For immediate release For more information, contact Al Pickett, 325-668-3014
A trio of record-setting basketball and volleyball coaches, a national champion in track and field and a noted college pitching coach headline the list of inductees in this year’s Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame class.
The 26th annual Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame induction banquet will be held Monday, April 19, 2027, at 6:30 p.m. at the Abilene Convention Center. We are honored to have City National Bank choose to remain our title sponsor for the induction banquet.
The Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame is a 501c3 non-profit organization, and the banquet is the primary source of funding for not only the operation of the museum, but also the scholarship program. The Hall of Fame has awarded more than $208,000 in college scholarships since 2012 to graduating Big Country student athletes.
Tickets will be available to purchase on December 1. Individual tickets are $80 each or $1,000 for a table of eight. Tickets can also be ordered online at bigcountryhalloffame.org by calling 325-704-1759. The Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame Museum is open free of charge seven days a week in the Mall of Abilene.
Inductees this year include national track and field champion Ashley Allen Huston from Jim Ned, former Hawley basketball standout and Jim Ned Head Coach Hunter Cooley, former Abilene High and McMurry girls basketball coach Sam Nichols, Associate Head Coach for Offense and Wide Receivers Philip Montgomery from Eastland, former Texas A&M two-sport standout and former Abilene High volleyball coach Didi Doss Pierce and former University of Texas pitching coach Clint Thomas from Abilene High.
Murry Bowden of Snyder, who was an all-American linebacker at Dartmouth, will also be honored. Bowden was selected in the Class of 2026 but was unable to attend last year’s induction banquet.
Recipients of the Bill Hart Memorial Legacy Award will be Robert Starr from Haskell and the late Mal Hammack from Roscoe.
Long-time football and tennis official Steve Smith of Ballinger will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Officiating. Former McMurry basketball player, coach and athletic director Ron Holmes will be recognized with the Big Country Impact Award.
Here is a brief bio of this year’s inductees:
Hunter Cooley was an all-state basketball player at Hawley. He averaged 20 points a game and was an honorable mention all-American as a senior at Abilene Christian University. He coached the boys basketball team at Jim Ned from 1998-2010, and had two state runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2008. Cooley then took over the Lady Indians’ girls program from 2012-25, leading them to a pair of state tournament appearances, including a state runner-up finish in 2025. His career coaching record at Jim Ned is 660-165.
Ashley Allen Huston was a four-year letterman in cross country, track and basketball at Jim Ned. As a senior, she was a member of the state champion cross country team and won three medals at the state track meet, including a state championship in the triple jump. She was also an all-state basketball player for the Indians. She was an all-conference heptathlete at UT-San Antonio who then transferred to Hardin-Simmons to play basketball. After an injury, she went back to track and won three NCAA Division III national championships in the indoor pentathlon, outdoor heptathlon and the high jump.
Philip Montgomery, an Eastland native, is currently the Associate Head Coach for Offense and Wide Receivers at Mississippi State. He was an assistant coach on two state championship teams at Stephenville, was the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at the University of Houston and Baylor, where he coached Case Keenum and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. Montgomery was the head coach at Tulsa for eight years, leading the Golden Hurricanes to four bowl games during his tenure. Montgomery was a 2013 Broyles Award finalist, given annually to the nation’s top college football assistant coach. He is renowned around the country for his innovative offensive schemes and high-powered offenses.
Sam Nichols of Abilene spent 33 years as a head girls basketball coach in Texas, leading his teams to fifteen 20-win seasons, seven district championships, 12 playoff appearances and a state championship at Slaton in 1980. He captured a school record 199 wins in 12 years as the women’s basketball coach at McMurry. His overall coaching record is 637-300, a .680 winning percentage. He and his wife Sandy founded Basketball Smiles in 1999, a program that provides free basketball camps for children in the Bahamas.
Didi Doss Pierce was a four-sport athlete at Abilene High, earning multiple all-district and all-region honors in volleyball and basketball. She was a dual-sport letterman in volleyball and softball at Texas A&M. She won over 550 games in 25 years as the head volleyball coach at Abilene High. She is now the athletic director at Castleberry ISD, one of only 30 female district athletic directors in Texas.
Clint Thomas played baseball at Abilene High and Texas A&M. He threw 175 innings for the Aggies with 166 strikeouts and an earned run average of 3.13. He had a brief stint in the Baltimore Orioles organization before an injury ended his playing career. He then became a pitching coach for the University of Texas Longhorns, where he was part of nine Southwest Conference championships and seven College World Series appearances, including the 1983 team that won the College World Series title. Thomas coached eight pitchers who made the major leagues, including Roger Clemens and Greg Swindell. He then spent 26 years coaching and teaching in Arlington ISD.
Murry Bowden is the first Ivy League athlete to be inducted into the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame. Bowden was a first team all-district football player at Snyder in 1966 and then went on to an outstanding career at Dartmouth College. Bowden led Dartmouth to two consecutive Ivy League championships in 1969 and 1970. He was a co-captain on the undefeated 1970 team that finished 14th in the national major college football poll, the last Ivy League team to accomplish that feat. Bowden is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Bill Hart Memorial Legend Award recipients are Robert Starr from Haskell and the late Mal Hammack from Roscoe. Starr played football, basketball and track at Haskell from 1953-57 and then played quarterback and running back at Baylor. He scored the winning touchdown in Baylor’s first win over LSU in 50 years. Starr then spent his career as coach and school administrator. He was the Abilene ISD athletic director from 1993-2001. Hammack was a standout running back at Roscoe from 1946-51. He then played football at the University of Florida where he is in the school’s athletic hall of fame. Hammack’s was drafted in the third round by the Chicago Cardinals and rushed for 1,278 yards and eight touchdowns in his NFL career.
Steve Smith of Ballinger becomes the tenth person to be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Officiating. He officiated football in the Abilene chapter for 27 years, working seven state championship games. He was also a certified tennis umpire for more than 25 years, officiating NCAA, Big 12, Southland and Lone Star conference tournaments. He has also worked as a line judge in the professional tournament where the likes of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick have played.
Ron Holmes is the fifth person to receive the Impact on the Big Country Award. Holmes, a native of Van Horn, played basketball at McMurry and was McMurry head basketball coach at McMurry for 20 years and also served as the school’s athletic director from 2010-2014. He compiled a school record .652 winning percentage (347-185). His teams had six 20-win seasons and reached the NCAA Division III Elite Eight in 2000 and the Sweet Sixteen in 2001.
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