EMCC to honor 2015 Sports Hall of Fame inductees this weekend during Homecoming festivities on Scooba campus

SCOOBA – In conjunction with East Mississippi Community College's Homecoming festivities this weekend (Sept. 25-26) on the Scooba campus, eight new members will be formally inducted into the school's Sports Hall of Fame.

EMCC's 2015 Sports Hall of Fame inductees will be honored with a Friday night reception and banquet to be held at the F.R. Young Student Union.  The eight-member class is also scheduled to be recognized Saturday afternoon at EMCC's Sullivan-Windham Field during halftime activities of the seventh-ranked Lions' 2 p.m. Homecoming football contest against MACJC North Division rival Itawamba Community College. 

The 2015 induction class of the EMCC Sports Hall of Fame consists of Wayne "Bugar" Bailey, Milford Brown, James Cantrell, George Cummings, Tony McCullough, Virgil Seay, Louie Spinks, and Syd Thweatt Jr.  Thweatt, who grew up in Columbus, will also be one of 20 scheduled returning members from East Mississippi's 1965 state championship baseball squad that will be back on campus to take part in their 50-year reunion.   

East Mississippi Community College will also welcome back this weekend recently retired Dr. Rick Young, who will be this year's recipient of both the school's Alumnus of the Year and Distinguished Service Award honors.  The former EMCC President will also be the guest of honor during EMCC's Alumni and Friends Luncheon set to take place Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the F.R. Young Student Union on the Scooba campus.  Dr. Young, along with the returning members of the school's 1965 state championship baseball team, will then be recognized during Saturday afternoon's EMCC-ICC football contest.

For additional information about EMCC's 2015 Homecoming Weekend festivities on the Scooba campus, please visit either the school's main website at www.eastms.edu or athletics website at www.EMCCAthletics.com.

EMCC'S 2015 SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

WAYNE "BUGAR" BAILEY – The late Wayne "Bugar" Bailey was a decorated aviator in the United States Army following stops as a student-athlete at Meridian High School, East Mississippi Junior College and the University of Tennessee at Martin… After helping lead Hall of Fame coaching legend Bob "Bull" Sullivan's EMJC Lions to a two-year (1963-64) composite record of 19-3-1 as a defensive standout, Bailey became a two-year football letterman at UT Martin while also joining the ROTC… Having entered the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant, he trained to fly helicopters, including the CH-47 Chinook, and flew several missions during the Vietnam War… Bailey retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1993 and later moved his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2000… Also noted as an avid snow skier and marathon runner, Bailey succumbed to a cerebral aneurysm on December 18, 2001 at the age of 56.    

MILFORD BROWN – As East Mississippi Community College's second longest-tenured NFL player in school history behind 2014 EMCC Hall of Fame honoree and fellow Alabama native Antowain Smith, Milford Brown labored in the trenches of the National Football League for eight seasons as an offensive lineman… The former NJCAA All-American at EMCC then played for the Florida State Seminoles one season before being drafted in the sixth round by the Houston Texans in the 2002 NFL Supplemental Draft… While also seeing action with the Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions during his pro career, Brown started 47 of the 53 total NFL games in which he played before retiring in 2009… The Montgomery, Alabama native currently resides in Kannapolis, North Carolina.

JAMES CANTRELL – A native Kentuckian, James Cantrell made a name for himself both on the hardwood and on patrol… As an all-district and all-region basketball performer at Oil Springs (Ky.) High School, Cantrell later made his way to Scooba to play as a freshman for Hall of Fame coach Keyes T. Currie at East Mississippi Junior College… Cantrell made an immediate impact for the Lions by averaging 25 points and 11 rebounds per game before a knee injury ended his collegiate playing career… Upon returning to his home state to pursue a career in law enforcement, Cantrell earned degrees from Big Sandy Community & Technical College and Eastern Kentucky University… An honorary member of EMCC's Circle of Honor for basketball alumni, Cantrell currently resides in Hager Hill, Kentucky.

GEORGE CUMMINGS – Meridian-born George Cummings acquired an early love for music as a teenager and developed his talents as a singer/songwriter/guitarist into a successful career in the music industry… Having earned a scholarship to play football for legendary coach Bob "Bull" Sullivan, Cummings also earned the distinction of playing on back-to-back state championship baseball teams at East Mississippi… While in college, he honed his musical talents playing with local bands before moving to the New York/New Jersey area where he found fame by helping form and name a band called Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show in 1968… With Top 10 pop hits and a cover appearance on Rolling Stone magazine to his credit, Cummings continues to enjoy solo success in the music industry as a songwriter and session player on the guitar, lap steel guitar and harmonica.        

TONY McCULLOUGH – With nearly four decades of administrative and coaching experience in the educational systems of Mississippi and Alabama, Tony McCullough both played and coached football at East Mississippi Community College… A native of Foley, Alabama, McCullough was a two-way starter on the 1973 and 1974 Lion football teams while also lettering two baseball seasons at EMCC… After continuing his collegiate football career at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, McCullough returned to the Scooba campus to coach six seasons while also having taught and served as the college's director of intramurals… Currently residing in Fairhope in his home state of Alabama, where he has taught and coached at the high school level for the past 30 years, McCullough is married to the former Ruby Marie Briggs, who was the 2009 recipient of EMCC's Alumnus of the Year honor.

VIRGIL SEAY – Perhaps most noted for being a member of the Washington Redskins' touchdown-celebrating group of pass catchers nicknamed "The Fun Bunch," Virgil Seay played in consecutive Super Bowl games during the early-1980s… The Moultrie, Georgia native played at East Mississippi Community College during the 1976 and 1977 seasons before continuing his collegiate career at Troy University in Alabama… Following his four-year NFL career with the Redskins and Atlanta Falcons, Seay has stayed active in the game of football through coaching for the past 30 years… A member of Sports Halls of Fame at EMCC, Troy and in Colquitt County, Georgia, Seay has recently worked as a wide receivers coach for George Mason University's club football team as well as presently serving as the head track coach at Williamsburg Middle School in Virginia.

LOUIE SPINKS – A homegrown product out of Kemper County, Mississippi and a three-sport letterman (football, basketball and baseball) at DeKalb High School, Louie Spinks stayed close to home to begin his college career as a two-way lineman for Hall of Fame football coach Bob "Bull" Sullivan at East Mississippi Junior College… After helping lead the Lions to a two-year (1963-64) composite record of 19-3-1, Spinks then had the privilege of being college teammates with eventual NFL All-Pro running backs and Super Bowl champions Eugene "Mercury" Morris and Duane Thomas at West Texas State University… Upon graduation, Spinks began a successful high school coaching career that spanned nearly 30 years in the state of Texas before he moved into administration for another 10 years… Now retired, he currently resides in Ransom Canyon, Texas.

SYD THWEATT JR. – A product of Stephen D. Lee High School in Columbus, Mississippi, Syd Thweatt Jr., played in back-to-back state championship baseball games at East Mississippi Junior College… As a freshman infielder, he batted over .400 as part of the Lions' 1965 state title team… Upon earning his business administration degree from Delta State University and serving nearly three years in the United States Army as an artillery officer, including earning a Bronze Star Medal following a stint in Vietnam, Thweatt began his distinguished career in sales during the early-1970s in Mississippi's Golden Triangle area… He has lived in Richmond, Virginia for the past 40 years while gaining fame as an independent sales representative in the furniture and lighting business working the states of Virginia and Maryland as well as the District of Columbia.