OSU Athletics Hall of Honor 2024 class set
STILLWATER – The 2024 Oklahoma State University Athletics Hall of Honor class has been selected.
Lauren Bay (softball), David Edwards (men’s golf), Ross Flood (wrestling), Charles Howell III (men’s golf), James Wadley (men’s tennis), Brandon Weeden (football) and the 1965 men’s track and field relay team of Dave Perry, John Perry, Jim Metcalf and Tom Von Ruden will be inducted as part of a ceremony on Friday, September 20.
They join 77 existing members of the OSU Athletics Hall of Honor.
The selection process began with a screening committee of OSU Athletics coaches and staff members that narrowed the list of eligible candidates to approximately 50. That list was taken to a selection committee of people affiliated with but not employed by OSU Athletics. The selection committee voted for the final honorees.
More on each member of the 2024 OSU Athletics Hall of Honor class:
Lauren Bay, Softball, 2000-03
Top honors: First-team All-American … Three-time Olympian and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist with Canada ... 2003 Big 12 Player of the Year
Additional information: A first-team All-America selection in 2003, Bay was dominant … That year, the left-hander posted an 0.82 earned run average and struck out 451 batters in 248.1 innings of work, which translates to 1.82 strikeouts per inning and 12.71 strikeouts per seven innings - a mark that ranked second in the nation behind only Texas’ Cat Osterman that season … She limited opposing hitters to a .120 batting average and was honored as the Big 12 Player of the Year … During the span of her four-year career, she fanned 1,151 batters in 853.2 innings pitched … She struck out 18 or more batters in a game four times and once struck out 23 Kansas Jayhawks in an 11-inning game in 2003 … Bay threw three no-hitters, including perfect games against Tulsa and South Florida in 2002 … When the Big 12 announced its 10th anniversary team in 2005-06, she was one of three pitchers selected … After graduation, she played professionally and in 2005 was selected as the NPF co-Pitcher of the Year with Chicago Bandits teammate Jennie Finch … Bay represented Canada in three Olympics - Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2020, where at age 39, she helped lift Canada to the bronze medal.
----------
David Edwards, Men’s Golf, 1975-78
Top honors: 1978 NCAA individual medalist … Three-time All-American … Two-time NCAA team champion … Four PGA Tour wins.
Additional information: A first-team All-American in 1977 and 1978 … Became the third Cowboy to capture the NCAA individual title, winning the event in 1978 … That same year, he helped OSU to a 17-shot victory and the program’s third national championship, making him the first Cowboy to claim medalist honors while leading his team to the national championship … A starter for OSU’s first NCAA title team under head coach Mike Holder in 1976 … Recorded three individual victories during his collegiate career … Won four times on the PGA Tour and once on the PGA Tour Champions circuit … Accumulated more than $4.7 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour.
----------
Ross Flood, Wrestling, 1933-35
Top honors: Three-time NCAA individual champion … Three-time All-American … Three-time NCAA team champion … Olympic silver medalist … Outstanding Wrestler at 1935 NCAA Championships … 1978 inductee into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Additional information: Undefeated in 30 matches at 126 pounds, he won three National Collegiate championships in 1933, 1934 and 1935, each time leading the Cowboys to NCAA team honors … As a senior he was voted outstanding wrestler of the national tournament … Won National AAU championships in 1935 and 1936 and another outstanding wrestler trophy … He then earned a place on the U.S. Olympic team and captured the silver medal at 123 pounds in the Berlin Games … In the 1937 Pan American Exposition at Dallas, he won the gold medal at the expense of three other national champions, despite severe rib injuries which brought an end to his competitive career … For six years he was a successful high school coach in Stillwater, then entered the Navy to spend five years as a physical instructor, including wartime service in the Pacific theater.
----------
Charles Howell III, men’s golf, 1998-2000
Top honors: 2000 NCAA individual medalist and team champion … Three-time All-American … Two-time first team All-American … 2000 Haskins Award and Jack Nicklaus Award … Three PGA Tour wins … Two-time Presidents Cup.
Additional information: First-team All-American in 1999 and 2000 … Third-team All-American in 1998 … Earned a pair of national player of the year honors in 2000, bringing home both the Jack Nicklaus Award and the Fred Haskins Award … Captured the 2000 NCAA individual title in record-setting fashion with a 23-under-par total of 265 … Helped the Cowboys capture their ninth national championship that same year … Won the Big 12 individual title in 2000 … Helped OSU to Big 12 team crowns in 1998 and 2000… 2000 Big 12 Athlete of the Year … Won five times overall during his collegiate career … Internationally, he competed at the Arnold Palmer Cup in 1998 and was a member of the U.S. Presidents Cup in 2003 and 2007 … Has three PGA Tour wins to his credit … 2001 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year … Has accumulated more than $41 million in PGA Tour career earnings.
----------
James Wadley, Men’s Tennis Coach, 1973-2012
Top honors: 13-time Big Eight champion coach, four NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, coached nine ITA All-Americans, 2014 inductee into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame, Longest tenured coach in Cowboy Tennis history with 40 years at the helm.
Additional information: James Wadley joined the Oklahoma State coaching staff in 1972 after beginning his career coaching high school tennis in Duncan, Okla. The program was immediately enhanced, as the Cowboys reeled off three consecutive Big Eight runner-up finishes in four years and five conference titles between 1973 and 1983, known as the “Decade of Dominance … Oklahoma State received the first of its 17 NCAA Tournament bids in 1978 under Wadley, which were highlighted by four Sweet Sixteen appearances … After leading the program for 40 years, Wadley stands as the longest tenured head coach in OSU history. The McAlester, Okla., native compiled 662 wins over his four decades at the helm of the men’s tennis program and led the Cowboys to 12 conference tournament titles … Wadley helped 108 players earn all-conference honors, with nine receiving ITA All-American status … Individually, Wadley accumulated 13 conference coach of the year honors and 12 regional coaching honors. He was inducted in the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame Hall of Fame in 2014.
----------
Brandon Weeden, Football, 2007-11
Top honors: Quarterbacked OSU to a 23-3 record as a starter and a Big 12 championship in 2011, ranked in the top three nationally in passing yards per game in 2010 and 2011, first-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft
Additional information: Generally regarded as the best quarterback in Oklahoma State history, Weeden left OSU with nearly every major school passing record … Compiled a 23-3 record as a starting quarterback in 2010 and 2011, including a 12-1 mark away from Boone Pickens Stadium … Led OSU to its first 11-win season in 2010, then its first 12-win season in 2011 … In his first year as a starter in 2010 he became OSU’s first all-conference quarterback since the 1930s, earning first team honors from both the Big 12 coaches and the Associated Press … Named as OSU’s male student-athlete of the year for 2010-11 for his work in the classroom and on the field … Followed that in 2011 by quarterbacking the greatest season so far in Oklahoma State history according the final AP polls after leading the Cowboys to a No. 3 finish in the final poll … Ended the 2011 season all over the national charts, including ranking second in total passing yards (4,727), second in passing yards per game (363.62), third in total offense with 355.77 yards per game and fourth in touchdown passes (37) … Capped 2011 by leading the Cowboys to their first New Year’s Six bowl win since 1974 with a win over No. 4 Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl … Four times in his career he threw for at least five touchdown passes in a game … Had 16 career 300-yard passing games and seven 400-yard games … OSU averaged 46.5 points per game with him as the starting quarterback … He is still the only player in OSU history to complete at least 40 passes in a game, and he passed that number three times … Before he arrived at OSU, he was a professional baseball player.
----------
Men’s Track and Field two-mile relay team from 1964-66 (Dave Perry, John Perry, Tom Von Ruden and Jim Metcalf)
Top honors: The team of Dave Perry, John Perry, Tom Von Ruden and Jim Metcalf set world records in the two-mile relay and the indoor dirt track two-mile relay … NCAA indoor two-mile relay champions in 1965 … John Perry, Von Ruden and Metcalf successfully defended that title by winning again the following year.
Additional information: The relay team of Dave Perry, John Perry, Tom Von Ruden and Jim Metcalf set the world record for the two-mile relay when they ran the event in 7:18.3 in May of 1965 … The previous record was 7:19 … That same season, the foursome won the 1965 NCAA indoor two-mile relay title … One year later, with Dave Perry graduated, Metcalf, Von Ruden and John Perry successfully defended their NCAA Indoor title, won the Kansas Relays, Drake Relays and California Relays … While at Oklahoma State, John Perry earned three All-America honors, set the Big Eight record in the 880-yard run and had a successful run beyond college, going undefeated in three races in Europe, placing fifth at the 1968 Olympic trials and then placing in the USA championships every year from 1966 to 1971, placing as high as fourth three times … Originally a walk-on from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Von Ruden was the first Cowboy to win an indoor individual NCAA title … He won three indoor NCAA individual titles, including the 880-yard run in 1965, two-mile relay in the same year and another two-mile relay in 1966 … To this day, he is the only Cowboy in history to achieve that feat … Representing OSU at the world level, Von Ruden made the 1968 United States Olympic team, for which he competed in Mexico City and took ninth in a stacked field in the 1,500 meters … Metcalf earned three All-America honors as a Cowboy and Dave Perry went from walk-on to All-American.
