From staff reports

sports@joplinglobe.com

MIAMI, Okla. — Nine athletes, two coaches and an entire football team comprise the inaugural inductees into the Northeastern A&M College Athletic Hall of Fame.

The group will be honored during a 6 p.m. banquet today in the Bruce G. Carter Student Union Ballroom. Tickets for the banquet are $20 per person.

Each inductee will be recognized with a plaque featuring a picture and biography.

Coaches entering the shrine are S.A. “Red” Robertson (football, 1945-66) and Homa Thomas (baseball, 1948-65).

Robertson compiled a 162-49-7 record and won the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship in 1959. Thomas, first president of the NJCAA (1965-70), posted a 313-89 record and guided NEO to three Junior College World Series (1955, 1958, 1959).

Players selected to the hall of fame are Lonnie Graham, Matt Blair and Doug Mathews (football), Dixie Woodall (women’s basketball), Jack Begley (men’s basketball) and Bob Maxwell and Gene Hart (baseball).

Graham, Broken Arrow, earned all-American honors as a halfback in 1953 by averaging 14.4 yards per carry for 906 and scoring 12 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,313 yards and scored 16 TDs during his career. NEO’s 18-2 record in 1952-53 included a 13-6 loss to Bakersfield, Calif., in the Pasadena Junior Rose Bowl.

Blair led the 1969 Golden Norsemen to the NJCAA National Championship with a 20-6 victory over Arizona Western in the Savannah, Ga., Shrine Bowl. Blair, in 1969-70, recorded 95 unassisted tackles and 86 assists as NEO finished 18-1.

Mathews, from Picher, earned all-American honors as a halfback during the 1966-67 seasons. He was offensive player of the game in guiding NEO to a 35-13 victory over Lees-McRae, N.C., in the 1967 Savannah Shrine Bowl. Mathews rushed for 1,168 yards on 95 carries and scored 23 TDs in his career.

Woodall sparked the 1958-59 women’s team to a 25-4 record under Jack Rucker. It advanced to the consolation final of the AAU National Tournament in St. Joseph as Woodall scored 80 points during the five tourney games. She averaged 19.5 during the regular season.

Begley averaged 11.3 points and 5.6 rebounds during the 1953 and 1954 seasons for Robertson.

Hart, who hit .315, was a pitcher and outfielder for Thomas’ 1959 team (16-7) that won the Oklahoma junior college title and placed second in the Junior College World Series.

Maxwell, a Miami High School graduate, lettered in football, basketball, baseball and track in 1956-57.