Eight In Latest Hall Of Fame Class

LITTLE ROCK — Three people with strong ties to West Memphis are among eight who will be inducted March 8 into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Marcus Brown and Sonja Tate played high school basketball in West Memphis, and Jeremy Jacobs owns Southland Greyhound Park in the eastern Arkansas city.

Also in the 2013 class are former Arkansas golfer Stacy Lewis, former UA track standout Frank O’Mara, former basketball coach Don Nixon, former high school football coach John Outlaw and former golf coach Wyn Norwood.

Brown led West Memphis to the 1991 Class AAAA state championship and the overall championship. The thirdleading scorer in Murray State history, he was the No. 2 scorer in the country in his senior year. He played briefly in the NBA and ended his 13-year pro career as the Euroleague’s alltime leading scorer.

Still the leading scorer at Arkansas State University with 2,312 points, Tate is an assistant coach on the women’s basketball staff at ASU. Her 820 points during the 1992-93 season is a school record. Five times, she scored 40 or more in a game.

Jacobs’ family was the concession operator when Southland opened in the mid-50s and the family’s Delaware North Corp. later bought the facility. Jacobs, who also owns the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, is CEO of Delaware North,which operates more than 50 professional sports venues.

Lewis, the 2007 NCAA champion, won 13 college tournaments at Arkansas. Recently, she was named LPGA Player of the Year by the Golf Writers Association of America. She won four times in 2012, earned $1.87 million, and was the fi rst American in almost 20 years to fi nish first on the Rolex Player of the Year points list.

O’Mara, who is from Limerick, Ireland, became John McDonnell’s first outdoor NCAA champion in 1983 when he won the 1,500 meters. Twice the world indoor champion at 3,000 meters, O’Mara competed for 15 years and represented Ireland in the Olympic games in 1984, 1988, and 1992. He is CEO of Allied Wireless Communications in Little Rock.

Nixon coached at Pulaski Robinson High School, Mabelvale High School, Little Rock Central and the University of Central Arkansas. At Central, Nixon won the Class AAAA state championship in 1970 and 1972 and the state’s fi rst overall championship in 1972. He coached UCA from 1972-79.

Outlaw, who died of a heart attack in December 2011, was successful in Arkansas and Texas. In nine seasons at Arkadelphia, Outlaw’s teams were 84-20-1 with two state championships. He was an Ozark native and a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas.

Norwood, a three-time state amateur golf champion, revived the men’s golf program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and started a women’s program.