1992 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

 

DON CASPER
Passed for 1,135 yards and rushed for 641 more as the quarterback of the Springfield High team in 1951, played one season at Illinois before leaving school. Was the quarterback of the Fort Hood (Texas) team was ranked 2nd nationally among all army teams. "The best all-around athlete I've seen since I've been in Springfield,"
Springfield Sports Hall of Famer Herb Scheffler was once quoted, also played baseball and basketball.

 

ROGER ERICKSON
Spent parts of six seasons in the major leagues with Minnesota and the New York Yankees and finished with a 35-53 record, including 14-13 as a rookie in 1978. Only one pitcher from Springfield ever won more games, Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, served as a pitching coach in the St. Louis organization.
Lanphier High School graduate.

 

JOHNNY KNIGHT
A three-time Men's City Amateur champion (1950-52), Knight went on to play on the PGA Tour for several years in the late 1950s. After spending many years in the harness racing industry, he returned to golf and played several PGA Senior Tour events in the late 1980s.

BOB CHARLTON
Six-time Men's City Golf Tournament champion, served as the club pro at Lincoln Greens for 19 years.

TOM COLE
Led Springfield High School to the 1959 state title with an average of 20.8 points per game, was an All-Stater as a senior, and twice he led the Big 12 Conference in scoring. Was a three-year starter at Michigan and led the team in scoring as a junior and was team captain as a senior. He's still the school's No. 8 rebounder of all-time, inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1978.

 

FRED MYERS
Spent 11 seasons in pro baseball in the minor league level. Played on 8 pennant winners. A knee injury in 1929 eventually forced him to retire. He played as high as Rochester in the Class AAA International League and also managed in the minor leagues. Myers played second base.

 

ARLYN LOBER
Coaches basketball at Lanphier High School for 22 years and had a 372-198 record. The most wins of any coach in city history. His lanphier teams won nine city titles, nine regional titles and five sectional crowns. The Lions finished third in the state tournament in 1963 and fourth in 1971.

HERB MCMATH
Played in the NFL for the 1976 Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders and for the 1977 Green Bay Packers. was a fourth-round draft of the Raiders out of Morningside College in 1976.
Southeast High School graduate

BILL ROELLIG
Compiled a 145-65-7 record between 1929-53 as Springfield High School football coach. He was named to the Illinois Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1977. Won 10 Big 12 Conference titles, including nine between 1930 and 1940. His teams won 38 straight Big 12 games in the 1930s. Also served as SHS athletic director.

PAUL REYNOLDS
As a Cathedral High School senior, he rushed for 1,181 yards, scored 23 touchdowns and 138 points. As a junior and senior he scored 35 touchdowns, accepted a football scholarship to Notre Dame, and in 1951 as a freshman playing for Frank Leahy he carried the ball more than any other halfback on the squad. He was forced to give up the sport because of a knee injury and spent his senior year working as a student coach.

 

JIM KOPATZ
Lanphier High School graduate who led city basketball scoring as a sophomore, junior and senior, was an all-state basketball pick as a junior and senior and was an all-state football pick at QB as a senior. Was named all-city in basketball, football and baseball a total of nine times, played football, basketball (part of one season) and baseball (one season) at Illinois and was a sometimes-starter at QB as a junior and senior. Drafted in the 18th round of the baseball by California after his senior year in high school. Was drafted on the 12th by the Yankees after his junior year in college. Was picked on the fourth round by St. Louis after his senior year at Illinois.

FRIENDS OF SPORT

 

Gene Callahan - Active in fund-raising for youth sports and one of the individuals most instrumental in construction of Chamberlain Park.

D.C. Carr - Sponsored numerous basketball, baseball and softball teams through the years as well as providing jobs for city athletes and their families.

Coley Cowan - Spent nearly 30 years as the voice of Springfield sports on WTAX radio.
A member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.

Shelby Harbison - The Lexington, KY., native came to Springfield in 1947 and became sports director at WTAX in 1948, broadcasting local high school, University of Illinois and other area events. He became general manager of the station in 1968 and formed Sangamon Broadcasting Co. in 1970, purchasing WTAX-AM and WDBR-FM in the process.

Charles Lockhart - Pioneer in boxing on the local front, the former fire department captain helped build a gymnasium in the firehouse for local boxers to train for Golden Glove competition.

Joe Shaheen - Owned and operated Springfield Speedway for 40 years and always was active as both a driver and promoter in the local motor sports scene. In May of 1979 he was inducted into the National Association of Auto Racing Fan Clubs Hall of Fame with a plaque in the Indianapolis 500 Museum.

John Watts - One of the pioneers of soccer in Springfield. He served as a player and coach and still is highly regarded as an official.