Jan. 19, 2005

MEMPHIS, TENN. - The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame announced today that current tailback DeAngelo Williams, as well as former Lady Tiger basketball player Betty Booker-Parks, will be honored on February 18 at the annual Induction Banquet at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville.

Williams will be honored as "Male Amateur Athlete of the Year" for his outstanding play during the 2004 season. Williams helped lead the Tigers to their second consecutive bowl appearance while compiling numerous individual records and honors.

DeAngelo Williams was a key factor in the Tigers finishing with an 8-4 record and a bid to the GMAC Bowl. It was the first time ever in school history that the Tigers had advanced to a bowl game in back-to-back years. Williams has rewritten the rushing section of the Tiger record books, and has received numerous honors this season.

He is a two-time Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year (04, 03), and received recognition as a C-USA Player of the Week twice this season. He ended the season as a finalist for the Maxwell Award, the Doak Walker Award, the Hossman Trophy and the John Wooden Cup. He also was named an all-American by Pro Football Weekly (first-team), the Associated Press (third-team), CollegeSportsReport.com (second-team), and was tabbed as a member of the Conference USA All-Decade Team. Prior to the start of the season, CBSSportsline named Williams No. 45 among the 50 most relevant people in college football.

Williams finished his junior campaign with 1,948 rushing yards on 313 attempts, both of which led C-USA and are school records. He also led the nation in rushing touchdowns with 22. Nationally, he was also second in scoring (138 points), all-purpose yards (2,230 yards), and rushing yards (1,948).

Including the GMAC Bowl, which he broke his leg in and left the game in the third quarter, Williams rushed for more than 100 yards in 10 of the 12 games. He also netted more than 200 yards in three of the last five games. In the fifth game of the season, against Houston, he broke the school record for rushing yards in a game with 262 against the Cougars. The previous record was 260 yards set by Paul Gowen against Tulsa in 1969. In that Houston game, Williams also became the all-time leading rusher at the U of M. He came back in the final regular season game against USF and set an even higher single game standard with 263 yards against the Bulls.

This season, Williams also tied the single game school record for touchdowns after scoring four TDs against Chattanooga, Houston and East Carolina. He also recorded the longest play from scrimmage this season with a 75-yard touchdown run against Southern Miss.

In only three seasons, Williams also owns career records in 100-yard games (24), rushing yards (4,062), attempts (659), and touchdowns scored (41).

At the banquet, three Memphians will also be inducted as part of the Class of 2005. They are: Betty Booker-Parks; Verties Sails, Jr. and Ed Murphey.

Betty Booker-Parks--a four-time high school basketball MVP, was named to the Tennessee All Star game in 1976 with a career average of 30.2 points per game. Booker-Parks was named 2nd team All-American at Memphis State University in 1975 and still holds the school record for games played (137), points scored (2,835), scoring average (20.7) field goals attempted (2,704), field goals made (1,203) and steals (360). She held the record for most points scored in a game (41 in 1978) until passed by All-American Tamika Whitmore in 1999.

Booker-Parks was a first round draft choice in the Women's Basketball League and was named to the University of Memphis Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985. She was named Commercial Appeal's " Best of the Prep" Coach of the Year in 1991, 1992 and 1993 and was manager/coach of the WBA Memphis Blues Basketball team in 1994.

Verties Sails, Jr. - In his 26th year as head men's basketball coach at Southwest Tennessee Community College (formerly Shelby State), has guided his teams to 18 West Division titles, 13 TJCCAA State Championships and seven Region VII Championships and national tournament appearances. Sails holds a 539-219 career record at STCC for a .711 winning percentage and has been named TJCCAA Coach of the Year nine times. Sails came to Southwest after serving as assistant coach at Memphis State University for five years.

Earlier in his career he compiled a 132-35 record at Melrose High School in Memphis where his team won the 1974 State Championship with a perfect 35-0 record. He was voted high school Coach of the Year in 1970 and 1974. Sails was inducted into the Tennessee Junior Community College Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1994 and the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2004.

Ed Murphey - a native of Brownsville, TN in Haywood County, Murphey earned a full track and field scholarship at the University of Tennessee. He was named an NCAA All American in 1956 as he set a school record in the 1,500-meter run (3:52) and was the fourth best collegiate miler that year--a benchmark which stood for two decades.

Murphey set several additional records, which stood for many years. His mile record (4:16) run at Neyland Stadium in 1956 stands unbroken in that venue. Murphey also set the SEC mile record the following year, in 1957 with a time of 4:14. He set the SEC Cross Country record in Atlanta (21.21). In 1956 he became the first UT runner to be a finalist for the U.S. Olympic Track Team. He also was the U.S. Marine Corps mile champion in 1958 and was inducted into the Brownsville Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

Others to be inducted include Haywood Harris, Sports Information/University of Tennessee; Susan Russ, Track/Harpeth Hall School; Dr. Dick Barnett, Basketball/Tennessee State University and NBA; Billy Justus, Basketball/University of Tennessee; Darwin Bond, Track/University of Tennessee; Richmond Flowers, Football and Track/University of Tennessee; John Overton, Track/Yale (posthumous); and Petie Siler, Coach/Morristown High School (posthumous).

The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet will be held Friday, February 18th at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville. Tickets for the awards banquet and induction ceremony are available from the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame for $100.00 each. For more information on attending the event call the TSHF office at (615) 242-4750.