A former all-American who is in the College Football Hall of Fame, a first round NFL Draft pick, a record-setting quarterback and long-time coach at Abilene High and Abilene Christian University, a multi-sport state champion from Albany, a two-time baseball state champion at Abilene Cooper and one of the most prolific scorers in Hardin-Simmons women’s soccer history are among the Class of 2026 inductees to the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame.
The 25th annual banquet is set for April 20 at the Abilene Convention Center. Individual tickets are $80 each and tables of 10 can be purchased for $1,000, which includes admission to the VIP reception. To order tickets, go online to bigcountryhalloffame.org or call the museum at (325) 704-1759. The Hall of Fame will again award twelve $1,500 college scholarships to graduating senior athletes from the Big Country. The Hall of Fame has awarded over $170,000 in college scholarships.
This year’s class includes Murry Bowden from Snyder, L.J. Collier from Munday, Kami Norton Richey from Albany, and Jim Reese, Jason Marshall and Andrea Gilbreth McMinn from Abilene.
The Bill Hart Memorial Legends Award recipients are Ernie Park from Abilene Wylie and the late Jerry Larned from Haskell.
The Pat Gerald Memorial Legacy Award recipient is the West family from Stamford and Brownwood, which includes brothers Kenneth, Royce and Donald West, in addition to Kenneth’s son Glen West.
Please find a brief biography of each inductee below.
Murry Bowden was a first team all-district football player at Snyder in 1966 and went on to an outstanding career at Dartmouth, becoming the first Ivy League athlete to be inducted into the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame. Bowden led Dartmouth to two consecutive Ivy League championships in 1969 and ‘70. His reputation for making plays all over the field gave him the nickname “The Reckless Rover.” The 1970 team went 9-0 and is the last Ivy League school to be ranked among the nation’s top 20. Bowden was a first-team all-American in 1970 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003. He earned the National Football Foundation Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award in 2018 for his contributions to the construction and management of the College Football of Hall of Fame in Atlanta. He is the founder and executive Chairman of the Hanover Company, a real estate investment company in Houston.
L.J. Collier was the District 8-1A Defensive MVP as a senior in high school at Munday. He played defensive end at TCU, totaling 82 tackles with 14.5 sacks with the Horned Frogs. Collier was a first-team all-Big 12 selection and was the 29th player taken in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks. He started all 16 games for the Seahawks as a rookie. Collier now plays defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals.
Andrea Gilbreth McMinn played soccer and ran track and cross country at Abilene High. She went on to become one of the most dominant soccer players in Hardin-Simmons history. She is ranked fourth all-time in points scored (173), third in goals (70), second in shots on goal (211) and had 14 game-winning goals during her time from 1997-2000 with the Cowgirls. Gilbreth McMinn was a four-time all-American Southwest Conference selection and was twice named the ASC Player of the Year, helping HSU win three conference titles.
Jason Marshall was a four-year starting shortstop at Abilene Cooper and was a key member of the 1987 and 1988 state championship baseball teams at Cooper. He then went to Texas A&M, where he was a three-year starter at shortstop and was named the Aggies’ MVP as a junior. As a senior, Marshall led the Aggies in hits, runs, RBI and games played. He played four years in the Kansas City Royals organization, rising to the Class Double-A level. He was a college baseball coach at Texas A&M and McMurry before moving to UT-San Antonio for 19 years, the last seven as the Roadrunners’ head coach before resigning in 2019. His 2013 team won the Western Athletic Conference title and played in the NCAA Tournament.
Kami Norton Richey of Albany won nine track and field state championships with the Lady Lions, including four gold medals and a Class 1A state record in the 300-meter hurdles. She also earned three gold medals at the state meet in the 100-meter hurdles and tied the Class 1A state record. In addition, Norton Richey earned five medals at the state track meet in the long jump, high jump and 1,600-meter relay, and was a four-year letter winner in basketball, averaging 20 points and 16 rebounds a game as a senior in earning all-state honors. Norton went to Texas Tech as a heptathlete for one year and finished her career at Angelo State, where she was twice named the Lone Star Conference Academic Athlete of the Year. She won two NCAA Division II national championships in 2018 in the outdoor heptathlon and the indoor pentathlon.
Jim Reese was a multi-sport standout at Abilene High and Abilene Christian University. He was 23-8-1 as the quarterback at ACU and holds the school record for single game passing yards (564) and ranks ninth in school history in total offense, passing yards and passing touchdowns. Reese was the Abilene High head baseball coach from 1995-99, where he won two district championships and led the team to their first playoff appearance in 24 years. He was an assistant baseball coach at Abilene High from 2005-12 and the Eagles won 11 games and had four playoff appearances during that time. Reese finished his career as the Lady Eagles’ head softball coach from 2018-21, compiling a 74-30-2 record. His 2019 team won a district championship and was ranked as high as No. 3 in the state in Class 6A.
The Bill Hart Memorial Legend Award recipients this year are Ernie Park of Abilene Wylie and the late Jerry Larned of Haskell.
Park, who now lives in Clyde, was an Associated Press Little All-American offensive lineman at McMurry University. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers and played six years in the AFL. He was a member of the first Miami Dolphins team and played on the 1963 San Diego Chargers AFL championship team. He also played for the Atlanta Falcons. Park is a member of the McMurry Hall of Fame.
Larned, who died in 2023, played basketball at North Texas State and then spent his career as a teacher, principal, coach and superintendent. He coached at Bowie, Hamlin, Duncanville, Iraan, Monahans, SuI Ross State and New Mexico Military before ending his career as athletic director at McMurry. He was named the West Texas Coach of the Year four times and is a member of the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor. Larned served as superintendent at Monahans three different times and the multi-sport athletic facility in Monahans was re-named the Jerry Larned Sports Complex in 2003. He was also a sought-after speaker for sports clinics and sports banquets.
The West Family from Stamford and Brownwood is this year’s Pat Gerald Memorial Legacy Award recipient. Brothers Kenneth, Donald and Royce West, all of whom are deceased, played for legendary Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame coach Gordon Wood at Stamford. Royce was on the Bulldogs’ state championship teams in 1955 and 1956. Kenneth, who also played football at Hardin-Simmons, joined Wood as a coach at Brownwood in 1963. He was a member of the coaching staff that won six of Wood’s seven state football championships at Brownwood. He also won 13 district track and field titles in 17 years as the Lions’ track coach and from 1985-93 served as the Brownwood High School principal. He was inducted into Texas High School Football Hall of Honor in 2016.
Kenneth’s son Glen West was an all-state linebacker on Brownwood’s 1978 state championship football team. He spent 20 years as the head football coach and athletic director at Brenham, leading the Cubs to 18 playoff appearances and three trips to the state championship game. He is a member of the Texas High School Coaches Hall of Honor and is now the assistant athletic director of the Texas High School Coaches Association.
The Hall of Fame Museum is open seven days a week free of charge in the Mall of Abilene.