FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 9, 2007


Butler, Carney, Carter, Hogshead-Makar front Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame’s 2007 induction class

GAINESVILLE – Former NFL star Leroy Butler, NFL standout John Carney, current NBA star Vince Carter and Olympic swimming gold medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar front the list of 8 individuals selected for induction this year into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Joining them in the Class of 2007 are: former Palm Beach Gardens High School athletic director Jay Rader; former Polk County administrator Willie Speed; former Bolles School and current University of Florida head swimming coach Gregg Troy; and the late Bernard Wilkes, former head boys basketball coach at Ribault High School.

This is the 16th group to be inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame, formerly the FHSAA Hall of Fame. Founded during the 1990-91 school year, the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame keeps alive the tradition and spirit of high school athletics, and honors each year those persons who through distinguished achievement have excelled in one or more high school programs sponsored by the Association and its member schools. This year’s 8 inductees bring the number of deserving individuals who have been enshrined in the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame to 111. They include student-athletes, coaches, administrators, contest officials and other contributors, such as sports writers, who have raised the level of awareness of high school activities through their efforts, achievements and dedication. The 2007 Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Awards Banquet will be held March 25 at the Best Western Gateway Grand Hotel in Gainesville.

Butler, 38, was a first-team Class 3A All-State selection in football at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville. He was a member of the Florida Super 24 and was one of four players from Florida on the All-South team. Butler had 139 tackles as a linebacker and 388 rushing yards on 18 carries as a wingback. A first-team All-American at Florida State University, he finished third on the team in tackles as a senior and had seven interception returns for 139 yards that season, breaking a school record set by Deion Sanders. Butler went on to become the fourth-ranking interceptor in Green Bay Packers history, playing on the Super Bowl XXXI championship team and originating the Lambeau Leap. He was named to the Packers All-Time Team as a safety and to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, and made four Pro Bowl appearances. Butler will be inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in July.

Carney, 42, played soccer and football and ran track for Cardinal Newman High School. He was a first-team All-State kicker his senior year and had a long field goal of 49 yards and a punting average of 41.8 yards. Carney played collegiately for Notre Dame, finishing his career as the school's all-time field goal leader with 51 and ranking second on the Irish scoring chart with 223 points. In the NFL, he played for the San Diego Chargers from 1990-2000 before moving to the New Orleans Saints, his current team. Carney is one of only three players in the NFL with more than 400 career field goals and is ranked fourth on the NFL all-time scoring list.

Carter, 30, was a key basketball player at Mainland High School, leading the Buccaneers to a state championship in 1995. In Mainland's 31-game 1995-96 season, he totalled 625 points, 322 rebounds and 129 assists, earning numerous honors including Mr. Basketball and Parade Magazine High School All-America status. After high school, Carter went on to the University of North Carolina, where he was an All-ACC selection and led the school to back-to-back Final Four appearances in 1997 and 1998. He participated in the 2000 Olympics, helping the United States take home the gold medal in basketball. In September 2002, Carter, who still holds all individual records at Mainland except assists, donated $2.5 million to finance the building of a new gym (the Vince Carter Athletic Center) at his alma mater. Today, Carter plays for the New Jersey Nets, his ninth season in the NBA. He has scored more than 14,000 points in his career and ranks No. 3 in the NBA in field goals made.

Hogshead-Makar, 44, swam for Episcopal High School in Jacksonville. She won two individual state championships and two relay state championships from 1977-78. Hogshead-Makar was the first swimmer offered a scholarship at Duke University, where she set a school record in eight different events. During the 1984 Olympics, she won three gold medals and one silver medal, making her the winningest swimmer of the 1984 Games. Hogshead-Makar served as president of the Women's Sports Foundation and has served on two Presidential committees on gender in sports. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. Today, she is a professor of law at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville.

• Jay Rader. Rader, 60, retired in 2006 after 38 years of involvement with high school athletics in Palm Beach County. He was athletic director at Palm Beach Gardens High School for 21 years, and is still active as a baseball umpire. Rader served on the state level as a member of the FHSAA Athletic Directors Advisory Committee and Representative Assembly, and was secretary of the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association for more than 10 years. He received the NIAAA Award of Merit in 2000 and was inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

• Willie Speed. Speed, 72, has given years of service to high school athletics in Florida. The former principal of Kathleen High School in Lakeland, he is a member of the city's Championship Committee and coordinates volunteers for its FHSAA Finals events. Speed was recognized by the FHSAA with an award honoring his service as a district leader and member of the executive board, and also received the FIAAA Award for his contributions to high school athletics. The Kathleen High School gymnasium was named in his honor in 1991.

• Gregg Troy. Troy, 56, coached the boys and girls swimming & diving teams at The Bolles School in Jacksonville from 1977 to 1997. He led the boys team to 15 state titles (10 consecutive) and the girls team to 11 titles (nine consecutive). Thirty-four of his student-athletes went on to become Olympians. In eight seasons with the women’s squad and seven years with the men’s team at the University of Florida, Troy has guided the Gators to more than 40 SEC titles, more than 150 SEC Academic Honor Roll selections and more than 470 All-America honors. He was an assistant coach for the women's U.S. Olympic Team in 1996 and was the head coach for the U.S. World Championships Team in 2001.

• Bernard Wilkes. Wilkes, who died in March 2006 at the age of 57, is the second winningest boys basketball coach in Florida high school history with 758 wins and 158 losses. He coached all 30 years of his career at Ribault High School in Jacksonville, totalling four state championships – in 1989, 1990, 1994 and 1995 – and 16 FHSAA Finals state tournament appearances. He was a state Coach of the Year in 1995 and was also a Teacher of the Year. Wilkes was inducted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame in 2004.

Two separate committees comprised of active and retired administrators, coaches, officials and news media representatives evaluated the nominations of the 8 individuals selected for induction to the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame this year. A seven-member screening committee first reviewed all nominations received and determined which nominees were viable candidates for induction into the Hall of Fame. The nominations of those candidates then were forwarded to a 16-member selection committee, which rated the nomination of each candidate to determine the candidates who would be inducted.

The Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 750 middle and senior high schools.

Contact:
Laurel Ring
Communications Coordinator, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 350
lring@fhsaa.org