Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 15, 1995 TAG: 9508150046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
\ The one shared characteristic of all the charter members of the Radford University Sports Hall of Fame, aside from their sporting prowess, is that all six are from Virginia.
Major-league baseball player Phil Leftwich, women's basketball coach Charlene Curtis and player Stephanie Howard, men's basketball player David Smith, and golfer Chuck Tickle will be introduced at the annual Athletic Association banquet Thursday.
``The response we had this past year was overwhelming,'' association executive director Tom Lillard said. ``Our alumni, fans and friends are genuinely excited about the opportunity to honor some of our greats from the past.''
The class:
Charlene Curtis was the school's first 1,000-point scorer during her 1972-76 playing days before she went on to coach at Radford and elsewhere.
A William Fleming graduate, Curtis is 10th on the all-time scoring list with 1,043 points. She was 121-53 and won four Big South Conference championship's as Radford's coach from 1984-90. After a five-year stint as coach at Temple, she is an assistant coach at defending national champion Connecticut starting this year.
Phil Leftwich was the first Radford player to reach the major leagues. The California Angels first selection in the 1990 amateur draft, the Lynchburg native was drafted in the second round after going 19-14 with 25 complete games and 265 innings during his Radford career.
Stephanie Howard scored more points (2,146) than any Radford player, female or male, and was the first RU athlete to have her number retired.
Howard, a Harrisonburg native who played from 1985-89, left with 27 school records before moving on to a professional career in Switzerland.
Janell Dobbins, a 1955 Radford graduate and a native of the city, coached volleyball for 19 years before retiring in 1993 and is the winningest coach in school history in any sport.
Dobbins' teams went 369-219 while the program grew from unaffiliated status to a NCAA Division I tournament participant in her last year on the job.
David Smith played from 1981-85 and graduated as the school's all-time leader in scoring and rebounding. Smith, from Amherst, now stands fourth in school history with 1,313 points and second in rebounding with 739.
Chuck Tickle of Pulaski was an NAIA All-American golf player after leading the Highlanders to a 12th-place finish in the 1982 national tournament.
Tickle finished second individually at that tournament.
by CNB