Georgia Tech football and basketball legends Calvin Johnson and Jarrett Jack, as well as former major league infielder Eric Patterson and current PGA Tour player Nicholas Thompson, headline eight former Georgia Tech sports icons who have been elected to the 2016 Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame class.
Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame
The 2016 class, one of the most accomplished collectively in the history of the Hall of Fame, also includes track and field All-Americans Lynn Houston Moore and Brendon Mahoney, baseball All-American Michael Sorrow and ACC tennis champion Jaime Wong. These outstanding individuals will be inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame at the annual Induction Dinner on Friday, Oct. 14 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center.
“We are excited to welcome this 2016 class into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame,” said Tech director of athletics Mike Bobinski. “All of these student-athletes excelled individually in their own right, but they were also key contributors to the success of their teams, which achieved great heights during their time at Tech. It is a tremendous privilege each year to add a new class to our Hall of Fame and have these men and women back on campus, and we look forward to honoring them here on Oct. 14.”
Tickets for the dinner are $50 and can be purchased through the Alexander-Tharpe Fund at 404-894-6124. The inductees will also be honored during Tech’s football game against Georgia Southern on Saturday, Oct. 15, at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Following are brief bios on the 2016 Hall of Fame class, one of the biggest classes in recent memory:
Lynn Houston Moore, Track and Field (1995-99)
A 1999 All-American in the high jump, Lynn Houston Moore won four Atlantic Coast Conference titles, two indoor and two outdoor, in that event, and earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors six times. Houston, a native of Louisville, Ky., finished fourth at the NCAA Championships as a senior with a jump of 6-0, and won the ACC indoor and outdoor titles in 1996 and 1997. Her best marks of 6-0 outdoors and 5-10.75 indoors both rank third on the all-time Tech list today. Houston is married to former Tech basketball player Clarence Moore, and the family lives in Louisiana.
Jarrett Jack, Basketball (2002-05)
Not since the famed Georgia Tech run of nine straight NCAA Tournaments from 1985-93 could a Yellow Jacket player say he played in the post-season every year of his career, but Jarrett Jack did just that, leading Tech to the quarterfinals of the NIT in his freshman year of 2003, the national championship game in 2004 and the second-round of the NCAA Tournament in 2005. Jack came to Tech from Fort Washington, Md., and was the Jackets’ starting point guard all three years, helping Tech win 64 games and advance to the ACC title game in 2005. Jack scored 1,265 career points, 25th on the Tech all-time list, and he ranks fifth in career assists (543), fourth in assist average (5.4 per game) and sixth in steals (183). He shot 47.8 percent from the floor, 35.9 percent from three-point range and 79.6 percent from the free throw line for his career, and he owns the fifth- (213 in 2003-04) and eighth-highest (185 in 2002-03) assist totals for a season in Tech history. Drafted 22nd overall by the Denver Nuggets in 2005, Jack is a veteran of 11 NBA seasons, currently playing for the Brooklyn Nets, and makes his home in Atlanta.
Calvin Johnson, Football (2004-06)
When Calvin Johnson caught three touchdowns, including the game-winning grab, in a prime-time contest at Clemson as a freshman, he captured the attention of the college football world. Thus began a three-year career in which he set Tech career standards for receiving yards (2,927) and touchdown receptions (28), and still ranks No. 2 in receptions (178). One of just six Yellow Jackets to be a two-time first-team All-American, Johnson was a unanimous All-American selection as a senior and also became the first three-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection in program history. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver in 2006, and was named the ACC Player of the Year as well that year. In ACC annals, he is tied for fifth in career TD receptions, eighth in receiving yards and 12th in receptions. In his Tech career, he was responsible for 42 percent of Tech’s passing yards and 33 percent of Tech’s pass completions, despite constant double teams, and he caught 28 of the Jackets’ 55 touchdown passes during that time. Johnson retired from the National Football League this year following a stellar nine-year career with the Detroit Lions.
Brendon Mahoney, Track and Field (2000-04)
Twice named the Atlantic Coast Conference Most Valuable Performer (2002, 2004), Brendon Mahoney won All-ACC honors 13 times and won seven ACC titles in his four years at Georgia Tech. The Cumming, Ga., native earned All-America honors in three different events, including the 800 meters (2000), the mile (2002) and the 1500 meters (2004). In his senior year, Mahoney was named the ACC Most Valuable Performer at both the indoor and the outdoor championships, winning the 800 meters and the 1500 meters. He earned the same honor in the 2002 ACC Indoor Championships, winning the 800 and finishing second in the 1500. Mahoney now lives in San Mateo, Calif., where he owns a Crossfit business.
Eric Patterson, Baseball (2002-04)
Eric Patterson’s career got off to a flying start in 2002, when he earned third-team All-America honors and helped spur the Yellow Jackets to their second trip to the College World Series. By the time he left, the Marietta, Ga., native had made the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team three times in three years, helped Tech to 140 victories, an ACC Tournament title in 2003 and an ACC regular-season title in 2004. Patterson stole 124 bases in three seasons, three shy of the Tech record, and posted the second- and third-highest season totals in Tech history with 48 steals in 2004 and 41 in 2002. The second baseman finished his career eighth on Tech’s all-time list for runs scored (205) and triples (12) and hit .316 for his career. He was selected in the eighth round of the 2004 Major League First-Year Player Draft by the Chicago Cubs and played at the Major League level for four organizations between 2007-11.
Michael Sorrow, Baseball (1993-96)
A four-year starter on the infield for Georgia Tech teams that won 175 games and played in four NCAA Tournaments, Michael Sorrow was named a second-team All-American his senior year of 1996 and earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in 1995 and 1996. The Fayetteville, Ga., resident started 35 games in 1994, helping the Yellow Jackets reach their first-ever College World Series and advance to the championship game, then started all 124 games Tech played his junior and senior years. He finished his career with a .322 average, including averages of .347 and .369 his last two years, and drove in 129 runs for his career.
Nicholas Thompson, Golf (2001-05)
A three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference performance and a two-time All-American, Nicholas Thompson was a part of four teams that played in the NCAA Championship, including two that finished runner-up in 2002 and 2005. The Yellow Jackets won an ACC title his freshman year and totalled 10 tournament victories in four years. Thompson is one of eight Tech players to represent the United States in the Walker Cup and compiled 15 top-10 finishes in 47 career collegiate events. He twice finished among the top 20 individuals in the NCAA Championship, and was named an All-America Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association his junior and senior years. Now living in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Thompson is an 11-year veteran on the PGA Tour.
Jaime Wong, Tennis (2000-03)
One of the top performers in Georgia Tech tennis history, Jaime Wong left the Flats with a school record for career singles (101) and doubles wins (82), and became the first Tech women’s tennis player to play in the NCAA Singles Championship in 2002. Wong made first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference three times (2000, 2001, 2003) and was the ACC singles champion in flight No. 4 as a freshman in 2000. She led Georgia Tech to the NCAA Team Championship all four years and earned a number of academic honors, including the Bobby Dodd Scholarship in 2002, the ACC Weaver-James-Corrigan Post-Graduate Scholarship in 2003 and the Georgia Tech Total Person Award, also in 2003. A native of Singapore, Wong returned their after graduation.