Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. — Six new members, including three from Southwest Virginia, have been selected for induction to the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.
The six 2011 inductees are:
- Brad Clontz, a record-setting pitcher for the Hokies in the early 1990s who went on to help the Atlanta Braves to a World Series Championship in 1995.
- Josh Feldman, who wrestled his way to an 85-23-1 career record and All-America honors as a heavyweight for the Hokies.
- Shayne Graham, Tech’s all-time leading scorer in football and one of the heroes during the Hokies’ march to the national championship game in 1999.
- John Moody, a former Tech football player who became an athletic fund-raiser supreme over nearly four decades of service to the university.
- Phil Rogers, a gifted tailback who became the first Tech player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season before excelling as a quarterback his senior year.
- Tere Williams, the Hokies’ all-time leader in rebounds and the first Tech women’s basketball player to be selected in the WNBA Draft.
The six new honorees will be inducted at a Hall of Fame dinner on the Tech campus on Friday, Oct. 7, the evening before Tech's home football game against the University of Miami. Each of the inductees will be introduced to fans at halftime of the football game.
The new inductees will bring the total number enshrined to 158. The Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1982 and is currently located near the Bowman Room on the fourth floor of the Jamerson Athletic Center. Hall of Fame plaques engraved with portraits of all the members are displayed there. Under Tech Hall of Fame guidelines, persons are not eligible for induction until they have been out of school for a period of 10 years.
Brad Clontz joined the Hokie baseball program after a successful prep career at nearby Patrick County High School. He began his Tech career in the bullpen before being asked to hold down the top starting spot in the Hokies’ rotation his sophomore and junior seasons.
Clontz appeared in a team-high 21 games as a reliever during the spring of 1990. He gave up earned runs in just three of his 21 outings, while posting a 4-1 record with five saves and a 2.81 earned run average. He did not allow a home run and had just one wild pitch during his 32 innings on the mound. Clontz was 2-0 with a save and a 1.17 ERA during six regular-season Metro Conference games and earned saves in each of the Hokies’ three victories during the Metro Tournament that season.
Following his freshman season, Clontz was moved to the starting rotation to bolster a pitching staff that was depleted by graduation and the Major League Baseball draft. As a sophomore, he was a bright spot on a team that struggled to a 24-30 record. Despite some elbow problems, the 6-foot right-hander worked 85 1/3 innings, striking out 84 batters and posting a 5-5 record and 3.69 earned run average. He registered five complete games and recorded a 2.73 ERA in Metro games.
During the summer of 1991, Clontz established himself as one of the top relief pitchers in the college ranks with an outstanding performance in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League. He was named the Cape’s Relief Pitcher of the Year after posting the second-lowest earned run average and the second-highest save total in league history. Clontz finished the summer with a 3-0 record, 11 saves and a 0.91 ERA to help the Wareham Gatemen to a 30-14 record. He appeared in 24 games (a team record), allowing just 21 hits and four earned runs in 39 2/3 innings. He struck out 48 batters and walked just 18.
Clontz returned to his starting duties at Tech for the 1992 season, pitching 130 innings and registering 12 wins – both school season marks that still stand today. He struck out 115 batters, which still ranks as the second-highest single-season total by a Tech pitcher. Clontz worked seven innings or more in 15 of his 16 starts and finished with a 12-3 record and 3.32 ERA.
Ranked the 38th-best college pitching prospect by Baseball America, Clontz was drafted and signed by the Atlanta Braves following his junior season. He made his major league debut in April of 1995 for the Braves and posted an 8-1 record with a 3.65 ERA and four saves, helping Atlanta to a World Series Championship. He led the National League in games pitched in 1996 with 81 as the Braves won a second-straight National League title and made another appearance in the World Series. Clontz played for four teams during a six-year stint in the Majors.
Currently, Clontz is living in Alpharetta, Ga., where he is an independent casino marketing host.
Josh Feldman came to Blacksburg from Dunwoody, Ga., and had to pay his dues before becoming a dominating heavyweight wrestler for the Hokies. As a true freshman, Feldman played a backup role in 1989-90, posting a 1-4 mark in limited action. He redshirted the following year.
Feldman took over the starting heavyweight duties as a redshirt sophomore in 1991-92 and made an immediate impact. He put together a 29-5-1 mark for the year, including a 16-0-1 slate in dual meets. His overall record was the second-best single-season mark in Tech history at the time. He won the inaugural Colonial Athletic Association heavyweight championship that season and placed 13th at the NCAA Championships with a 2-2 finish. The following summer, he wrestled in Rome, Italy, with a group of returning underclassmen from the NCAA Tournament.
Feldman was ranked the No. 9 heavyweight in the nation prior to the 1992-93 season. He won his last 11 matches that year heading into the NCAA Championships, where he placed ninth. His win in the CAA heavyweight championship match gave Tech the team title. His 27-7 record was the fourth-best in school history at the time.
As a senior, Feldman ranked fourth in the heavyweight division preseason poll by the Amateur Wrestling News. He went on to win his third consecutive CAA title and capped a 28-7 record by becoming Tech’s second All-American in wrestling (at the time) when he took seventh place in the 1994 NCAA Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Feldman is still tied for sixth all-time at Tech in career pins with 23. He is also tied for sixth in all-time winning percentage and tied for 12th in all-time victories.
After graduation, Feldman served as an assistant wrestling coach at the University of Virginia from 1994-96. In July of 1996, he was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy through Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla. He was designated a Naval Aviator in 1998.
In addition to his flying, Feldman was asked to compete for the All-Navy Wrestling team. He was a two-time All-American, representing the Navy in the U.S. Open Wrestling Championships and placing seventh and third in the 120KG Greco-Roman competition. In 2005, he was selected to represent the U.S. wrestling team in the CISM World Championships and Maccabi Games, placing fifth and first, respectively. Recently, Feldman has served as the coach of the Great Bridge (Va.) Youth Wrestling Club and as the head coach of the Great Bridge High School wrestling team.
Presently, Lieutenant Commander Feldman is serving overseas with Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron Two stationed out of Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va.
In 1996, Shayne Graham became the first true freshman place-kicker to start for Virginia Tech in 15 years. By the beginning of his senior season, the local product had already scored more points than any other football player in Virginia Tech history at that time. He would finish his Tech career as not only the Hokies’ all-time scoring leader, but also the all-time leading scorer in the BIG EAST Conference.
A Parade All-America kicker for neighboring Pulaski County High School, Graham got his Tech career off to a fast start by making five of his first six field-goal attempts. He went on to set a BIG EAST record for points by kicking in a game with 17 against Southwestern Louisiana. His 69 points that year represented the second-most points in a season for a Tech freshman at the time and helped him earn first-team Freshman All-America honors from The Sporting News.
Graham led the team in scoring each of his last three seasons. He scored 92 points in 1997, hitting 19 of 23 field goals and finishing third among BIG EAST scorers. The following year, he attempted a school-record 32 field goals, making 22, on the way to 103 points. His successful 53-yard kick at Clemson that year still ranks as the longest field goal made by a Tech player on the road.
As a senior, Graham was successful on 56 of 57 extra-point kicks, establishing school marks that still stand for PATs made and attempted during a season. Graham put together a string of 97 consecutive successful PATs during his last three seasons, a school record at the time. His 107 points in 1999 were school and conference records at the time and placed him seventh nationally in scoring. His 371 total points are still the most ever for a Tech player.
Graham was named the BIG EAST Special Teams Player of the Year following the ’99 season and became just the second player (Donovan McNabb was the other) ever to earn first-team All-BIG EAST honors four consecutive seasons. The soccer-style kicker’s signature kick came during Tech’s drive to the national championship game in ’99 when he booted a 44-yard field goal as time expired for a 22-20 win at West Virginia that saved the Hokies’ unbeaten regular season.
Following graduation, Graham bounced around the NFL as a free agent before settling in with the Cincinnati Bengals for six seasons (2003-09). Graham set a number of franchise marks during his stint in Cincinnati, and in 2005, was the first Bengals place-kicker to be selected to play in the Pro Bowl. During the 2006 season, he set a Bengals’ record by kicking 21 consecutive field goals, and in a game against the Baltimore Ravens, he kicked seven field goals, the second-highest total in NFL history.
Graham, who is currently a free agent, lives in Fairlawn, Va.
John Moody’s association with Virginia Tech has come in stages, beginning in 1952 when he joined the Hokies as a scholarship football player. Early in the second half of his first collegiate game, Moody entered the lineup as a defensive back, and he remained there the entire season, intercepting a pass against West Virginia. The following year, with football returning to the one-platoon system, he started both ways as an end.
Moody’s Tech football career was interrupted by a two-year stint in the United States Army, during which he served as an enlisted man in Austria and Italy. The Richmond native returned to Blacksburg prior to the 1956 football season.
Moody rejoined the Hokies as the two-way starter at end in ‘56 and contributed a pair of receptions and another interception. The 1957 Virginia Tech Gridiron Guide said, “If he (Moody) had the physical frame to go with his fierce competitive spirit and desire, he would probably be Tech’s top player.”
A four-year starter and letterman, Moody graduated with a degree in business administration in 1958 and went to work as a teacher and coach at Norview High School in Norfolk, Va. As the defensive coach, Moody helped the Norview football team to a four-year mark of 38-1-1. He also served as the head track coach. The school won a state title in both sports during his four years.
After a stint in the business world, Moody returned to Virginia Tech in 1972 as the assistant director of Tech’s Student Aid Association, beginning a new career that would establish a benchmark for athletic fundraising at Tech over a span of nearly four decades.
During the past 38 years, Moody has shown an uncanny ability to bring people together, especially Virginia Tech people. In 1988, when the VTSAA was re-named The Virginia Tech Athletic Fund, Moody became assistant director of development for athletic programs and played a key role in the highly successful Hokie Representative System that put over 300 committed, well-informed volunteers in the field making contacts to increase support for Tech athletics.
In 1984, Moody was instrumental in starting an organization of supporters that followed the Tech golf team and became affectionately tagged the “Hackin’ Hokies.” Today, the group totals over 100 members and has provided major support for the golf team. Moody founded an annual golf outing called “Hackin’ Hokies, Too” in 1991. Through a raffle and auction at the event, over $1.8 million has been raised for endowed scholarships for golf.
Moody assumed the responsibility of major and principal gift fundraising as associate director of development for intercollegiate athletics in 1994. Since the move, he has been involved in all projects for facilities and raising endowment funds. In 2008, Moody received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Athletic Directors of Development, an award only given when deemed appropriate.
Moody, who recently had the Lane Stadium flagpole plaza named in his honor, maintains a part-time position in the Athletic Fund Office and is still heavily involved in major fundraising.
Phil Rogers was a highly touted recruit out of Gate City High School in Southwest Virginia when he signed with Virginia Tech in 1972. A running back by trade, Rogers would go on to re-write Tech’s rushing records and then, in a surprising turn, become the school’s first African-American quarterback.
As a true freshman under Coach Charlie Coffey, Rogers saw varsity duty on special teams at the start of the 1972 season, returning four kickoffs for 74 yards. He wound up the season as the JV team’s leading rusher and kickoff and punt returner.
In 1973, Rogers moved into the starting tailback role and responded with a record-breaking year. He finished the season with a then-school season record of 1,036 yards, which made him the first Tech player to rush for a 1,000 yards in a season. His 103.6 rushing yards per game were also an all-time mark at the time. Rogers was also the third-leading receiver on the season with 27 catches and tossed two halfback passes for touchdowns. One of his TD passes was an 80-yarder in a win at Virginia that also saw him rush for 136 yards; the other was a 65-yard throw against William & Mary.
Rogers found himself running out of the wishbone formation as a junior after Jimmy Sharpe took over the coaching duties from Coffey. Despite missing two games that season, Rogers led the team’s rushing attack with 663 yards and scored seven touchdowns.
Spring practice in 1975 brought an even bigger change for Rogers when Sharpe decided to put the elusive back’s superb athletic skills to use as a triple-option quarterback. Rogers accepted the challenge and the following fall started every game under center. He guided the Hokies to big road wins at Auburn and Houston on the way to an 8-3 record. He rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown against AU and posted a career-best 168 yards rushing, tossed a TD pass and added a crucial fourth-quarter touchdown run against the Cougars. He finished the year with 762 yards and nine touchdowns rushing and 379 yards and three TDs passing.
Rogers finished his Tech career with 528 carries for 2,461 yards, both school records at the time. His 27 pass receptions in 1973 still stand as the second-most for a Tech running back in a season. He played in the Blue-Gray game following his senior season.
Rogers was drafted in the seventh round of the NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals and went on to pursue a career in the Canadian Football League.
He currently lives in Blacksburg and has been employed at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant for 30 years.
Tech signee Tere Williams finished her senior year at Orange High School in Chapel Hill, N.C., as the Gatorade Women’s Basketball Player of the Year in North Carolina and a Parade All-American. A year later, Williams went from being one of Virginia Tech’s best recruits to being one of the Hokies’ best freshmen.
During the 1997-98 season, Williams set numerous freshman marks at Tech, while leading the team in scoring (13.4), rebounding (7.6) and field-goal percentage (.538). She made the Atlantic 10 All-Championship team after helping the Hokies sweep four games on the way to an Atlantic 10 Tournament title. Williams shared the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year honors and was a third-team freshman All-America selection.
Williams proved to be even better as a sophomore, starting 29 games and averaging 15.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. She shattered the school single-season field-goal percentage mark by shooting 60.2 percent, which ranked her in the top 15 nationally. Williams was the program’s first player to be named first-team All-Atlantic 10 and was tabbed honorable mention All-America by The Associated Press as Tech posted a 28-3 record and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
The 5-11 forward went on to lead Tech in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage during each of her four seasons, helping the Hokies to a 92-33 overall record and four postseason appearances during the four-year span. Williams was the first Hokie to be selected for the All-BIG-EAST team after being named All-Atlantic 10 her first three seasons. She was invited to try out for the USA Basketball Women’s Jones Cup Team in the spring of 2000 and following her senior season became the first Tech player to be selected in the WNBA Draft when she was picked in the third round by the Phoenix Mercury.
Williams is still Tech’s career leader in rebounds (853), rebound average (7.2), field goals made (694) and field-goal percentage (.550). She ranks second in career points (1,750) and scoring average (14.8).
Currently, Williams is taking a break from a budding music career in order to travel and write. She has participated in several music and jazz festivals and just recently moved back to Chapel Hill.
Enshrined earlier in the Tech Hall of Fame were: Carroll Dale, Chris Smith, Bob Schweickert, Allan Bristow, Leo Burke, Tim Collins, Don Strock, John Wetzel, Dickie Beard, Glen Combs, Tom Beasley, Brandon Glover, Mike Widger, George Foussekis, Leland Melear, Jerry Gaines, Ken Whitley, Bill Grossman, Jack Burrows, Mac Banks, Lewis Mills, Franklin Stubbs, Keith Neff, Howard Pardue, Lucy Hawk Banks, Roy Beskin, Jack Prater, Dale Solomon, Ginny Lessmann Stonick, Neff McClary, Mike Johnson, Linda King Steel, Tony Paige, Bruce Smith, Dell Curry, Connie Sellers, Dick Arnold, Frank Beamer, Renee Dennis, Cyrus Lawrence, Rick Razzano, Jim Stewart, Sterling Wingo, Robert Brown, Don Divers, Loyd King, Kenny Lewis, Ken Barefoot, Bob Phillips, Steve Taylor, Ted Ware, Mike Burnop, Bimbo Coles, Ken Edwards, Ki Luczak, Lori McKee Taylor, Amy Byrne Feathers, George Canale, Don Oakes, Ricky Scales, Sherman VanDevender, Gene Breen, Mickey Fitzgerald, Bob Grossmann, Chuck Hartman, Judy Williams, Ron Davidson, Anne Jones Thompson, Wayne Robinson, Dennis Scott, Lisa Pikalek Karlisch, Jim Pyne, Mike Williams, Robin Lee, Mark Stickley, Terry Strock, Armand Taylor, Ray Crittenden, Antonio Freeman, Marcus Kramer, Charles Moir, Christi Osborne Vest, Cornell Brown, Ace Custis, Oliver Mayo, Trey McCoy, Jenny Root Price, Jim Beard, Eugene Chung, Eric McClellan, Kathleen Ollendick, Dr. James I Robertson, Jr., Maurice DeShazo, Aaron Marchetti, Brian Sharp, Lisa Witherspoon Hansen, Corey Moore, Gene Bunn, Michelle Meadows, Laurie Shiflet Hackbirth; and the following persons who are deceased: C.P. (Sally) Miles, Frank Moseley, Frank Loria, Hunter Carpenter, Frank Peake, Herbert McEver, Greene (Red) Laird, Paul Dear, Monk Younger, Henry (Puss) Redd, Mel Henry, George Parrish, Hank Crisp, Ed Motley, Sonny Utz, Wilson Bell, Herb Thomas, Bob Ayersman, Bill Buchanan, Dick Esleeck, Al Casey, Joe Moran, William Grinus, Jr., Earl (Bus) Hall, H.V. (Byrd) Hooper, James Franklin Powell, Bucky Keller, Milton Andes, Richard Bullock, Waddey Harvey, Frank Teske, George Smith, Eddie Ferrell, Jerry Claiborne, Dick Redding, Johnny Oates, Bobby Smith, George Preas, Louis Ripley, Wendy Weisend, Madison Nutter, Berkeley Cundiff, Bill Matthews, Margaret Soulen Gilbert, Harry Bushkar, Howie Wright, Gene Crane, Chuck Noe, Stuart Johnson, Duke Thorpe, Bob Wingfield and Billy Hardee.