Oct. 12, 2010
ATLANTA – All-America golfer and PGA Tour star Matt Kuchar headlines the 2010 class of the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame, which also includes All-ACC basketball guard Drew Barry, All-America offensive lineman Chris Brown, All-America pitcher Chuck Crowder, cross country All-American Beth Old and track All-American Jonas Motiejunas.
The group of former student-athletes will be inducted on Friday at the annual Hall of Fame Induction Dinner at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center. Tickets for the dinner (business attire, please) are $50 and can be purchased through the Alexander-Tharpe Fund at 404-894-6124. They will also be honored during Tech’s football game with Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.
“We are pleased and excited to announce this class joining the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame,” said Tech director of athletics Dan Radakovich. “They are all great ambassadors for the Institute and now rightfully take their place amongst join the greats of Georgia Tech Athletics.”
Kuchar was the cornerstone in the resurrection of Georgia Tech’s golf program when he enrolled at Tech in 1996, winning the U.S. Amateur after his freshman year and capturing seven collegiate titles. Barry set an ACC Tournament record for assists in leading the Yellow Jackets to the 1993 conference title, and closed out his career by leading the Jackets to the ACC regular season crown and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Brown’s arrival at Tech coincided with the Yellow Jackets’ first bowl appearance in six years and the beginning of a consecutive bowl appearance string that currently stands at 14. Crowder led Tech to three NCAA Tournament appearances in four years. Old earned All-America status in both cross country and track, while Motiejunas racked up All-America honors six times in relay events.
Following are brief bios on each of Tech’s 2010 Hall of Fame inductees.
Drew Barry, Men’s Basketball, 1993-96 A starting guard for the ACC Tournament champions in 1993 and the regular-season champions in 1996, Barry helped Tech to a runner-up finish in the ACC Tournament and the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 1996. He played on two NCAA Tournament teams and one NIT team. Tech’s all-time leader in assists with 724, he led the Yellow Jackets in assists three times during his career (1994, 1995, 1996) and set a three-game ACC Tournament record with 27 assists in 1993. The Danville, Calif., native earned second-team All-ACC honors in 1996, and was on the conference All-Freshman team in 1993. He was also named to the Academic All-ACC team in 1993. A second-round draft pick by Seattle in the 1996 NBA draft, he played with four different teams over three seasons. He now lives in Atlanta with his wife Raquel and their children Kylie and Christian.
Chris Brown, Football, 1997-2000 A first team consensus All-American in 2000, by the Associated Press, AFCA, FWAA and Football News, Brown played on four teams that posted winning records and participated in bowl games. He was a key part of the 1998 team that posted a 10-2 record overall and a 7-1 ACC record as the Yellow Jackets shared the ACC championship. A four-year letterwinner as an offensive tackle, Brown was a first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference choice in 2000, and was one of four captains of the 2000 team that went 9-3 and played in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. A native of Augusta, Ga., Brown played in the NFL for Carolina in 2001 and Carolina and Chicago in 2002, then moved onto NFL Europe in 2003 to play for Scotland. Brown currently lives in Los Angeles, Calif.
Chuck Crowder, Baseball, 1996-99
A mainstay in the starting rotation for Georgia Tech in the late 1990s, Crowder was a first-team All-American by The Sporting News in 1998, a third-team All-American by the NCBWA in 1999 and a third-team selection by Collegiate Baseball in 1998. A first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference choice in 1998 and 1999, Crowder also earned first-team freshman All-America honors by Baseball America in 1996 and was named second-team All-Atlantic Region by the ABCA in 1998. Only the third Tech pitcher to ever record 10 victories in three seasons (the others were Georgia Tech Hall of Famers Doug Creek and Brad Rigby), Crowder ranks among the top-three in school history in victories (3rd, 33), strikeouts (3rd, 377), innings pitched (2nd, 346.2) and shutouts (T-1st, 3). He was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the third round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, and played in the Intercontinental Cup with the U.S. National Team in 1997. Crowder currently lives in Mableton with his wife, Danielle, a former Tech volleyball player, and their three children, Charlie, Max and Luke.
Matt Kuchar, Golf, 1997-2000
One of the most well-known athletes in recent Tech history, Kuchar was named a national player of the year in 1998 (the Fred Haskins Award) and in 2000 (the Dave Williams Award), while earning first-team All-America honors twice and third-team once on his four years. The native of Lake Mary, Fla., also was a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference choice, was named the ACC Player of the Year in 1998 and the ACC Rookie of the Year in 1997.
Kuchar won seven collegiate tournaments at Georgia Tech, including an NCAA East Regional in 1998, and helped Tech win nine tournaments and play in three NCAA Championships in four years. Among his top performances were two top-20 finishes in NCAA Championships (tie for seventh in 1998, tie for 20th in 2000), three top-10 ACC Championship finishes and three top-10 NCAA regional finishes in four years. His career stroke average of 71.86 still ranks fourth all-time at Tech.
Kuchar also was prominent on the amateur circuit, winning the U.S. Amateur championship following his freshman year in 1997. He was a member of the U.S. Walker Cup team in 1999 and the U.S. Palmer Cup team in 1998 and 1999, and he played on the U.S. team in the 1998 World Amateur Championship. He finished in the top 20 of the U.S. Open and the Masters while enrolled at Georgia Tech. Since joining the PGA Tour, he has won three times, and this year finished second in the FedEx Cup points standings and was selected to play for the United States in the Ryder Cup.
Kuchar now lives in Sea Island, Ga., with his wife Sybi, a former Tech tennis player, and their children Cameron and Carsen.
Beth (Mallory) Old, Cross Country/Track, 1994-98
An All-American in both cross country and track, Old (nee Mallory) won Atlantic Coast Conference championships in the mile (1995, 1998) and the distance medley relay (1995, 1998). Old still owns the top performance in Tech history in the indoor mile with a time of 4:45.17, set in the 1996 NCAA Championship, and was part of the 4×1500-meter relay team which set a school record of 18:26.1 in 1995 that still stands.
A team captain in 1997, Old also earned Academic All-America honors three times, and earned All-ACC honors four times in two events. A native of Blairsville, Ga., she now lives in Marietta with her husband Andrew, a former Tech swimmer, and their children Connor, John Marland, Mallory.
Jonas Motiejunas, Track and Field, 1994-99
A six-time All-American in the 4×400-meter relay. Motiejunas was a member of Tech’s NCAA Champion team in 1994 and 1998 outdoor seasons. He earned All-America honors for those performances and in the same event in 1995 (indoor, 10th place) and 1999 (outdoor, fifth place). The 1998 relay team still holds the indoor school record (3:06.00). Motiejunas was an ACC champion four times as a member of the 4×400 relay team (1994 indoor and outdoor, 1998 indoor and outdoor), and also was the 1998 ACC Champion in the 800 meters. He earned All-ACC honors in the 400 meters (1994 and 1999 indoor), the 800 meters (1999 outdoor), and four times as a member of the 4×400 relay team (1994 and 1998, both indoor and outdoor).
A native of Scottsdale, Ariz., Motiejunas now lives in Acworth, Ga., with his wife Karen and their children Alena and Algis.
