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UAM Announces 2009 Sports Hall
of Fame Class (8/17/09)
MONTICELLO, AR — Charlotte Smith had never hit a game-winning shot in
high school or college until her senior year at the University of Arkansas
at Monticello.
Smith, who sank three 3-point buzzer beaters in 1988 to lead the Cotton
Blossoms basketball team to a 24-7 record, headlines the 2009 induction
class of the UAM Sports Hall of Fame. Joining Smith in this year’s class are
three-sport star Tommy Larance, world-class hurdler Fuller Cherry, football
and baseball player and coach Carl Preston, and the late Leslie “Shorty”
Beard, long-time men’s basketball coach and athletic director.
The Hall of Fame will also honor Don and Katie Hartley of Fountain Hill with
the UAM Spirit Award, which recognizes individuals for their contributions
to Boll Weevil and Cotton Blossom athletics.
This year’s Hall of Fame induction banquet will be held on Thursday, October
22 at 6:30 p.m. in the John F. Gibson University Center. Tickets are $30 and
may be purchased by contacting Jim Brewer at (870) 460-1074 or Grant Pace at
(870) 723-5000.
Smith was an all-everything high school star at DeWitt who came to UAM in
1985 after transferring from Ole Miss. Plagued by knee injuries early in her
career, Smith became a second team NAIA All-American in 1988 when she
averaged 20.7 points and 6.2 rebounds a game while shooting 54 percent from
the field.
“Charlotte was one of the most versatile and gifted players I’ve ever
coached,” said Alvy Early, UAM’s women’s coach from 1979 to 2000. “She could
beat you inside, outside, off the dribble. And she never backed away from
taking a tough shot with the game on the line.”
Smith currently lives in Nashville, Tenn., where she is a successful country
music songwriter writing under the name Shaye Smith. She has written four
number one country hits for Collin Raye, Kenny Chesney, Chely Wright, and
Jamie O’Neal.
Tommy Larance excelled in football, baseball and swimming and set records as
a punt returner that still stand 42 years after his last game. A Warren
native, Larance was a halfback, wide receiver, defensive back and return
specialist in football for Arkansas A&M teams that posted a combined record
of 28-11-2 and won three Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championships
in 1965, ’66, and ’67.
He still holds the career record for punt return average of 17.2 yards a
return and ranks fifth in career kickoff return average. Larance was A&M’s
leading receiver in 1965 and ’66 when he caught a combined 60 passes for 727
yards and four touchdowns.
In 1965, Larance helped the Boll Weevils to the AIC swimming championship in
its first season of competition and was an outfielder on the Weevils’ 1966
AIC baseball champions.
Carl Preston was a part of UAM athletics for the better part of four decades
as a standout football and baseball player, assistant football coach and
head baseball coach. He played football for two Boll Weevil coaching legends
– Willis “Convoy” Leslie and Jimmy “Red” Parker and was part of teams that
won three AIC titles and compiled a record of 33-7.
Preston was a halfback who played for Leslie’s last two AIC champions in
1957-58, earning All-AIC honors in ‘58. He left school to go to work, then
returned in 1963 to complete his playing career and his college degree while
helping the ’63 Boll Weevils to a 9-1 record, the best in school history.
Preston became a successful high school coach in Texas before returning to
UAM in 1985 as offensive line coach. Over the next 12 years, Preston coached
eight All-Americans and 11 All-AIC performers. He added the duties of head
baseball coach in 1988 and led the Boll Weevils to the 1990 NAIA District 17
championship and the 1993 AIC title, the schools’ first league championship
in baseball since 1966.
Fuller Cherry was one of the first African-American scholarship athletes at
Arkansas A&M and UAM, starring on the track and in football. Cherry was an
NAIA indoor track All-American in the 60-yard high hurdles in 1971 when he
won the national meet in Kansas City. Later that year, Cherry defeated
Olympic and world record holder Thomas Hill at an indoor meet in Louisiana.
Cherry won 11 straight meets in 1971 and climaxed the season by setting both
the school and AIC record in the 120-yard high hurdles with a time of 14.0
seconds. He was also part of UAM’s 440-yard relay team (with Ronald Martin,
Ronald Gibson and Ray Gillespie) that posted the seventh best time in the
nation in 1972.
Cherry also letter four years at defensive back, was a three-year starter
and made eight career interceptions.
The late Leslie “Shorty” Beard was one of the most-beloved figures in UAM
history. A basketball and football player at Arkansas A&M in the 1940s,
Beard was named head basketball coach in 1959 after nine successful seasons
at Drew Central High School.
He coached the Boll Weevils for 13 seasons from 1959 to 1972. Beard coached
more seasons and won more games (153) than any coach in school history. His
first A&M team captured the school’s first NAIA District championship and
earned a trip to the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City. His first four
teams averaged 17 wins a season.
Beard resigned as head basketball coach in 1971 to become athletic director,
a post he held until his retirement in 1985.
Don and Katie Hartley have been cooking for UAM’s athletic teams and
coaching staffs since 1978 while traveling the country to watch the Boll
Weevils and Cotton Blossoms. “We don’t have any more ardent or loyal
supporters of our athletics program than Don and Katie Hartley,” said UAM
Chancellor Jack Lassiter. “They have devoted countless hours and traveled
thousands of miles to support our student-athletes. I can’t think of anyone
who better represents what the UAM Spirit Award stands for than the Hartleys.”
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| Charlotte Smith |
Leslie (Shorty) Beard |
Fuller Cherry |
Don and Katie Hartley |
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| Tommy Larance |
Coach Carl Preston |
Carl Preston (FB Player) |
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