Building Champions
 31st Annual Burgess Banquet Scheduled for Friday

Slocum headlines seven-member Class of 2008

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Sept. 15, 2008

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - R.C. Slocum, the winningest football coach in Texas A&M history, will join five Aggie athletic greats being inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame at the 31st annual Burgess Banquet. The banquet will be held Friday, Sept. 19 at the Zone at the north end of Kyle Field. Joining Slocum will be track decathlete Ricky Barker '91, track thrower Bobby Jack Gross '55, baseball slugger Daylan Holt '01, volleyball standout Jenna Moscovic '02 and basketball great Vernon Smith '81. Jerry Cox '72 is a former student who will be inducted into the Hall of Honor for his outstanding contributions throughout his life to the Texas A&M athletics department.

Slocum is the only Aggie football head coach to ever post at least 100 career victories. Slocum closed out his 14-year career with a record of 123-47-2 (.721) and led A&M to 11 bowl games, including five New Year's Day games, during that time. Along the way he won six championships (three SWC, one overall Big 12 Championship, and two Big 12 South crowns) and had the best record in the league in another season (1994). The 14 years as a head coach tied Homer Norton for the longest tenure of any Aggie football head coach. Combined with Slocum's 16 years as an Aggie assistant coach, no other Aggie football coach has ever served a longer tenure in Aggieland. Slocum closed out the Southwest Conference era with the best winning percentage of any league coach with an .865 (44-6-2) percentage and Darrell Royal was second at .797 (109-27-2). At Kyle Field, the Aggies posted a 67-11-1 record during his time for a winning percentage of .854. Already a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame (2005), Slocum was recently named a distinguished alumnus of McNeese State where he played tight end. Slocum currently serves as a special advisor to the Texas A&M University President.

Barker finished second at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in 1991 and finished third at the NCAA's in 1990 to earn All-America honors both seasons for the Aggies. He was a four-year letterman (1989-92) for head coach Charlie Thomas and Ted Nelson and continues to hold the top seven decathlon finishes in school history highlighted by his school record 7931 points at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1991. He was a two-time Southwest Conference champion in the decathlon and earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Texas A&M in 1991. Barker would continue to train in his specialty and finished fourth at the USA Olympic Trials in 1996.

Gross was a three-year letterman (1953-54, 56) as a thrower in track and field for head coach Frank Anderson. Gross won both the shot put and discus crowns in the Southwest Conference Championships in both 1954 and 1956. He finished second in both events in 1953 but helped the Aggie track and field team win the 1953 SWC team championship. Gross went on to earn his doctorate in veterinary medicine from Texas A&M.

Holt was a three-year (1998-01) baseball letterman for Aggie head coach Mark Johnson and continues to hold the single-season homerun record with 34 homers in 1999 as well as the career homerun mark of 56. An All-American outfielder, Holt helped his teammates win back-to-back Big 12 regular-season championships in 1998 and 1999. That 1999 club advanced to the College World Series. Holt also tied the single-game record for homeruns in a game with three dingers against UT-Pan American. Holt continues to hold the single-season RBI mark of 105 set in 1999. He was drafted in the 2000 draft by the Oakland Athletics and received his agricultural economics degree from Texas A&M in 2001.

Moscovic was a four-year letterman ( 1998-01) for head coach Laurie Corbelli and earned first-team All-America honors in 2001 as well as earning MVP honors from her teammates that same season. She helped the squad reach the NCAA Championships all four years and reached the Elite 8 in both 1999 and her senior season of 2001. She continues to hold the school record for hitting percentage (.900) in a match as well as the most assists (88) in a match. Not only a stellar athlete on the court, but Moscovic earned Academic All-Big 12 honors three years and was named the Texas A&M Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the school year 2001-02. She earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration in December of 2003.

Smith was one of the key building blocks to head basketball coach Shelby Metcalf's famous Wall. Smith, a power forward with a great shooting touch, led the Aggie basketball team to the Sweet 16 in 1980 helping defeat North Carolina before losing an overtime game against eventual national champion Louisville. The four-year letterman (1978-81) was named All-SWC three straight years and was a team captain his senior season. He scored 1,778 points which is currently second all-time in school history and Smith still holds the school career rebound record with 978 boards.

Cox is a 1972 graduate of Texas A&M with a bachelor's degree in finance. He is the president and chairman of Cox and Perkins Exploration Company in Houston. A Distinguished Alumnus of Texas A&M University, Cox has served on many boards including the Texas A&M Foundation, the Lowry Mays School of Business along with the George Bush School of Government and Public Service. Cox is a past president of the 12th Man Foundation.

There are still tickets available to the banquet and can be purchased from the Letterman's Association at 979-846-3024. Tickets are $65 each.

2008 Inductees into the Texas A&M University Athletics Hall of Fame & Hall of Honor

Ricky Barker, Track and Field Bobby Jack Gross, Track and Field Daylan Holt, Baseball Jenna Moscovic, Volleyball R.C. Slocum, Football Head Coach Vernon Smith, Basketball Jerry Cox, Hall of Honor inductee

 

 

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