Local sports icons Chapman, Washington to be inducted into ASHOF

Larry Chapman (second from left) coached AUM for 37 years leading 11 of his teams to the national tournament. He will be inducted in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in May, 2024. (Photo courtesy Auburn Unv. Montgomery)

By TIM GAYLE

Eight members were inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, including former Alabama football stars David Palmer and Mike Washington, former Auburn pitcher Scott Sullivan, former UAB basketball coach Mike Anderson and former AUM basketball coach Larry Chapman.

The eight newly elected inductees, part of the 56th class inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, will bring the total number of inductees to 401. They will be honored with an induction banquet and ceremony at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel on May 4, 2024.  

In addition to Palmer, Washington, Sullivan, Anderson and Chapman, the other inductees selected are former Alabama gymnast Penney Hauschild Buxton, J.F. Shields standout John Drew and former Alabama A&M football great Robert Mathis. 

“I walked through that door (as an Auburn basketball player) in Alabama in 1959,” said Chapman, who was notified of the honor on Tuesday. “There were a lot of halftime talks, a lot of practice plans, a lot of players visited and signed, a lot of losses and a lot of W’s. It was almost like vegetable soup. There were a lot of ingredients in there. It’s a lifetime of work. To be recognized is really humbling. It’s a blessing.”

Chapman, born April 11, 1941 in Ludowici, Ga., coached the Auburn University Montgomery men’s basketball team for 37 years (1976-2014), quickly transforming the fledgling athletic program into an NAIA powerhouse. He won 20 games in his second season at AUM and had fifteen 20-win seasons in his career. His 1987-88 team went 32-3 and reached the NAIA finals, earning his selection as the NAIA Coach of the Year. In all, he coached 11 teams to the national tournament and his 714 wins rank in the top 70 among men’s college basketball coaches nationally. In addition, he served for 22 years as the school’s athletic director, making the Senators’ program a model for other NAIA programs.  

After a year out of coaching, he returned in 2015-16 to coach in the Alabama Independent School Association ranks at Macon East Academy. In his first year at Macon East, he reached the state finals. The final two years, he won state championships, retiring with an 81-8 record in three seasons.

In 2012, Chapman initiated the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation to provide scholarships to worthy individuals based on financial need. In 2016, he organized the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation Tip Off Tournament for area high school teams and as a fundraiser for the scholarship program.   

Anderson, born Dec. 12, 1959 in Birmingham, played at Jefferson State Community College and the University of Tulsa, but is better known for his time as an assistant under Nolan Richardson at Arkansas for 17 years and his time as a head coach at UAB (2002-06), Missouri, Arkansas and St. John’s.

Buxton, born Aug. 6, 1964 in Horsham, Penn., was the first Southeastern Conference gymnast to win an NCAA individual championship. Hauschild won two all-around titles in 1985 and 1986, along with the bars title in 1985 and the floor championship in 1986. A 10-time All-American between 1983 and 1986, she won back-to-back Honda Awards in 1985 and 1986 as the nation’s top female collegiate athlete, the first Alabama athlete to win the award and the only one to ever win it more than once.  

Drew, born Sept. 30, 1954 in Vrendenburgh, was a household name in south Alabama long before he ever played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He led J.F. Shields to a state championship (in 1972) with a career scoring average of 41 points per game. He played at Gardner-Webb, then was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 1974 draft. Between the Hawks and his final three years with the Utah Jazz, he would score 15,291 points and have 5,088 rebounds. 

Mathis, born Feb. 26, 1981 in Atlanta, played defensive end and outside linebacker at Alabama A&M, setting the NCAA Division I-AA single-season sack record with 20 sacks in 2002. He was drafted in the 15th round by the Colts and spent his entire 14-year NFL career in Indianapolis, earning Pro Bowl status five times and a Super Bowl victory over the Bears in 2006. He holds the NFL record for most career forced fumbles (54), finishing his career with 538 tackles, 123 sacks, 54 forced fumbles and 17 fumble recoveries. He retired in 2016 and has served as a pass rush consultant for the Colts since 2017.

Palmer, born Nov. 19, 1972 in Birmingham, was a standout athlete who played a variety of positions, including quarterback, for Jackson-Olin, drawing the attention of Alabama coach Gene Stallings. He played three seasons at Alabama (1991-93), averaging 12.8 yards every time he touched the ball. He finished with 598 rushing yards, 1,611 receiving yards, 866 punt return yards and 841 kick return yards as every elusive high school athlete in the state was compared to Palmer for a generation. A member of the 1992 national championship team, a consensus All-American and a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, he played seven years with the Minnesota Vikings, primarily as a return specialist, leading the NFL in punt returns in 1995 and finishing his NFL career with 4,884 return yards.  

Sullivan, born March 13, 1971 in Tuscaloosa, was a walk-on at Auburn in 1991 and pitched three seasons for the Tigers, finishing with a 13-9 record as a relief pitcher. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the 1993 draft and set a club record by pitching at least 100 innings of relief every season from 1998-2001. Sullivan ranks second in Reds franchise history with 494 pitching appearances. He also played one season with the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals. Sullivan finished his 10-year career with an ERA of 3.98 and 622 strikeouts.

Washington, born Jan. 7, 1953 in Montgomery, was part of a group of players that established Robert E. Lee as one of the state’s premier high school programs. He helped the Generals to back-to-back state championships in 1969 and 1970 and a 32-game unbeaten streak in the process. He was a standout defensive back at Alabama in 1972-74, leading the Crimson Tide to three consecutive Southeastern Conference championships, a 32-4 record and the 1973 national championship while playing cornerback and also as an occasional punt returner. He was an All-American in 1974. He played nine seasons (1976-84) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, starting 105 games and recording 28 career interceptions. He passed away in December, 2021.