Sept. 6, 2007
The M Club Hall of Fame Class of 2007 includes seven honorees, who will be inducted on Friday, Sept. 14th, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The class includes Danton Barto (championship coach of the AFL Memphis Xplorers in 2006), Christy Caswell (the school's all-time assist leader in women's soccer), Paul Haire (Memphis' first-ever conference tournament medalist in men's golf), Brooks Monaghan (the men's soccer program's all-time winningest goalkeeper), Larry Porter (a current assistant coach in football at LSU), Terry Pressgrove (a member of the 1978 National Batting Championship baseball team), and Billy Smith (a member of three consecutive post-season men's basketball teams and a member of the 1,000 point scoring club).
The 2007 ceremonies will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn on the University of Memphis campus. Tickets are available for $50 at the door or $40 when reserved in advance. Anyone purchasing two or more tickets can purchase them for $35 apiece and fans and former M Club honorees wanting to purchase a table of 10 can pay $350. Fans can purchase tickets by calling Tim Duncan at 901-678-4787. Payment is due at the door the night of the dinner and is payable by check or cash only. Seats must be reserved by Wednesday, Sept. 12th.
In addition to the six honorees, there will be three special award winners as Dwight Boyd will receive the Billy J. Murphy Award, while Jimmy Hayslip will receive the Ralph Hatley Silver M Award. Chuck Roberts will receive the Dr. C.C. Humphreys Golden Tiger Award to round out the special honorees.
The class of 2007 is listed below:
Danton Barto, Football (1990-1993):
Danton Barto was voted to the Hall of Fame last year, but was unable to make the mandatory induction-day ceremonies, so he will now become part of the 2007 class. A letterwinner with the Tiger football team from 1990-1993, Danton Barto is one of two football honorees for the M-Club Hall of Fame Class of 2007. He still holds the school record for career solo tackles (273) and career total tackles (473) and ranks second all-time with 200 assisted career tackles. An All-South Independent first team honoree in 1991, 1992 and 1993, Barto was named the All-South Independent Defensive Player of the Year in 1992 after leading Memphis with four interceptions. In 1993, Barto recorded 63 assisted tackles, which still ranks as the fourth-best single season mark in school history. His 144 total tackles that same season was good enough to remain 5th in Tiger history and Barto earned All-IFA Conference first-team honors in both 1992 and 1993 and was the All-IFA Defensive Player of the Year in 1992. A two-time Southern Living All-South Team honoree (1992, 1993), Barto was presented the Highland Hundred MVP award in both 1991 and 1993. Following his Tiger career, Barto spent five years playing professional football in the CFL and AFL. The Niceville, Fla., native recently completed his fifth year at the helm of the AFL2 Memphis Xplorers, a team he guided to its first-ever league championship, earning Coach of the Year honors. He took over as the head coach of the AFL's Las Vegas Gladiators for their 2007 season.
Christy Caswell, Women's Soccer (1995-1998):
Christy Caswell was a four-year letterwinner for the Lady Tiger Soccer team and still holds the career assist record with 32 helpers from 1995-1998. Also third in total career points, with 68, Caswell remains the program's leader in matches played, with 80 appearances over her career. A three-time, second-team all-Conference USA honoree, Caswell earned an all-conference nod two times as a midfielder and once as a defender after switching positions her senior season.
As a freshman in 1995, Caswell also earned Conference USA All-Freshman team honors after scoring three goals and adding seven assists. In 1996, she had a career-best 12 assists, a record tied by Shoko Mikami in 2005, adding six goals and finishing with a career-best 24 points. The Sherwood Park, Alberta, native matched that single season point total in 1997, this time on the strength of a career-high eight goals with eight assists. She was named the Conference USA Player of the Week on Sept. 22, 1997. Her 1996 and 1997 assist totals are still single season top seven performances, helping fuel a 1996 Memphis offense that still ranks second in the team record book with 147 points, and a 1997 team that ranks fourth with 117 points. She was a three-time Conference USA Academic Honor Roll honoree and was a recipient of the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal in 1998.
Paul Haire, Men's Golf (1976-79)
Haire was a three-year letterwinner for the Tigers after transferring from Brownard Junior College.
A graduate of White Station High School in Memphis, Haire was an outstanding golfer and basketball player for the Spartans. At Memphis State, Haire won the Metro Conference Individual Championship in 1976 as a sophomore after placing in the final 16 in the National Amateur in 1975. He helped the Tigers to the first of the two Metro Conference Championships in Tiger history before the formation of the Great Midwest Conference. Haire would battle injuries during his junior and senior seasons, but the Tigers did win a tournament title at Murray State in 1978. He is one of just three Tigers to ever become a conference tournament medalist in the Metro Conference, joining Tony Mitchell (1978, 1979) and Greg Gill (1988). Those three individuals, including Haire, are three of the five individuals in Tiger history to win at the league championship tournaments (Clint Clement - 1996 Conference USA, 1993 Great Midwest and Troy Witham - 1992 Great Midwest are the other two).
Brooks Monaghan, Men's Soccer (1992-1994):
Brooks Monaghan was a three-year letterwinner for the Tiger soccer team from 1992-94 after transferring back to his native Memphis following one year at the University of Evansville. He is the winningest goalkeeper in Tiger history with 38 wins and still holds the school record for career shutouts (24) and single season shutouts (11). He also ranks second in the career goals against average (1.40), and in career saves (298). In his first season with the Tigers in 1992, Monaghan helped Memphis to a 14-3-2 record and a share of the Great Midwest Conference title with his 0.80 goals against average, also earning himself Great Midwest Conference First Team honors. In 1993, Monaghan's team went 13-9-2, and he was named the GMC Championship Defensive MVP after the Tigers won the Great Midwest Tournament with a 1-0 shutout over Saint Louis University, earning the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. Following his playing career, Monaghan spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Lady Tiger soccer program, taking over the women's team in 2000. Heading in to the 2007 season, Monaghan is already the Lady Tigers' winningest coach and is coming off a third-place finish and the program's best-ever conference record (6-2-1) in 2006. Monaghan has guided the Lady Tigers to the conference tournament four times in seven seasons, including each of the last three seasons.
Larry Porter, Football (1990-93):
Larry Porter (1990-93) came to the University of Memphis in the fall of 1990 as a running back from Columbus, Georgia. An outstanding talent, Porter was pressed into service during his freshman season and used that game to explode on to the college football scene. With starter Marvin Cox injured early in the contest, Porter entered the Arkansas State game and on his first carry from scrimmage, rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown. He would add a 55-yard touchdown run later in the game and finished the contest with 206 yards rushing and three touchdowns. His 206 yards fell one yard shy of the NCAA record for a freshman playing in his first game. Porter was named the Football News National Player of the Week and the Inside View National Player of the Week for his efforts. He completed the 1990 season with 468 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. The elusive runner would added 454 yards rushing as a sophomore including an impressive 168 yards and a touchdown in another victory over Arkansas State. During his junior season, Porter produced a team leading 732 yards on the ground including 174 yards and two scores in the Tigers' win over Cincinnati. The 174 yards ranked as the sixth highest single game total in school history. For his play, Porter was named to the All-South Independent team as a junior. In 1993, the senior opened the season with two scores in a road win over Mississippi State before rushing for 137 yards in the Tigers' 19-3 win over Ole Miss. Porter gained 2,194 yards in his career and tallied 20 rushing touchdowns. He remains the fifth-leading rusher in Memphis football history. Porter has had a successful coaching career already since leaving Memphis, with assistant coaching stops at UT-Martin, Arkansas State, Oklahoma State, and now at No. 2 LSU.
Terry Pressgrove, Baseball (1977-78):
Terry Pressgrove joined the University of Memphis Tiger baseball team in the fall of 1976 after a stellar career as a power-hitting outfielder for Southwest Tennessee Junior College in Memphis. During his junior season, Pressgrove collected 44 hits in 133 at bats and drove in 43 runs. His 12 home runs set a new Tiger single season record and his 43 RBIs were the second highest total in Memphis history. The Tigers posted a 34-14 record during the spring of 1977. Returning for his senior campaign in 1978, Pressgrove was instrumental in leading the Tigers to a 40-9 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The rightfielder tallied 63 hits in 169 at bats and drove in a school-record 56 runs in 1978. But he will be most remembered for his bottom-of-the-ninth, three-run home run against Florida State that gave the Tigers the Metro Conference Tournament Championship and earned Memphis the automatic berth in the NCAA South Regional. For his play in 1978, Pressgrove was named to the Metro Conference All-League Team, the Metro Conference All-Tournament Team and was the league's MVP. Additionally, he was also tabbed as a member of the All-South Independent team.
Upon the completion of his career, Pressgrove held the Memphis record for most home runs in a season (12), the most home runs in a career (21), most RBIs in a season (56), most games played in a season (49) and most total bases in a career (248). A .354 career hitter, Pressgrove helped his Tiger teammates win the 1978 National Batting Championship with a .357 team average.
Billy Smith, Men's Basketball(1990-1993):
A three-year letterwinner, Billy Smith suited up for the Tigers from 1990-93 and helped lead Memphis to a 60-38 record and three-straight postseason appearances (two NCAA, one NIT). In the 1992 NCAA Tournament, Smith netted double figures in all four Tiger games during the squad's magical run to the Elite Eight, including 19 points in the first-round win over Pepperdine. As a senior in 1992-93, Smith saved his best game for a special night, as his career-high 27 points helped the Tigers upset No. 4 nationally-ranked Cincinnati before a frenzied Memphis crowd that included film director Spike Lee at The Pyramid. Following his senior campaign, the Memphis native participated in the Final Four Slam Dunk Contest at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans and placed third in the competition.
Smith, who was a 1993 All-Great Midwest Conference second team pick, is in the No. 36 spot on the Memphis career scoring chart with 1,040 points. His name also appears in the top 10 on both the career three-pointers made and attempted charts.
Dwight Boyd, The Billy J. Murphy Award:
A four-year letterwinner, Dwight Boyd wore the Blue and Gray from 1984-88 and was a member of Tiger squads that posted a combined record of 105-30 and earned three NCAA Tournaments berths. As a freshman in 1984-85, the Memphis, Tenn., native was a part of the Tigers' magical run to the 1985 NCAA Final Four, which also included a sweep of the Metro Conference regular season and tournament crowns. Boyd's 1986-87 team won the Metro Conference Tournament title. As a senior in 1987-88, Boyd was the squad's leading scorer with a 15.2 ppg average, and he earned Metro Conference All-Tournament Team honors that same season. Boyd led the Tigers in free throw percentage his junior (80.6 percent) and senior (89.5 percent) seasons, and his 89.5 mark is a school single-season mark. He finished his career shooting 82.7 percent from the charity stripe, which is the third-best free throw percentage in school history. Boyd's name appears on the Memphis career scoring list in the No. 18 spot with 1,249 points.
Boyd was drafted by the NBA Denver Nuggets in the third round round in 1988. Following a playing career in the CBA, he went to work for Pepsi, where he has been for 17 years. He currently oversees the University of Memphis' pouring rights contract with PepsiCo Americas.
Jimmy Hayslip, The Ralph Hatley Silver M Award:
Jimmy Hayslip has been a fixture on Memphis stat crews dating back to 1961. He has been a member of the stat crew for the first and last Tiger basketball games played in both the Mid South Coliseum and the Pyramid and continues to serve as the official scorer for Tiger men's and women's basketball teams and as a stats keeper for Tiger football games. In 45 years on the Tiger basketball sidelines, he has missed just five basketball games, working games in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, the Mid-South Coliseum, the Pyramid and now FedExForum.
Hayslip also has a long history in the Memphis and Shelby County school systems. He was a teacher and coach at Bartlett High School beginning at age 21. He then served at Havenview and Millington High School, where he began training as an administrator. He took his first principal position at age 30 at Lucy Elementary. From there, he went on to Raleigh-Egypt High School, then Riverdale, before becoming the first-ever principal at Germantown Middle School. He also served as the principal at Collierville High School for six years. Hayslip then spent the last 15 years of his 44-year career as an educator as the public relations director for Shelby County Board of Directors beginning in 1984. An athletic coordinator for Shelby County Schools, Hayslip was also a member of the athletic advisory board for the annual Best of Preps awards.
In addition to his work with the Tigers, Hayslip works as the scoreboard operator for Memphis Redbird games and, in his freetime, restores antique cars.
Chuck Roberts, The Dr. C.C. Humphreys Golden Tiger Award:
Fans who attend Tiger basketball, football and volleyball games and Lady Tiger basketball games have all heard of Chuck Roberts - or they have at least heard him. Roberts has been the public address announcer for the four Tiger athletic teams for the past nine seasons. A graduate of Christian Brothers University in 1989 with a degree in management and in 1991 with an MBA in finance, Roberts grew up a lifelong Tigers fan.
He worked for 10 years in real estate brokerage, serving as the Director of Communications and Senior Project Manager for the world's largest bank consulting firm, specializing in capital strategies, real estate portfolio analysis and employee/shareholder motivation. After three years in the real estate business, Roberts began Chuck Roberts Commercial Real Estate (CRCRE) in 1999. CRCRE specializes in the sales and leasing of commercial and industrial property in Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas. He also owns Timbeaux on the Square, a fine dining steak and seafood restaurant in Hernando, Miss.
He is currently a member of the Tiger Athletic Advisory Board of Directors and has been instrumental in hosting the Tiger Scholarship Fund Spring Tour stops in DeSoto County over the past two years.
A native of the Mid-South, Roberts is also active in the Southaven community. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the DeSoto County Economic Development Council and serves as Chairman of the Board of the DeSoto County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
