Hall of Fame reservations for Walton, Malone

By Matt Hill
STAR STAFF

   JOHNSON CITY- Judge John W. Walton is used to hearing "your honor" all the time, but he has probably never been honored like he will be on April 6.
   That's the day the Elizabethton resident and 10 other former East Tennessee State players, coaches and trainers will be inducted in the ETSU Athletics Hall of Fame during a banquet to be held at the Adelphia Center.
   Walton will be joined by Dr. Willie John Malone (basketball), Jay Baumgardner (basketball and golf), Jim Brown (basketball and baseball) Donnie Cook (football), Mike Hulbert (golf), P.J. Leddy (track), Gloria Kay Parmentier (rifle), Dr. Janice Shelton (administrator/coach), Joe Blaine Shipley (baseball coach) and Jay Shoop (trainer).
   Walton was an All-American football player at ETSU, and was captain of the undefeated 1969 Grantland Rice Bowl Championship team.
   After earning his B.S. degree in management, Walton went on to law school at the University of Memphis. He graduated eighth in his class in 1975.
   Walton practiced law in Elizabethton until 1998, when he was elected General Sessions Judge in Carter County.
   Walton's son, Adam Walton, was a four-year starter at free safety for ETSU during the late 1990s.
   Like the other nominees, Walton had a successful career at ETSU, then enjoyed triumphs in the professional world.
   ETSU Athletic Director Todd Stansbury thinks this class of nominees definitely has the best of both worlds.
   "Their success on the field or in their sport carried over into their professional or personal lives," Stansbury said.
   "I don't think it was just by chance that they ended up going on and being successful in many other things."
   Malone was an All-Conference basketball player in the early 1960s. He was voted the Ohio Valley Conference's best defensive player during his sophomore year.
   Also known for leading Hampton High School to the 1960 state basketball championship, Malone has written four books, served as an ordained minister, and is currently an optometrist in Johnson City.
   Baumgardner came to ETSU on a basketball scholarship in 1952, but ended up getting injured. This led to him to help start golf at ETSU, and then he helped to restart it in the 1980s.
   Baumgardner has been active at ETSU for years, and is a life insurance agent in the region.
   Brown shined on the basketball court and on the baseball diamond for the Buccaneers. He set the school rebound record for a game with 25 against Wofford during the '58-59 basketball season.
   Brown has been active in many baseball fundraisers, and was an assistant professor in the technology department.
   Cook was a first-team All-Southern Conference selection in 1981 and 1982, as he led the team in interceptions during those years.
   Cook has enjoyed a successful career in the business world, as he is Vice President of Operations at Citigroup.
   Hulbert is no stranger to golf fans. He was the Southern Conference champion in 1980, then he went on to play professionally on the PGA Tour.
   Hulbert has three PGA Tour wins, and has top 10 finishes in the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
   Leddy was an All-American in cross-country at ETSU, and was also All-Conference in Track. Leddy has served as a track coach in Ireland, and is also a freelance journalist.
   Parmentier was an All-American in Rifle during the 1978, 1979, and 1980. She holds 150 national records in junior, collegiate, women's, service and open categories.
   Shelton came to ETSU in 1968 as head women's basketball coach, physical education instructor, and women's intramural director. Shelton held two assistant athletic director positions at ETSU before being named interim athletic director in 1990.
   In 1991, Shelton became athletic director, and received the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators District III Administrator-of-the-Year award during that year.
   Shipley played minor league baseball in the New York Giants farm system before coming to ETSU. He coached and recruited several professional players including Ed Goodson of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dave Campbell of the Atlanta Braves.
   Shoop is an ETSU graduate that has served as head athletic trainer for Georgia Tech, and for the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He wrote and published the book "The History of the Southeastern Athletic Trainers Association" in 1988.
   A social will be kick-off the festivities at 6 p.m., with the dinner program starting at 7 p.m. The guest speaker is former Georgia Tech basketball coach Bobby Cremins.
   Tickets for the event, which is sponsored by Elizabethton Federal and Citigroup are $25 each. For more information you can call the ETSU Pirate Club at 439-8398.