HOPKINS HALL OF FAME HONORS ATHLETES By Christine A. Rowett They were legends in their times. And next month, they will become forever part of Hopkins history. A group of former standout athletes, coaches and an influential administrator have been elected charter members of the Johns Hopkins University Athletic Hall of Fame. The group will be formally inducted during ceremonies held next month. Craig Brooks, assistant director of development for athletics, was chairman of the 11-member nominating committee, which includes athletic department personnel and eight alumni who represent seven decades of Hopkins athletics. Hall of Fame nomination forms were sent to all athletic alumni, who were asked to recall the legendary names in Hopkins sports. About 120 nominations were submitted, and that list was cut down to about 25, Brooks said. In June the committee reduced the list to 13 charter members. Twelve athletes will be added next year, another 12 in 1996, and six each year after that, Brooks said. One of the few rules in the nominating process is that the athlete must have graduated at least 10 years ago. All of this year's nominees are male, but female athletes are eligible. "We've had a few outstanding female athletes, but none who should have been charter members," Brooks said. "Teams now are better than they've ever been. They'll be in there." Among the noted honorees is Bob Scott, who will step down as director of athletics after 22 years next year. Initially, he was rather reluctant to be included in the group. "I'm not in for any great athletic prowess," Scott said. "I did play sports and did OK, but I believe my selection was based on longevity." Scott, who was a member of the Blue Jays' national championship lacrosse team as a sophomore in 1950 and was team captain as a senior, was head coach for 20 years before he became athletic director. "He was embarrassed," Brooks said of Scott. "So we made him leave the room when we nominated him. It was a unanimous decision. If we didn't have him in, we shouldn't even have it." Joe Cowan, who graduated in 1969, has been called one of the finest football and lacrosse players ever at Hopkins. He holds six school records as a running back and was drafted by the Baltimore Colts. He is also a 1986 inductee of the national Lacrosse Hall of Fame--located on the Homewood campus--and served as assistant lacrosse coach for about 10 years. Cowan, who joked that he was nominated "for being a good guy," is humbled by his inclusion in the new Hopkins Hall of Fame. "It's pretty remarkable that I'd be considered in a charter group," he said. The Maryland native played for the Colts for about three months before he was offered a spot on their minor league farm team. He turned it down. "I just didn't know if pro football was for me," he said. He went to work at Cowan Systems Inc., the interstate trucking company his father founded in 1924, and says his Baltimore celebrity status opened doors for him in the business community and beyond. "It created a lot of situations where people wanted to know me," he said. "Hopkins lacrosse has meant so much." Cowan now limits his participation to watching an occasional game and taking part in an annual Vail, Colo., masters tournament, "which is a nice way of saying the old men get out and play," he said. Dallas attorney Bill Milne is remembered as possibly Hopkins' greatest swimmer. He was the first high school All-American to attend Hopkins. As a freshman in 1971, he won NCAA championships in three events. He still holds the school record for the 100-yard butterfly, which he set in 1973. "It is nice that, even 20 years after the fact, people think I made a contribution to my sport," Milne said. "It is quite an honor." Not many swimmers pursued their sport after college 20 years ago, Milne said, so he turned his attention toward his career and law school at Harvard. "I still swim laps though," he said. The remaining future Hopkins Hall of Famers are Henry Ciccarone, head lacrosse coach from 1975 to 1983; Louis Clark, an Olympic track athlete; Bill Jews, who holds five school basketball records; C. Gardner Mallonee, an All-American football and lacrosse athlete and coach; G. Wilson Shaffer, who is credited for his influential role in shaping the history of athletics at Hopkins; and Fred Smith, an All-American on four national lacrosse championship teams, a wrestling champion and a longtime assistant lacrosse coach. Also being inducted are Bill Stromberg, one of the leading receivers in college football history and a baseball player; Harry Tighe, the only four-time wrestling conference champion in Hopkins history; and the Turnbull brothers, Doug Turnbull Jr., the first college lacrosse player to receive first-team All-America honors four consecutive times, and Jack Turnbull, a key player on the 1932 undefeated national championship lacrosse team. They will be officially inducted at a special dinner Saturday, Oct. 29, and honored that day at halftime of the Blue Jays' home game against Dickinson starting at 1:30 p.m. Funding for the Hall of Fame was raised from the athletic department's annual golf tournament. Inductees will receive a Hall of Fame watch and lifetime passes to any Hopkins athletic event. For more information on the induction dinner or events being held Hall of Fame weekend, call 516-0412.