SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State University will honor its athletic heritage when six new members are inducted into the SSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

Slated to be inducted are Richard Basil (football), Carl Crump (men's basketball), William R. "Bill" Davis (football coach), Russell Ellington (men's basketball coach), Phyllis Oliver Mattox (women's tennis) and Kim Jones Walton (women's basketball). Davis and Ellington will be enshrined posthumously.
This year's ceremony, set for Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m., will mark the fourth group to be inducted into the SSU Athletic Hall of Fame. The contingent honors the best of Tiger athletics over the last five decades, representing the sports of basketball, football and tennis.

Damon Evans, Vice President for Business Operations at The Markley Group and a former athletics director at the University of Georgia, will be the keynote speaker at the banquet. Shannon Sharpe, CBS Sports Analyst, NFL and SSU Hall of Famer, will be present at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Basil transferred to Savannah State from East Central Community College and played quarterback for the Tigers in 1988 and '89. In two years he passed for 3,645 yards and 44 touchdowns. He also rushed for 990 yards and 18 touchdowns. In 1988, Basil was the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Offensive Player of the Year and won the George Hobson Offensive Back of the Year Award. In 1989, he led Division II in passing percentage by completing .569 of his passes. He served as an assistant coach at SSU for nine seasons and was the head football coach for two and a half years. He graduated from SSU in 2001. The Demopolis, Alabama native currently lives in Stockbridge, Georgia and is the founder and executive director of Jump Start Youth Initiative Program.

Crump played basketball at Savannah State from 1965-69 and averaged 25.6 points a game. During his career, he scored 40 points on eight occasions and scored 36 points against Armstrong State College (now Armstrong Atlantic State University). Crump made the All-Southeastern Athletic Conference (SEAC) team in 1965 and '66. SSU also won the SEAC championship in 1965 and '66. He served as a graduate assistant at SSU during the 1970 season and the Tigers won the SIAC tournament championship in their first year in the conference. The 1970 SSU graduate currently lives in Bronx, New York and is a retired educator and boys basketball coach.

Davis coached the SSU football team from 1986-92 and 2000-01. Davis has won more games than any other football coach at Savannah State with 52 wins. While at SSU, he was named the National Coach of the Year by the Sheridan Broadcasting Network in 1989 and SIAC Coach of the Year in 1986 and 1988. From 1989-92, the Union, South Carolina native coached ten All America players. It was under Davis that SSU made its only trip to the Division II playoffs in 1992. Davis served as the SSU athletics director from 1990-92. Davis died in 2002.

Ellington coached the men's basketball team from 1976-85 and has the most wins by a head men's basketball coach in SSU's history with 148. Under Ellington, the Tigers won the SIAC title in 1979, '80 and '81. The '79 team reached the Division III South Regional Basketball Tournament and missed going to the Final Four after a one point loss to Otterbein in the South Quarterfinals. His record at SSU was 148-91, a .619 winning percentage. Ellington served as athletic director at Savannah State from 1982-85. The Wadley, Georgia native died in 2007.

Mattox played on the women's tennis team from 1994-98. The Warner Robins, Georgia native was a four-time All-SIAC player and was a member of the 1996 and '97 teams that won SIAC championships. Mattox went undefeated during the 1997 season and was named the SIAC Player of the Year. Mattox earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from SSU and is a Diamond Life Member of the SSU National Alumni Association. Mattox lives in Jacksonville, Florida where she is a member of the Jacksonville Chapter of the SSU Alumni Association and is employed as a District Reading Specialist by the Duval County Board of Education.

Walton played with the women's basketball team from 1983-87. Walton averaged 11.2 points and 10.3 rebounds as a freshman and 13.5 points and 11.1 rebounds as a sophomore. During her junior season, she averaged 10.6 and 14.4 rebounds and made All-SIAC, All-America and was the SIAC rebounding champion. As a senior, she averaged 13.9 points and 15 rebounds a game. She finished her career with 1,127 points and 1,170 rebounds. Walton finished her degree requirements in computer science from SSU in December 1988. The Atlanta, Georgia native has been employed by the Environmental Protection Agency for the past 24 years and resides in Fairburn, Georgia.

The Hall of Fame Banquet will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Tiger Arena. Tickets are $40 each. They can be purchased by contacting Selena Warner, SSU Athletics Business Manager, at 912-358-3429 or warners@savannahstate.edu. The inductees will be introduced on October 1 at halftime of the football game between Savannah State and Howard.