East Mississippi CC to honor 2012 Sports Hall of Fame inductees during Homecoming weekend

SCOOBA – As part of East Mississippi Community College's Homecoming festivities this weekend (Oct. 5-6) in Scooba, eight new members will be officially inducted into the school's Sports Hall of Fame.

EMCC's 2012 Sports Hall of Fame inductees will be honored on the Scooba campus with a Friday night reception and banquet to be held at the Student Union.  The eight-member class is also scheduled to be recognized Saturday afternoon during halftime festivities of the Lions' 2 p.m. Homecoming football contest against Holmes Community College.  Saturday's MACJC North Division gridiron battle will take place at EMCC's Sullivan-Windham Field.

The 2012 class of the EMCC Sports Hall of Fame consists of: John Apple (Nashville, TN); Martin Buchanan (Porterville); Bobby Mitchener (Brandon); Ernest Ray "Ernie" Moore (Brooksville); Ed Mosley (Meridian); Gene Murphy (Raymond); Billy Harold Smith (Collinsville); and Mickey Stokes (Brooksville).

East Mississippi Community College will also honor the school's 2012 Alumnus of the Year recipient (Eugene Futato) and Distinguished Service Award winner (Mary Margaret "Miss M." Smith) this weekend in Scooba.  Futato and Smith will be honored during EMCC's annual alumni luncheon set to take place Saturday at 11:15 a.m. at the Student Union on the Scooba campus.  The award recipients are also slated to be recognized during Homecoming halftime activities of Saturday afternoon's EMCC-Holmes football contest.

Other special Homecoming activities slated for Saturday in Scooba include a 10:30 a.m. dedication of EMCC's Student Union and a 1:30 p.m. unveiling of a bronze statue of legendary head football coach Bob "Bull" Sullivan.  The F.R. Young Student Union will be named in honor of EMCC President Dr. Rick Young.  The 7-foot Sullivan statue, by artist Ben Watts, will be permanently displayed at the football field that bears his name.

For additional information on these upcoming Homecoming events on the Scooba campus, please contact the EMCC Development Foundation Office at 662-476-5063 or visit the school's website at www.eastms.edu.


2012 EAST MISSISSIPPI COMMUNITY COLLEGE SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

JOHN APPLE (Nashville, Tenn.) – John Apple took the field for head coach Bob "Bull" Sullivan before he ever finished high school and was a multi-sport standout who has enjoyed success in a number of venues.  He played football for the legendary Boyce Smith at Springfield (Tenn.) High School and was a standout at Tennessee Preparatory School in Nashville in basketball, baseball, track, boxing and football.  After his college days at EMJC, Apple worked in construction, truck driving, golf course maintenance and the over-the-road trailer business before finding his career calling.  He is now in his 44^th year of employment with Boswell's Harley Davidson Motorcycles in Nashville.  An avid fisherman and a scratch golfer, Apple also formed the ART racing team, which competed across the United States and produced AMA Grand National Champion and AMA Hall of Famer Randy Goss.

MARTIN BUCHANAN (Porterville) – A former football and track letterman at DeKalb High School, Martin Buchanan stayed at home to star as a two-way player for legendary EMJC football coach Bob "Bull" Sullivan.  He turned down numerous football scholarship offers to serve his country for more than four years during the Vietnam War conflict as a member of the United States Air Force stationed in England.  After returning to civilian life for 10 years serving as an engineer with Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, Buchanan spent the next 26 ½ years working for the state of Mississippi's Law Enforcement Division.  He worked in the Mississippi State Tax Commission/Department of Revenue before being transferred to the Mississippi Public Service Commission.  Buchanan came out of retirement eight years ago to accept his current position with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

BOBBY MITCHENER (Brandon) – Now in his fourth decade of serving Mississippi Farm Bureau Insurance Company, Bobby Mitchener kick-started a professional career as a junior college all-star for legendary EMJC head football coach Bob "Bull" Sullivan. Mitchener, a Noxubee County High School product, earned junior college all-star and honorable mention all-state selections during his time with the Lions.  A member of EMJC's 8-2 state runner-up squad in 1967, Mitchener went on to continue his playing career at Delta State University, where he was a roommate of fellow Noxubee native of EMCC Sports Hall of Fame inductee Ernest Ray Moore.  He served as a coach at St. Joseph High School in Greenville and Biloxi High School in the 1970s before beginning a career with Mississippi Farm Bureau Insurance Company that continues today.

ERNEST RAY "ERNIE" MOORE (Brooksville) – Ernest Ray "Ernie" Moore spent more than 31 years as an educator in Mississippi, and part of the foundation for that service was laid in Scooba when Moore played for legendary EMJC football coach Bob "Bull" Sullivan.  Moore began his career at Noxubee County High School, serving as head football coach and athletic director before continuing his career as a football coach and teacher at Louisville High School.  During his prep playing days, Moore was team captain and recipient of the Eugene Skipper Football Award and Most Outstanding Player Award at Noxubee.  At EMJC, he was a member of the 1967 state runner-up team in addition to being the captain for the North Division squad in the state's junior college all-star game.  Moore was chosen as "Mr. EMJC" and a class favorite before finishing his football career at Delta State University.

ED MOSLEY (Meridian) – Ed Mosley says he learned invaluable lessons of responsibility while playing football at East Mississippi Junior College in the 1970s.  Those lessons have served him well as he enters his 37^th year in education in addition to the third decade of serving his junior college alma mater on the EMCC Board of Trustees.  Mosley, the assistant superintendent of education for the Lauderdale County School District since 1992, has been serving on EMCC's Board of Trustees since 1990.  A former standout football player at Northeast Lauderdale, Mosley played for head coach Bill Buckner at EMJC and earned all-state honors in 1973.  Having earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Mississippi State, Mosley was honored as EMCC's 1999 recipient of the school's Distinguished Service Award.

GENE MURPHY (Raymond) – Current Hinds Community College athletic director/head football coach Gene Murphy lettered two years (1972-73) as a linebacker for head coach Bill Buckner at EMJC.  An NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American as a sophomore for the Lions, Murphy signed a football scholarship to attend Delta State but instead went on to earn his bachelor's and master's degrees from Mississippi State.  Following initial coaching stints at Philadelphia High School and Columbus Caldwell High School, Murphy began his 30-year association with Hinds in 1983.  As the school's head football coach, Murphy has guided the Eagles to six MACJC State championships.  Entering the current season with an all-time coaching record of 148-54-5, he is the winningest active football coach among the NJCAA ranks.

BILLY HAROLD SMITH (Collinsville) – A dual-sport standout at Collinsville High School, Billy Harold Smith followed his high school coach (Keyes T. Currie) to East Mississippi Junior College and had a standout career in both basketball and baseball.  He later made a name for himself in coaching, winning a state championship in girls' basketball at Southeast Lauderdale in 1968.  At the collegiate level as a record-setting coach, he spearheaded the development of the current baseball facilities at Meridian Community College.  Instrumental in the organization of the Mississippi junior college all-star baseball game, Smith was inducted into the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College Hall of Fame in 2009.  Also recognized by William Carey University in 2010 for his athletic contributions, Smith also served as the principal at West Lauderdale High School until his retirement in 1995.

MICKEY STOKES (Brooksville) – In his third decade of service to East Mississippi Community College, current EMCC Vice President/Director of Athletics Mickey Stokes began his athletic career as an all-conference football player for head coach Billy Brown at West Kemper High School in DeKalb.  He then went on to earn all-state honors as a tight end for East Mississippi head coach Randall Bradberry before moving on to become a two-year starter at Mississippi College.  Having joined EMCC's full-time staff in 1985, Stokes assumed his current athletic administrative duties in 2007.  During the past five years as the school's AD, he has been associated with a total of six NJCAA Region 23 championships and nine MACJC North Division titles, highlighted by last year's NJCAA national football championship and a current string of three consecutive regional titles in men's basketball.