UTC Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 1991
Bill Redd – Men’s Basketball – 1920-28
Bill Redd was the biggest figure in athletics at UTC during the 1920s and considered to be one of the greatest athletes to play at the University of Chattanooga. Not only was he a star center on the men’s basketball team, he was also the Moccasins’ head coach. He also played football and baseball and coached the freshman football team and the girls basketball team.
Redd came to UTC in 1918, and was a captain on both the men’s basketball and football teams. He started coaching the men’s basketball squad while still playing in 1920 and held that role through the 1928 season. His overall coaching record stood at 62-39 (.614).
As a player, Redd was a two-time All-Southern Intercollegiate center. He led the Mocs to a runner-up finish in the 1923 Southern Conference Tournament and was a member of the All-SoCon Tournament team. The Moccasins also won Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles in 1922 and 1923.
Redd’s basketball teams posted wins over Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee during his career. He was named athletic director upon graduation in 1923 and served for four years while also coaching basketball and tennis.
David Bryan – Men’s basketball – 1966-69
David Bryan was a two-time All-American men’s basketball star for the Mocs from 1966-69. He was also the team captain and No. 1 player on the men’s tennis team.
Bryan set school records with 1,648 points and 1,059 rebounds in his career. In fact, he broke both previous marks before the start of his senior season. As a senior, he averaged 18.7 ppg and 11.7 rebounds per contest, repeating on the Little All-American team.
As a junior, Bryan hauled in a school record 319 rebounds, while averaging 18.6 ppg. That season, he became the second men’s basketball player in program history to earn Little All-American recognition when he was honored by the Associated Press.
Bryan also averaged a double-double as a sophomore, scoring 15.9 ppg and grabbing 10.1 rpg. He scored 13.6 ppg and 8.4 boards per contest as a freshman in 1966.
Wayne Golden – Men’s Basketball – 1974-77
Wayne Golden was an NCAA Division II All-American guard for the Mocs from 1974-77. He led UTC to the NCAA Division II National Title as a senior in 1977. Averaging 20.5 ppg, he was named to the 1977 Associated Press All-American First Team.
Golden finished his career with 2,384 points, the school record at the time. His 41 points against Nicholls State in 1976 was also the single-game scoring record when it occurred.
Golden and the Mocs advanced to the NCAA Division II finals in 1976 and lost by one point to Tennessee State in the Regional Finals in 1975. His teams posted a four-year record of 90-28.
Golden was taken in the sixth round of the NBA Draft by the New Orleans Jazz following his career in 1977.
William Gordon – Men’s Basketball – 1974-77
William Gordon was an NCAA Division II All-American for the Mocs from 1974-77. He led UTC to the NCAA Division II National Title as a senior in 1977. That season he scored a school-record 700 points, earning first team All-American recognition.
Gordon finished his career with 2,140 points, the second-most points in school history. He also had the school’s single-season (107) and career (313) assists marks when he graduated.
Gordon and the Mocs advanced to the NCAA Division II finals in 1976 and lost by one point to Tennessee State in the Regional Finals in 1975. His teams posted a four-year record of 90-28.
Gordon was taken in the fifth round of the NBA Draft by the Hawks following his career in 1977.
Tom Losh – Men’s Basketball – 1968-71
Tom Losh was a standout men’s basketball player for the Mocs from 1968-71. He also spent four seasons as an assistant coach at UTC.
Losh led UTC to an 18-5 record as a senior in 1971, the most wins in a season to-date for the program. He was twice named the team’s MVP and led UTC in scoring his senior year with 18.8 points per game. He also set a school mark by shooting 60.5% from the field that season.
Losh once posted 33 points on 14-15 shooting against Austin Peay. That was the single-game field goal percentage record at the time.
Ron Shumate – Men’s Basketball – 1973-79
Ron Shumate was not only the 12th Chattanooga men’s basketball coach, he also ushered in the NCAA Division era at UTC. His tenure spanned seven seasons and marked the Mocs first move into national prominence.
Shumate’s squads reached unprecedented heights during the final seasons of Division II competition. Those five seasons saw him win 19 or more games and stand atop the level. UTC won the 1977 DII National Championship in its last campaign before the DI era.
Overall, Shumate was 139-61 over those seven years. His 139 wins rank third all-time at Chattanooga and his .695 winning percentage is second only to Murray Arnold.
His teams competed in the NCAA DII Tournament four times winning it once and finishing as runner-up in 1976. They first emerged as No. 1 in the country in 1974 sitting atop the rankings mid-season. He was National Coach of the Year in 1977.
The student-athletes he drew to the program are among the hallowed names in school history. Wayne Golden, William Gordon, Walter “Moose” McGary, Gary Stitch and Herbert “Book” McCray are just a few that made an impact on the court and in the Chattanooga community. McGary, Gordon and Golden were all NBA Draft selections with McGary getting tabbed twice and once in the ABA.
During Shumate’s reign UTC won 16 games against DI programs including Dayton (3-1), ETSU (2-0), The Citadel (1-0), Louisville (0-1), Middle Tennessee (5-2), Southern Miss (2-0) and Tennessee Tech (3-1).
Shumate was 445-232 in 23 collegiate seasons. He amassed a record of 306-171 in 16 years at SE Missouri (1981-97). He had nine 20-win seasons, eight NCAA DII Tourney appearances finishing as runner-up twice. He led both Chattanooga and SEMO in transition from DII to DI in his stints at both schools.
Willie White – Men’s Basketball – 1981-84
Willie White was a three-time All-Southern Conference guard for the Mocs from 1981-84. The 1982 SoCon Player of the Year led UTC to three trips to the NCAA Tournament and was the 1983 SoCon Tournament MVP.
White is the Mocs’ all-time scoring leader in the NCAA Division I era with 1,969 career points. He was honored by the league for his play all four years, making the SoCon All-Freshman team in 1980-81.
As a sophomore, White led the Mocs in scoring with 15.8 ppg while earning SoCon Player of the Year honors from the league’s media. He led the SoCon in scoring in 1982-83 at 18.4 pgg and posted a team-best 18.5 ppg as a senior in 1983-84.
A consistent scoring threat, White finished with 107 games in double-figures. His streak of 30-straight from December 1981 to January 1983 is still a school record. Part of his consistency came at the free throw line where he made 83.2% of his career attempts. He led the SoCon in FT% at 86.7% as a senior, making 30 in a row at one point in January of 1984.
He was more than just a scorer, grabbing 499 rebounds in his career to go with a then-school-record 193 steals. Those numbers helped him earn a school-record five SoCon Player of the Week honors in his career.
White started all 122 games he played, the second-most starts in school history. He also owns the most career minutes played with 4,112.
He was invited to the 1984 Olympic Team Trials after his senior year. Selected with the 18th pick in the second round of the 1984 NBA Draft by Denver, White played for two seasons with the Nuggets.
Gerald Wilkins – Men’s Basketball – 1983-85
Gerald Wilkins was a two-time All-Southern Conference performer for the Mocs from 1983-85. He came to UTC as a sophomore from Moberly (Mo.) Junior College and was one of the most prolific scorers in school history.
Wilkins totaled 1,449 points in his three-year career, the second most in the NCAA Division I era at UTC. He led the team with 672 points in 1985. That is still he most in a season in the Mocs’ DI records.
A second-team All-SoCon pick as a junior in 1984, Wilkins averaged 17.3 ppg and 4.0 rpg. He earned first team All-SoCon honors as a senior when he led the Mocs with 21.0 ppg.
Wilkins was a part of an NCAA Tournament squad as a sophomore in 1983, and two NIT teams in 1984 and 1985. He made the SoCon All-Tournament teams both his junior and senior years.
Taken in the second round by the New York Knicks of the 1985 NBA Draft, Wilkins had the longest NBA career of any former Moc. He spent 13 seasons in the league, playing for the Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Vancouver Grizzlies and Orlando Magic. He scored 19.1 ppg for the Knicks in 1987 and average 13.0 ppg in 900 games in his career.
