Former football player Chuck Mills receives his gold coat from TJC president Mike Metke, left, as he is inducted into the Tyler Junior College Sports Circle of Honor Saturday at Gentry Gym, inside the Ornelas Health & Physical Education Center. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

There were many smiles, lots of laughs and few tears as nine former Tyler Junior College athletes and coaches were inducted into the school’s Sports Circle of Honor on Saturday.

A crowd of family, friends, alumni and previous honorees filled Gentry Gym inside the Ornelas Health & Physical Education Center for the 2016 induction banquet.

The 2016 Class included:

Jimmy Blacklock, basketball, 1968-70;

Dr. Gene Branum, football, 1979-81;

Jessica Guild Williams, basketball, 1998-2000;

Nicole Guild Kraus, basketball, 1998-2000;

George “Folly” Malone, basketball, 1959-61;

Mike Martinez, tennis, 1988-90;

Chuck Mills, football, 1966-68;

John Peterson, men’s and women’s tennis coach, 1987-2011;

Janet Kniffen Scholl, tennis, 1979-81.

Each inductee or a representative of the inductee was given a gold jacket, symbolic of being a member of the Circle of Honor, by Dr. L. Michael Metke, TJC president, and Dr. Tim Drain, TJC athletic director.

The nine new hall of famers bring the total to 87 in the Circle of Honor, Metke, said.

He noted TJC has won 52 national championships since the athletic program began in 1946.

“There have been scores of All-Americans and others who have played professionally, but also these former athletes took academics just as seriously,” Metke said.

He added that the current 280 athletes sported a 2.81 GPA in the fall, exceeding the regular student body. Also, 36 athletes had a 4.0 GPA.

The Guild twins, Peterson, Martinez, Mills and Kniffen Scholl all gave passionate speeches thanking their families, friends, faculty and God for directing them to TJC, plus their love of the school. Blacklock and Branum were unable to attend, while Malone was inducted posthumously.

The framed drawings of the inductees will now hang in the Floyd Wagstaff Museum in the foyer of Wagstaff Gymnasium.

The twins, Jessica Guild Williams and Nicole Guild Kraus, noted when they first arrived at TJC from Flower Mound Marcus High School, legendary coach Floyd Wagstaff greeted them in his office.

“Coach Wagstaff was talking to us that day and he took us to see the photos of the Circle of Honor athletes,” Nicole said.

Jessica added, “Coach Wagstaff said ‘one day I want y’all to be up there on that wall.'”

Former TJC coach Lee Ann Riley, who was present for Saturday’s ceremony, recruited the two and the two were instrumental in leading the Apache Ladies to the 2000 women’s basketball national championship.

Jessica and Nicole shared the Co-MVP honors at the 2000 national tournament in Salina, Kansas. Jessica was named first-team Kodak All-America and first-team NJCAA All-America.

Both played at Stephen F. Austin after TJC, helping the Ladyjacks win two Southland Conference championship and two NCAA berths.

Martinez was an All-American in 1990, leading the Apaches to the national championship as well as winning singles and doubles titles. He was then an All-American at the University of Oklahoma and won Big Eight Conference titles in singles, doubles and team tennis. He is the tennis pro and manager at Canyon Creek Tennis Center in Richardson.

He attended the event with his wife, Mila, and sons, Lance and Nicholas.

Martinez thanked his parents and his high school coach Johnny Simmons who told him “boy you are going to college” and pointed him toward TJC, and Peterson.

Mills was very emotional in his speech, taking time to collect himself. The three-sport star at Dickinson High School was a two-year starting defensive end for the Apaches. He started his junior and senior seasons at North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas.

He received six Coach of the Year awards while coaching football in high school (Boswell, Abilene, Decatur, Liberty, Connally and Lewisville). He later coached 13 seasons at UNT.

Peterson said he had not intended to come to TJC. He loved his job at San Antonio Alamo Heights, but after visiting the city and the school, he fell in love with the area.

Peterson was tennis coach from 1987 to 2011, leading TJC to 25 national championship in 24 years – 13 (women) and 12 (men).

He has been inducted into four Halls of Fame and is the only coach to have been named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Junior College National Coach of the Decade in both the women’s and men’s division.

Peterson also served as TJC athletic director from 1996-2002.

He praised previous coaches Fred Kniffen and Robert Cox, both Circle of Honor members, and current coach Dash Connell, his former player. He thanked Dr. Charles Johnson, former TJC English professor, who helped with the foreign players and the program. He noted Dr. William R. Crowe, former TJC president, and athletic secretary Angie Clemons, who recently retired, and his wife Dorothy, and his children.

He said he coached like “an old football player” and wanted to move the individual aspect of tennis to a team concept where players hurt when their teammate lost and rejoiced when they won.

Kniffen Scholl was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society in 1989, earned All-America honors two years and was national doubles champion in 1981. She has raised three daughters (coaching them in volleyball) and has been involved in start-up technology companies, along with commercial real estate sales and leasing. She is also a motivational speaker.

Kniffen Scholl praised her grandparents and parents who were “giants in tennis” and her sister Judy Kniffen Clardy who was previously inducted into the Circle of Honor.

Also, she can now join her father, Fred, in the Circle of Honor, calling her dad, “my father, my role model, my coach and my hero.”

Blacklock, who is still a coach with the Harlem Globetrotters, was unable to get away from the team. He is involved with one of the three Globetrotter touring teams during the 90th anniversary of the Ambassadors of Goodwill.

Blacklock was as a standout guard at Houston Wheatley High School when he was recruited by Wagstaff. After a standout career at TJC, he transferred to the University of Texas where he was one of the first African American players to play for the Longhorns and was the first African American captain at Texas. He was the MVP of the team his junior season. He joined the Globetrotters in 1974 and continued to play through 1987. He played in more than 2,500 games, visiting 62 countries.

Branum was unable to attend as the former kicker was represented by his father, former TJC professor Howard E. Branum who noted his son had several days of surgery scheduled and will be leaving soon for a medical mission in Honduras.

The younger Branum was all-conference in both punting and kicking for the Apaches. He transferred to Austin College when he kicked an NAIA record 57-yard field goal with 1:12 left in the game to help the Kangaroos capture the 1981 NAIA national championship.

He was an academic All-American in 1981 and was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1993.

Malone was a 6-5 forward for the Apaches. He helped TJC to two runner-up spots at the NJCAA national tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. Malone was voted MVP of the tournament, an honor that normally goes to a player on the winning team. He was NJCAA All-America in 1961.

Malone then played for Guy V. Lewis’ Houston Cougars in 1961-63. He later coached basketball at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee.

Bryan Houston was emcee and TJC head football coach Danny Palmer gave the invocation.

Don Murphy, past president of the Letterman Gold Athletic Club, noted former athletes, coaches and friends can join the “newest team on campus” in Letterman Gold. Go to TJC.edu/LettermanGold for more information.

Twitter:@PhilHicksETFS