Johns Hopkins Gazette: September 6, 1994


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. 

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