By: Caleb Burggraaf
SENATOBIA – The Northwest Sports Hall of Fame is inducting its newest class on Thursday, with six new members joining the illustrious order.
"It is always amazing to meet and greet the former Rangers who helped set a standard here at Northwest," Athletics Director Jake Gordon said. "Listening to all their accolades in their respective sports is fascinating."
The group is once again full of stars from across all sports, with three separate decades being represented among the inductees. The class includes Sandra Newborn (women's basketball 1979-81), Rickey Barrett (men's basketball 1982-85), Marvin Mays (football 1989-92), Stefaan van den Heever (men's golf 1994-96), Jay King (baseball 2012-14), and Angel Hailey (women's soccer 2017-19).
"Northwest's Sports Hall of Fame celebrates more than outstanding athletic achievement," Vice President of Institutional Affairs Dr. Brad Smith said. "It honors the people who helped build Ranger pride and whose dedication, leadership and character continue to inspire us. Their accomplishments are an enduring part of Northwest's story and a powerful example for the next generation of Rangers."
Newborn enters the Hall of Fame as the first-ever All-American that Northwest women's basketball produced, earning the honor after a 1981 season that saw the Rangers come up just short of a trip to the national tournament. She was a part of two teams that were among the highest scoring in the country, and her success led her to play just down the road at Ole Miss, where she was a two-year starter for the Rebels, making a pair of appearances in the NCAA National Tournament.
While Newborn regrettably passed away in 2006, the honor will keep her memory and legacy alive on the Northwest campus.
Also joining from the basketball world is Rickey Barrett, who is entering the Hall of Fame after a storied career that saw him lead the Rangers to back-to-back MACJC championship games, where Northwest would come up just short of trips to the national tournament by a combined three points. One of the all-time great scorers for the Rangers, Barrett averaged 22.8 points per game as a sophomore and was named the Region 23 Most Valuable Player.
He would go on to establish his name in both the University of Alabama-Huntsville and NCAA record books thanks to his outstanding three-point shooting and is currently 17th all time in three-point shooting percentage for a season with an astounding 55.8 percent clip during his senior season.
Moving onto the football field, Marvin Mays is this year's representative after his efforts during his two years in the 1989 and 1991 seasons. He left the Rangers as one of the best defensive linemen the team has seen and is still in the record books for fifth all time in force fumbles in a career with eight, all of which came during the 1991 season when he helped lead the Rangers to a national runner-up finish, setting the tone for the team that would win the title in 1992.
He had stints with several professional leagues before moving on from the game of football, and he is now giving back as a community leader and role model or young men in north Mississippi.
The class heads overseas for the next inductee, with Stefaan van den Heever entering the Hall of Fame as the first men's golf inductee. In two seasons with the Rangers, van den Heever qualified twice for the national tournament, finishing in the top ten both years, picking up Second Team All-American honors as a freshman and returning the next year to place fourth and earn First Team All-American honors. He is one of just two golfers in program history to have finished as a two-time All-American.
He would go on to play at the University of Charlotte, where he was a leader on the team for his two years with the 49ers, leading them in scoring average. After several years of professional golf, he would return to his native South Africa where he has his own coaching and leadership business.
The next inductee takes us almost 20 years further into Northwest history with Jay King joining from the Ranger baseball team. King was one of the all-time greats with a bat, earning a career batting average of over .300 and during his sophomore season he finished with a .424 batting average in 144 at-bats. His defensive game at shortstop was also one to behold, putting up a career .935 field percentage with over 300 total chances.
King hung up the cleats after Northwest, despite the chance to continue at multiple schools, and now has several business ventures he runs and maintains.
Closing out the class, but by far not the least of the crew is Angel Hailey, who enters the Hall of Fame after playing for the Rangers women's soccer team in 2017-18. Hailey is the all-time leader in career saves for the Rangers, most of which came during a sophomore year when she kept the team in every game, making double digit saves in almost every one of them. Her best moment came as a freshman though, when she made 17 saves against Pearl River in an upset win for the Rangers, picking up the clean sheet in a 1-0 shutout.
Hailey has gone on to have success wherever she has played, most recently playing indoor soccer where she helped the Memphis Americans to a pair of NISL Championships while winning the Goalie of the Year both seasons.
The Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Thursday, October 1st at the Haraway Center, with a meet and greet beginning at 3 p.m. and the official induction beginning at 4 p.m. The inductees will also be honored during the pregame of the homecoming football game that evening at 7 p.m. at Bobby Franklin Field.
For a full list of the Northwest Mississippi Community College Athletics Hall of Fame, visit nwccrangers.com.
