Induction Ceremony — April 15, 2000
DOUG CREEL | Men’s Basketball (1978-1980)
Two-time All-Southern Illinois College Conference, All-Region IV and Region IV All-Star selection as 6-foot-3 forward on well-balanced quintets that went 18-11 his freshman season and 21-12 the following winter. When #14 set the single-season record for points scored with 737 in 32 games as a sophomore, improving on the previous best by 137 points, he also established a career record with 1,173 points (59 games); that broke Lee Yearwood’s 18-year-old mark by 123 and stood for 16 seasons. Also owned season and career records for field goals made (287 in 1979-80 / 466) and free throws made (163 in 1979-80 / 241). The single-season free throw record he shares kept his name in the record books entering the new millennium and he still ranked No. 2 all-time in scoring. Averaged 23.0 ppg as a soph,
19.9 for career. Netted 32 vs. Kaskaskia as freshman.
⭐ All-conference shortstop for baseball Warriors hit .355 as soph and .312 for career, capped b y 41-19 team that claimed SICC title.
⭐ Starred his last two seasons for Jacksonville State (AL).
⭐ In his second season as head coach at his prep alma mater, he took the Mt. Vernon Rams to the Elite Eight state finals in 1997 for the first time in almost 30 years. Two years later, he guided MVTHS to undefeated regular season and No. 2 IHSA Class “AA” ranking en route to 28-1 record.
MIKE McCLURE | Baseball Coach (1971-1981)
Winningest baseball coach in team history was responsible for establishing a tradition-rich program that produced 25 winning records in the next 27 seasons after his arrival. In 10 seasons, his teams were 312-177, for a winning percentage of .638. The Warriors earned three Southern Illinois College Conference championships during his tenure – 1973, 1974 and Fall 1979 – and ascended to a No. 2 statewide ranking (Region IV) and 20th in the nation in Spring 1974, when they finished 32-6. Following year his players finished 1-2 in statewide stolen base race. His spring record was even better – 225-118 (.656). After finishing one game under-.500 in his first try and 17-13 the next, the unflappable mentor led his charges to records of 32-6, 29-16, 40-18, 38-21, 38-18, 27-24, 41-19 and 37-28. Many former players followed the Mt. Vernon native into the coaching ranks, including Sports Hall of Fame Charter Member Doug Creel.
⭐ Decided to give up college coaching following automobile accident while recruiting.
⭐ Assisted the man he succeeded as baseball coach, Jim Waugh, with men’s basketball from 1971-76. The Warriors won SICC honors in 1972-73 (20-6 overall).
⭐ Woodlawn Grade School Teacher, Athletic Director and Boys Basketball Coach returned to RLC hardwood several times after that to claim junior high “state” championships.
SUSIE WOODWARD | Women’s Basketball (1981-1983)
Seventeen years after her departure, this two-time All-Region XXIV pick still held 10 Lady Warrior records when she entered the RLC Sports Hall of Fame. She also holds the unique distinction of being All-Southern Illinois College Conference as a freshman and All-Great Rivers Athletic Conference as a sophomore. A 5-foot-7 guard, she was a unanimous allregion choice shortly after concluding her Juco career with team records with 1,368 points scored and a 23.6-point average in 58 games, as well as 611 field goals in 1,227 attempts. Career standards were established on the strength of a sophomore campaign in which #22 set similar records for points (849), scoring average (24.3) and field goals made (372) and attempted (767). Ranked second in state as freshman, sixth nationally, for point production. Mt. Vernon Township High School grad – where she ironically scored 1,369 career points – is one of four Lady Warriors to net a record 16 field goals in one game; she did it five times, including a game against Southeastern Illinois during the 1982-83 season in which she also set records for most attempts (32) and points (40, a mark that stood until 1989-90 and rated second all-time at the time of her induction). Tallied 36 as freshman vs. Monmouth, 36 and 35 (both vs. Lincoln Land) as soph.
⭐ Played her last two seasons at Eastern Washington.
LEE YEARWOOD | Men’s Basketball (1960-1962)
Set a standard that had not been equalled at the time of his induction into the Warrior Sports Hall of Fame – a career scoring average of 26.25 points per game for Mt. Vernon Community College Warriors. A model of consistency, he averaged 26.5 ppg as a freshman in 1960-61 (a record until 1996) and 26.0 ppg as a sophomore in 1961-62. Finished with a record 1,050 points in 40 games – a mark that was not surpassed until 1980 despite expanded schedules in later years – and still ranked No. 4 all-time at the time of his induction. Mt. Vernon product was a 5-foot-10 guard who made 21 field goals (in 35 attempts) and scored 43 points against Canton in 1961-62; the former remained in the record book 38 seasons later, while the latter total was bettered only once in that same time period. Other records #14 took with him at the time of his departure – 530 points in a single-season (1960-61) and most field goals made in a career with 450. That is eight records in all. Failed to score in double figures only once in career and had less than 15 points only twice. He scored 20 or more in 34 of those games and tallied 30-plus five times as a freshman – 31, 32, 32, 34 and 41 (vs. Paducah) – and six times as a sophomore – 30, 30, 32, 35, 36 (vs. the Murray State Freshmen) and 43.
⭐ Also played two seasons for Baylor University and later taught and coached in Texas.