly meetings of the Little Rock Touchdown Club.
Lawson Pilgrim - Inducted 2021
From the 7th thru the 12th grades, Lawson Pilgrim's Conway High School Wampus Cats basketball teams had 141 wins and only 11 losses (92.8% wins). He was a starting sophomore on Conway's 1974 AAA state championship squad. As a senior in 1976, he was a part of one of the greatest teams in AR high school basketball history, helping lead Conway to another AAA state championship and a perfect 36-0 record. Pilgrim was the tournament's MVP and was named All-State in both the 1975 and 1976 seasons. He also played in the All-Star game as a senior, was named the 1976 AR High School Player of the Year, and named to the National High School All-America Team. He signed with the University of Arkansas, lettering as a freshman on a team that went 26-2 and won the SWC Championship. Pilgrim transferred back home to Hendrix College in 1977, where he red-shirted for one year. In 1978, he developed tendonitis in both knees and was told that he would never be able to play basketball, but Lawson did play and played well. During his first year to play at Hendrix, the Warriors were runners-up in the AIC. Pilgrim led Hendrix AIC championships in 1980 and 1981 and was named All-AlC and NAIA All-District 17. In 1980, Lawson was the first Warrior to be named an All American (NAIA 2nd Team), and in 1981, the only Hendrix player to be named a 1st Team NAIA All-American. Also in 1981, he received the Bobby Reese award, honoring the AIC Player of the Year. Lawson's college teams had a 116-28 record (80.6% wins). While still in college, Pilgrim was chosen to play in the summer Australian-American League, where he averaged 49.8 ppg that summer and led his team to a 3rd place finish in the post-season tournament. Following college, Pilgrim played internationally for Athletes in Action (AIA), on teams that won the State Hoopfest, and on an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team, "House of Lights." He was twice-named the MVP in the AAU National Tournament and in the Western Invitational Tournament. In 1994 Lawson was inducted into the inaugural class of the Hendrix Sports Hall of Honor.
