Link to Union Sports Hall of Fame
Link to purchase tickets to HOF Banquet, May 12, 2017

JACKSON, Tenn. - The Union University Sports Hall of Fame has announced six new members to be inducted at a banquet, May 12, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. in the Carl Grant Events Center on the Union campus. The new class includes Otis Griffin (1962, basketball), Doug Kendall (1984, baseball), Josephine Ownio (2009, basketball), Stephanie Clark-Shutes (2005, basketball), Bud Sikes (1965, baseball) and Roy Stewart (1929, baseball, basketball, football). 

Tickets for the 10th induction banquet can be purchased online at www.uuathletics.com/hofpay. For more information on the banquet or to reserve your seat in person, visit the Union Athletic Office or call Teresa Thomas at 731-661-5130. 

Below is more information on each of the six inductees for 2017. 

Otis Griffin, '62
Men's Basketball

Otis Griffin played basketball at Union from 1958-62. He joins his teammate Joe Aden who was inducted to the Union Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

Griffin earned numerous honors at Union including VSAC All-Conference in 1963 and VSAC Who's Who in 1961 and 1962. He was also named VSAC All-Tournament in 1961 and 1962.

When he finished at Union, Griffin had scored 1,605 points, which puts him No. 12 on the all-time scoring list for Union men's basketball. Upon graduating from Union, Griffin held four school records including points in a season (573), rebounds in a season (370), rebounds in a game (24) and free throws in a season (193). Currently he ranks in the Union record books  top 15 in points in a season, No. 3 in rebounds in a season, No. 6 in rebounds per game and No. 2 in free throws made in a season. 

Griffin earned the Fred DeLay Memorial Award in 1962, given to the senior who is an outstanding athlete, a person of high academic standing, unquestionable loyalty and good character. He also earned the Dean F.E. Wright Award for GPA in his field. He was co-captain as a senior.

After his Union days, Griffin earned a master's degree from UT Martin and then taught and coached one year in Arkansas. He then joined the Goodyear company in Ohio before eventually being transferred to Union City, Tennessee. In 1963-64 He played for the Goodyear Wingfoot Basketball Team in the Mid-West Industrial League. On the Goodyear team, Griffin played along side 1964 USA Olympic Basketball players Larry Brown (famous college and NBA coach), Pete McCaffrey and Dick Daniels.  

Griffin married Glenda Thomas Griffin, also a Union student. They had two sons, Mike and Mark. 

Doug Kendall, '84
Baseball

Doug Kendall came to Union after graduating from Westside High School in 1977. He played four years for the Union baseball team from 1980-83, after turning down a scholarship to Union the year before attending. He was a member of Union's only NAIA World Series team in 1983, a team that was inducted into the Union Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. Union finished third place in the 1983 NAIA World Series, the school's highest ever NAIA finish.

Kendall led Union in 1983 with 11 wins during the season, which set a school record that stood until 1996. He earned three wins during the 1983 World Series, one in a complete game victory and two in relief. He also led Union with 111.1 innings pitched during the 1983 season, again, setting a school record that stood until 1996. Kendall was named All-West Division VSAC and All-VSAC. He also earned All-District 24, All-Area 5, NAIA All-American and NAIA World Series All-Tournament for his efforts in 1983. He was 11-2 with a 3.72 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 1983 and was named his team's Most Valuable Pitcher. 

In 1982, Kendal was 8-1, No. 4 in the NAIA in wins and helped lead the Union pitching staff to be listed as the No. 8 ranked pitching staff in the NAIA. His biggest personal victory was an 8-2 win over No. 20 Memphis State. He was named Union's Most Valuable Pitcher in 1982.

For his career, Kendal was 28-10 and is ranked fourth in Union history in wins in a career. 

Kendall and his wife, a former Miss Union, Melanie have four boys, Eric, Caleb, Luke and Micah. They are members of First Baptist Church in Collierville, Tennessee where Kendall serves as a Deacon. Kendall has been a physical therapist assistant at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis for the past 28 years.

Josephine Owino, '09
Women's Basketball

Josephine Owino played four years of basketball at Union from 2005-09. She helped lead Union to a pair of NAIA National Titles in 2006 and 2009. Owino also led Union to three TranSouth Titles and was a key part in Union's perfect regular season of 29-0 in 2008.

Owino was named a NAIA All-American three times, the NAIA National Tournament MVP in 2009, NAIA National Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009 and the NAIA/WBCA Player of the Year in 2008. She was a three time  all-conference performer, the TranSouth Freshman of the year in 2006 and the TranSouth Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009.

Owino finished her career No. 4 on the all-time scoring list for Union women's basketball with 2,240 career points. She is one of eight women's basketball players with at least 2,000 career points. She recorded 1,034 career rebounds, putting her third on the all-time list. Owino remains the only Union women's basketball player with at least 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. 

Owino averaged 15.8 points per game over her four years, which puts her third highest in Union's record book. Her 37 career double-doubles and 16 double-doubles in a season both rank third on the all-time lists.

Owino holds the Union record with a .640 field goal percentage for her career. She also holds the top-3 field goal percentages in a season, with the  best being .667 in 2008. 

Owino was the first and remains the only Union player to be drafted in the WNBA draft. She was selected in the third round, 28th overall by the Washington Mystics in 2009. She also attended the training camp for the Indiana Fever in 2010. 

Stephanie Clark-Shutes, '05
Women's Basketball

Stephanie Clark-Shutes played two season of basketball at Union including the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. She was a key part of Union's second NAIA National Championship in 2005 and quarterfinal appearance in 2004. Clark-Shutes was a two time NAIA All-American and was twice named the TranSouth Player of the Year during her career. In 2005, she was named the MVP of the NAIA National Tournament. 

Clark-Shutes averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds and one block per game in 66 career games at Union. She scored 20 or more points in a game 37 times in her 66 games, including a stretch of nine straight games in 2004. Her career high in points was 40 versus Martin Methodist in 2004, while her career high of 24 rebounds came versus Freed-Hardeman in 2005.

Clark-Shutes holds numerous school records including most rebounds in a game (24), most double-doubles in a season (29), most double-doubles in a career (44), most points in season (835) and most rebounds in a season (483). 

In addition to an outstanding playing career for Union, Clark-Shutes also spent two seasons (2006-08) as the assistant coach at Union for head coach Mark Campbell. During those two seasons, Union advanced to two NAIA semifinals.  

Currently, Clark-Shutes is the assistant coach for the University School of Jackson with her husband, Tony, serving as the head coach. USJ finished runner-up in the state tournament in 2017. She teaches middle school social studies and has one son, Zavior.

Bud Sikes, '65
Baseball

James Gilbert 'Bud' Sikes is a native of Jackson, Tennessee where he is recognized as a basketball, baseball and football player and longtime coach. 

In 1961, Sikes earned a baseball scholarship to Union where he started at third base. From 1961-65, the Union baseball team has a winning percentage of .800. The 1963 team won the NCAA Small College National Title and was national runner-up in 1964. He was team captain his senior year and set a school record for steals (27 in 25 games), ranking third in the nation in steals. 

After graduating from Union in 1965, he began his teaching and coaching career at Chester County High School, where he coached baseball, football and basketball. He returned to North Side in 1972, where he coached baseball and football for 23 years. In 1995, he became the head baseball coach and assistant football coach at Jackson Central Merry. During this time, he received his Masters in Organization and Administration from Memphis State University. He coached football for 31 years, baseball for 20 years and basketball for seven years.

Sikes was educated in Jackson at Spring Creek Elementary and North Side High School. He was a three sport letterman at North Side and also was elected as the senior class president. Sikes was named MVP of the 1959 State Babe Ruth Championship Tournament and played American Legion Baseball from 1960-62 where he was captain. 

Sikes has received numerous honors in his career including Outstanding Young American in 1967, co-founder of West Tennessee Umpires Association and district officer in baseball and football. He was inducted into the North Side Legacy Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Jackson Madison County Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. His 1963 baseball team was inducted into the Union Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

Roy Stewart, '26
Football, Baseball, Basketball

Roy Stewart was an outstanding three-sport athlete for the 1922-26 Bulldogs. The 172 pound left half-back started all four years for the Bulldogs gridiron squad. In 1924 he was named Most Valuable Man for the team.  He was the captain of the 1926 team. He was selected as the winner of the Dr. Hal Baker football trophy his senior season. After graduation he served as an assistant football coach under Union and NFL Hall of Famer Joe Guyon. Stewart was also an outstanding outfielder on the Bulldog baseball team and forward on the basketball squad. 

Stewart was named the Union University Top Athlete of the first 50 years of the 1900's. 

After leaving Union he went to Murray State University as an assistant coach in 1932 and was named head coach in 1933. He served as head coach for 12 seasons compiling an impressive 60-34-11 record. He then became the Athletic Director at Murray State until he retired in 1967. The football stadium at Murray State is named Roy Stewart Field. He was inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame in 1971. 

He is regarded as the "Founding Father" of the OVC in which he along with Eastern Kentucky University's Charles Hughes and Western Kentucky University's Dr. Kelly Thompson planned the creation of the Conference in 1941. He was inducted into the OVC Hall of Fame in 1977.

Stewart was also very involved on campus. He served as the President of the student body. He was the winner of the A. W. Prince Medal his senior year. As a member of the ATO fraternity he was a delegate to the ATO national convention. He also served on the Cardinal and Cream and Lest We Forget staff's as booster editor and athletic editor. 

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