John Adams, a Knox News sportswriter and columnist since 1987, highlights the Class of 2023 for the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.
Adams will be one of 10 people inducted at the 42nd annual event on Aug. 31 at the Knoxville Convention Center.
Former Tennessee basketball player Grant Williams of the NBA’s Boston Celtics was the guest speaker. Reception starts at 5pm, show starts at 6:30.
Seats are limited. Tickets are $200, or you can buy a table of 10 for $2,000. All ticket and auction proceeds will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, which serves more than 7,200 youth at 22 club locations in Knox, Blunt, Loudoun, Anderson and Claiborne counties.
access www.gkshof.org tickets.
Here’s who will be inducted alongside Adams:
john adams
Adams has been named Tennessee Sports Columnist of the Year and Sportswriter of the Year eight times. He also won Mississippi and Louisiana sportswriter of the year awards.
Adams has been inducted into the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame and the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame.
Combining all the positions Adams has held, he has written sports commentary for 50 years.
billy abo
Former Tennessee State wide receiver Billy Arbo played for the Vols from 1976-98 and had 33 career games with 664 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He was a star player at Webb’s school.
Albaugh eventually became lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksborough. At the church, he focused on providing beds for children from families who might not be able to afford them. He also undertook nine years of missionary travel to the southernmost tip of Brazil.
Sarah Fechter Bailey
Sarah Fekete Bailey was instrumental in guiding the Tennessee softball team to its first two College World Series appearances in 2005 and 2006.
She played in 280 games with a .389 batting average and 85 stolen bases for the Lady Vols. In April 2022, she will be one of two Lady Vols to retire from UT softball.
She was a successful softball coach for Alcoa and also served as an assistant principal.
Todd Bergen
Todd Burgan is a six-time Tennessee Golf Association champion and was the 2011 Player of the Year. He has 5 individual titles, 4 runners-up and 19 state top-fives.
Burgan also played for the Vols from 1989-91 and was part of the 1990 SEC championship team.
larry cox
Larry Cox has been a coveted member of the Knoxville community for many years and served as City Councillor from 1984-2003.
Cox has also been active in the sports world for her role in the Knoxville Falcons youth sports organization.
Nicky Caldwell Fargas
With her hometown roots in the Knoxville area, Nikki Caldwell Fargas grew up in Oak Ridge and played basketball under legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt from 1990-94.
Despite being injured for part of two seasons in her career, Fargas made 128 3-pointers. She went on to become an assistant coach at Tennessee and Virginia before starting her head coaching career at UCLA from 2011-21 and most recently at LSU.
In 2021, she was named president of the WNBA Las Vegas Aces.
john fritz
John Fritts, a member of the Tennessee men’s tennis team, ranked No. 2 in singles and No. 1 in doubles during the 1995-98 season, and the team finished in the top 25 in three of those years.
After coaching many rookie tennis players out of college, he started working in the insurance industry in 2003 but continued to play tennis.
gerald hodges
Gerald Hodges has been an athletic official since 1967, starting in high school sports and working his way up to become an SEC video replay official.
Hodges has been an SEC official since 1989 and has 17 years of on-field experience and 17 years of playback experience. He played in multiple bowl games and ends his career in the SEC in 2022.
bill parker
Bill Parker has been associated with high school cross country and tracj for many years and has worked in the Knoxville education system.
He has won 16 consecutive women’s KIL championships and 16 men’s KIL championships in 17 years. Farragut named the track after him.
Julia Storrs Dilworth
Julia Stowers Dilworth won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics as part of the US 4×200 relay heats.
Storrs was a state champion at West and later swam for Tennessee. She continued her All-American career at Tennessee.
She’s a lawyer but still has ties to a Delta State University swim volunteer assistant coach in Cleveland, Mississippi.
Last year’s lineup:Meet the 2022 Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame inductees, including Randy Sanders
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