For Immediate Release Twitter: @GreenWaveNews
July 4, 2012
Contact: Roger Dunaway
Phone: (504) 862-8240
Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame Selects Jurries, McEachrane, Fowler and Cummings for 2012 Class
TU’s newest additions will be inducted on Thursday, Nov. 1 at the LBC on the Tulane campus
New Orleans – The Tulane Athletics Class of 2012 features Jeff Cummings, one of best men’s basketball centers in school history, Deva Fowler, TU volleyball’s first All-American, James Jurries, a former baseball All-American and National Freshman of the Year, and Olympic swimmer Linda McEachrane, as it was announced today by Tulane Director of Athletics Rick Dickson.
The Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2012 will be inducted on Thursday, Nov. 1, from 6-9 p.m. at the Lavin-Bernick Center on the Tulane University Uptown campus. The group will then be honored at halftime of TU’s homecoming game against Rice at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Saturday, Nov. 3. For banquet reservations, please contact Sue Bower at (504) 865-5513 or sbower@tulane.edu.
This foursome each completed their standout careers at Tulane as trailblazers in each of their respective sports by achieving unparalleled marks of success during their time with the Green Wave. Cummings was one of the few players in his era to rank among the top performances in the country in both scoring and rebounding, while Fowler was the first TU women’s volleyball player to earn All-America honors. Jurries completed his career as the first TU student-athlete to earn both first team athletic and academic All-America honors in the same season and McEachrane represented her home country, Trinidad & Tobago, in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
“We’re very pleased to announce this group of distinguished honorees as the 2012 Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame Class,” Dickson said. “As accomplished as each of these individuals was as Tulane student-athletes, they have continued to excel as ambassadors and leaders throughout their lives. Tulane is very proud of the standards they have established and the legacies they have created for our student-athletes of today.”
A local native from nearby Metairie, La., and graduate of Archbishop Rummel High School, Cummings played his first two seasons at SMU before transferring to Tulane, where he became one of the school’s most dominating players. From 1975-77, Cummings averaged a double-double with 20.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game and reached double figure scoring in 51 of 54 career games, including a career-best 33-point performance against the University of New Orleans as a junior. He scored 20+ points in 27 games and completed his career with 1,052 points, which ranked 11th-best upon his departure. In the rebounding department, he grabbed 625 boards for his career, averaging 11.1 rebounds as a junior and a 12.0 as a senior.
Cummings led Tulane in scoring, field goals and blocks as a senior and field goal percentage and free throws made as a junior. He led the squad in both minutes played and rebounding in each of his two seasons and is one of only three players in school history to score 500+ points in a single season on two occasions. He remains ranked 25th among the school’s career scoring leaders and 14th for career rebounds.
Cummings earned first-team All-Metro Conference honors as a senior in 1977 and was a third-team academic All-American and All-Metro academic performer as a junior. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1977 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics and also played professionally in Europe (Italy and France).
The Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame was established in 1977 to recognize those who have enriched and strengthened the Green Wave athletic programs either through their prowess on the field or through contributions off the field. In addition to having rendered outstanding service in the field of athletics, each inductee has exhibited other qualifications, such as outstanding sportsmanship, character, and integrity, and each inductee is a person who has brought great distinction to Tulane University.
The charter members of the Hall of Fame are: Bill Banker (football), Bernie Bierman (football coach), Jerry Dalrymple (football), Lester Lautenschlaeger (football), Emmett Pare (tennis coach), Warren Perkins (basketball), Eddie Price (football), Hamilton Richardson (tennis), Clark Shaughnessy (football), Claude Simons, Jr. (football), and Clifford Wells (basketball coach).
Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2012
Jeff Cummings Men’s Basketball 1975-77
Deva Fowler Volleyball 2001-06
James Jurries Baseball 1998-02
Linda McEachrane Women’s Swimming 2003-06
-TulaneGreenWave.com-
