Induction ceremony for Class of 2024 HoF Honorees
The honors were bestowed two years ago, but gathering the group together has been tricky. But next Saturday, Aug. 8, the Warren County Sports Hall of Fame will honor the Class of 2024 as it gets its official induction.
The class, which features Charles "Slim" Ingalls, Greg King, Phillip King, Jimmy Walker, Jennifer Wilson, Jessica Grayson, Raymond Martin and Andy Link, will be gathered at the Park Theater with a 2 p.m. ceremony that will also welcome in family and friends. The event may have limited to no open access to the public.
Inductees who are able to be at the event will be introduced and given a chance to speak to the crowd that gathers to pay tributes.
It won’t be the full class who will gather. Slim, beloved in the community for decades for his “Believe in Yourself,” mantra and super fandom, passed away shortly after the Class of 2024 was announced. Since his passing, the Morrison Elementary Gym has been renamed the Slim Gym and awards have been given to students at the school who best exemplify his passion for the Eagles.
Shortly before his passing, Superfan Slim Ingalls was able to have a meet and greet with several members of the inaugural Lady Pioneer flag football team.
A trio of Pioneer baseball legends who were part of the glory days of the late 1980s and early 1990s should be on hand for the celebration. The King brothers, along with longtime Pioneer coach Jimmy Walker, have been defining athletes and - at least for Phillip King and Walker - coaches in the Warren County baseball program. Walker recently had his number retired by the Pioneer baseball team, while Greg King has previously been enshrined in the UT Martin Sports Hall of Fame for his skills on the diamond.
Wilson and Grayson are both callbacks to some memorable Lady Pioneer basketball teams of the late 1990s. Both went on to have success in college, with Wilson becoming a Trevecca Hall of Famer in 2010 after leaving the school as its first and only four-time All-American and a school-record 2,109 points. Grayson went on to become a JUCO All-American at Columbia State before launching a coaching career that has included stops at University of Missouri-Kansas City, Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin, Illinois State, Austin Peay (where she graduated) and Tennessee Martin, along with serving as a graduate assistant at Valdosta State.
Grayson has been most recently working at West Virginia University, where the Mountaineers are coming off their third straight 25-win season where they qualified for the Big Dance every year.
Martin and Link round out a class that honors a group of athletes and coaches who represent decades of greatness in Warren County athletics.
For more information about the banquet, email wcsportsauthority@gmail.com or tanarra.grissom@secfed.net.
