CLEVELAND, Miss. -- The Delta State Sports Hall of Fame recently revealed their inductees for this year featuring nine names that Statesmen fans have come to know over the years. Baseball, men's and women's basketball, swim & dive, football, and softball make up the sports represented by this year's class which will be inducted in Spring 2023 as part of Go Green Weekend.
Names become available for selection after a 10-year period following the candidate's playing or coaching career at Delta State. The following inductees were chosen by the Hall of Fame Selection Committee to make up the 2022-23 class.
Heath Bailey was an outfielder for Statesmen baseball from 1994-1996. Bailey scored a GSC-leading 71 runs in the '96 season, a year in which he started in all 61 games for DSU while batting .342 with 49 RBIs and was also selected to the NCAA College World Series All-Tournament team. He is the all-time leader in career stolen bases at Delta State with 71.
Dennis Douglas was a guard for the men's basketball team who started in 54 of his 58 appearances as a Statesman from 1999-2001. Douglas was the team's second-leading scorer in the 99-00 season with 13.7 points per game while also averaging 3 assists per game. He took over the main scoring role for DSU in the '00-01 season, scoring a team-high 524 points that year for an average of 18.1 points per game.
Veronica Walker has her name scattered all throughout the record books for the Lady Statesmen basketball program. Playing from 2008-2012, she ranks 3rd in career points (2188), 2nd in career rebounds (1086), 2nd in career blocks (229), 2nd in free throw makes (444), and 4th in made field goals (857). Her list of accolades includes being 3-time GSC Player of the Year ('10-12), 4-time All-GSC ('09-12), 2009 GSC Freshman of the Year, 4-time All-Region, and 2-time Gillom Trophy Winner (2011, 2012) recognizing the best women's basketball player in Mississippi across all divisions.
Sandra Rushing coached the Lady Statesmen basketball team for 10 seasons from 2002-2012, reaching the postseason in 8 of those years. The Lady Statesmen won six GSC titles under Coach Rushing and reached the Sweet 16 six straight years including two Final Four appearances (2008, 2009), and a national runner-up finish in 2008 (team finished 33-1). She was named GSC Coach of the Decade in 2010 and WBCA Region Coach of the Year in 2011. She had a coaching record of 254-58 with the Lady Statesmen, most notably winning 64 straight home games between the '07-11 seasons.
Ellis Debrow was a decorated wide receiver for Statesmen football from 2002-2004 who remains at or near the top of the DSU record books. A two-time All-American and a Harlon Hill Finalist in '04, Debrow ranks first at DSU in career touchdown receptions (29), single-season touchdown receptions ('03: 18), single-season reception yards (1677), and is 2nd in GSC history with 3201 career receiving yards.
Anthony Maddox is another two-time All-American from Statesmen football who played from 2002-2003. He recorded 150 tackles and 10.5 sacks in his two seasons at DSU and was drafted by the Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Maddox recorded 43 solo tackles, 53
total tackles, and 5 sacks in 35 games spent over two seasons with the Jaguars and another two with the Texans. In 2009, he began the Anthony Maddox Foundation to help single parents and poverty-stricken youth.
Mississippi coaching legend Willis Wright graduated from Delta State in 1968, is a member of the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame earlier this year. Wright owns records of 227-66-5 as a head coach and 74-1 as a defensive coordinator at the high school level. He won 5 state titles as a head coach and 4 as an assistant coach, while also earning 20 Coach of the Year honors.
Ashlee Nodhturft was a shortstop for the Lady Statesmen softball team from 2004-2006. She was named All-Region in '05 as well as All-GSC in '05 and '06. In DSU history, she ranks 3rd in career home runs (29), 9th in career batting average and RBIs (.343/109), 2nd in single-season hits and runs scored ('06: 91/69), and 1st in single-season doubles ('06: 23).
Patrick Krebs was a member of the Delta State swim & dive team from 2001-2004. Krebs was a 4-time NCAA All-American first-team diver ('01-04), a 3-time CSCAA All-American ('02-04), 4-time All-NSISC ('01-04), a 2-time Academic All-American ('03-04), and a 5-time conference champion. He was also the first diver in Delta State history to qualify for the NCAA Championships (one-meter).
