TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State University’s Athletics Hall of Fame will induct a class of nine new members on Friday, September 7, that includes a National League Most Valuable Player, a two-time Olympic medalist and one of the Seminoles’ all-time great defensive linemen.
Buster Posey won every award he was eligible for in college baseball during his junior season at FSU, and has become one of Major League Baseball’s brightest stars as a catcher with the San Francisco Giants. Sprinter Walter Dix won a pair of bronze medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Odell Haggins was an All-American at noseguard for the Seminoles and has been a member of the coaching staff for the last 22 years.
2002 NCAA outdoor triple jump champion Teresa Bundy is a member of the 2018 HOF class as is long-time assistant football coach Jim Gladden, former NBA player Al Thornton, three-time softball All-American Veronica Wootson, 2007 soccer college Player of the Year Mami Yamaguchi and Moore-Stone Award winner Bob Perrone.
The 2018 class will be inducted at the annual ceremony beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Florida State’s University Center Club the night before the Seminole’s second home football game against Samford. A limited number of tickets to the event are available to the public for $75 via email at fsuhalloffame@gmail.com or by calling the FSU Varsity Club at 850-644-1123.
2018 Hall of Fame Class
TERESA BUNDY, W. Track & Field (1998-2002)
WALTER DIX, M. Track & Field (2005-08)
JIM GLADDEN, Coaches & Administration (1976-2001)
ODELL HAGGINS , Football (1986-89)
BUSTER POSEY, Baseball (2006-08)
AL THORNTON , M. Basketball (2004-07)
VERONICA WOOTSON, Softball (2004-07)
MAMI YAMAGUCHI, Soccer (2005-07)
BOB PERRONE , Moore – Stone Award
TERESA BUNDY
W. Track & Field (1998-2002)
Teresa Bundy came to Florida State from Cleveland, Ohio as a highly-acclaimed sprinter who ranked among the nation’s Top 10 in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes in 1998. She would leave FSU as an NCAA National Champion and school record-holder.
Bundy showed tremendous potential in both the 100 and 200 as a freshman and had a fine sophomore indoor campaign before redshirting during the 1999 outdoor season.
She was indoor and outdoor All-ACC in 2000, earning an ACC Championship as a member of the 4×400 relay team.
As a junior in 2001, Bundy added the triple jump to her competitive resume’ and began to concentrate on the event, finishing second in the ACC both indoors and outdoors.
Her senior season was one for the record books as she earned elite status in the triple jump and won the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championship. In winning the national title, she set the school record with a jump of 45-3 (13.79m). The mark still stood as the second-best jump in school history when she was voted into the FSU Hall of Fame 15 years later.
WALTER DIX
M. Track & Field (2005-08)
From 2005-2008, Florida State sprint star Walter Dix was arguably the greatest collegiate track & field athlete of a generation. The Coral Springs, Fla. native won an FSU record seven individual NCAA events and was a member of the 2007 NCAA winning 4×100 meter relay team. In fact, before turning professional following his senior season, Dix became the third most decorated track athlete in NCAA history.
After setting the state record in the 100-meters and trying out for the US Olympic Team at the age of 18, Dix broke the 100-meter American junior record and won the NCAA outdoor championship in his freshman season alone. He went on to earn a total of 14 individual All-America honors and four more on Seminole
relay teams. Dix set school records in the indoor 60-meters (6.59); indoor 200-meters (20.27); outdoor 100-meters (9.91) and outdoor 200-meters (19.69).
He was the linchpin to the greatest four-year run in program history when FSU won three* consecutive men’s outdoor National Championships (2006, ‘07*, ’08).
Dix capped his 2008 senior campaign by winning bronze medals in the 100 and 200 at the Beijing Olympic Games.
In 2018, Dix became the first Florida State men’s track & field athlete to have his jersey retired.
JIM GLADDEN
Coaches & Administration (1976-2001)
For 27 years (1975-2001), Jim Gladden coached football at Florida State where he was on coaching staff’s that elevated Florida State’s program into the most consistently successful in college football history.
Gladden joined then-head coach Darrell Mudra’s coaching staff in 1975 as a graduate assistant and was elevated to a full-time position in 1976 when the legendary Bobby Bowden took over the program. He coached outside linebackers for Bowden from 1976 through 1995 and switched to defensive ends coach from 1996 until his retirement in 2001
Gladden coached and recruited some of the greatest names in Seminole history including NFL Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks, and FSU Hall of Famers Peter Boulware, Reinard Wilson, Andre Wadsworth and Jamal Reynolds.
A personable and highly successful recruiter Gladden was also highly regarded for his ability to judge talent. Additionally, he coached FSU’s legendary punt block unit that blocked 80 over his tenure.
The Seminoles won National Championships in 1993 and 1999 during Gladden’s tenure and played for titles three more times. While the fact that FSU earned a bowl berth in each of the last 23 years of his career is stunning, even more impressive is Florida State’s record 14 straight Top 5 finishes from 1987-2000, which has never been matched in the history of the game.
ODELL HAGGINS
Football (1986-89)
Odell Haggins took FSU by storm out of Bartow, Fla. starring at noseguard for FSU teams that pushed the Seminoles into the national limelight.
Recruited as a linebacker, Haggins showed an immediate knack for fighting off blocks and taking advantage of his tremendous strength along the line. He earned All-South Independent in 1987 and first team honors in 1988 and ’89, along with Associated Press second team honors as a junior.
His senior year was one for the ages as he totaled 100 tackles and 5.5 quarterback sacks which are statistics for a noseguard. He was named a first team All-American by Walter Camp, Kodak and the AFCA, and to the second team by Football News and UPI.
FSU finished second in the country (11-1) in 1987, third (11-1) in 1988 and third his senior season with a 10-2 record in 1989.
After playing three years in the NFL and a brief stint out of football, Odell was hired by Bobby Bowden as an assistant coach in 1994 and completed his 22nd season in 2017.
BUSTER POSEY
Baseball (2006-08)
Buster Posey earned All-America honors as a shortstop for the Seminoles as a freshman in 2006, then switched to catcher and became arguably the greatest player in FSU history.
As a sophomore in 2007, Posey was a first team All-American (Collegiate Baseball) earned a spot on the All-ACC first team and was a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, presented to the nation’s top collegiate catcher. He would blow away those achievements his next year.
Buster’s junior season saw him win virtually every award in baseball including the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy, Brooks Wallace, Johnny Bench and Player of the Year honors by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and Rivals.com. A consensus first team All-American he led the nation in six offensive categories including batting average (.463), hits (119), RBI (93), total bases (226), on-base percentage (.566) and slugging percentage (.879). His batting average was the highest recorded in a single-season in Seminole baseball history. He led FSU to the College World Series in 2008, the Seminoles’ first trip to Omaha since 2000.
He also led the ACC in eight categories en route to being named 2008 Player of the Year and became just the fourth player in ACC history to capture the triple crown as he led the league in batting average, home runs (26) and RBI.
A five-time All-Star with the San Francisco Giants, Posey was the 2010 Rookie of the Year, the 2012 NL MVP, a three-time Silver Slugger winner and the 2016 Gold Glove winner. The Giants won World Series titles with Posey behind the plate in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
AL THORNTON
M. Basketball (2004-07)
Al Thornton was one of the transcendent players under Coach Leonard Hamilton’s tenure at Florida State. In fact, by his senior year the Perry, Georgia native was a finalist for the Wooden, Naismith and Rupp Awards as the nation’s top player. He earned third team Associated Press All-America honors and was runner-up in the voting for the ACC Player of the Year in 2007.
Thornton scored 1,034 points over his career, which ranked seventh in all-time scoring when he left, and he still ranked among the Top 12 as of his induction date.
He averaged 16.1 points per game as a junior in 2005-06 and was named second team All-ACC, which set him up for a senior season that is one of the best in both FSU and ACC history.
Thornton averaged 19.7 points and 7.2 rebounds in leading FSU to a 26-13 record as a senior in 2006-07. In addition to his AP honors, Thornton was named to cnnsi.com and Rivals.com All-America teams.
He went on to play four years in the NBA with the LA Clippers, Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors, before a long international career.
Haggins was tabbed to serve as FSU’s head coach for the last two games of the 2017 season in place of Jimbo Fisher and led the Seminoles to two wins, including in the Independence Bowl, which preserved Florida State’s streak of 40 straight winning seasons.
VERONICA WOOTSON
Softball (2004-07)
Veronica Wootson came to Florida State as a highly-touted recruit from Fontana, Ca. and started for the Seminoles in all 273 games of her career. S
She helped lead the Noles to a 2004 ACC Championship and was a member of 2004 Women’s College World Series team that finished the season ranked No. 5 in the country. FSU advanced to the NCAA postseason every season that she played, and made its first appearance in the NCAA Super Regional round in 2006.
The 2004 ACC Rookie of the Year, Wootson earned second team NFCA All-America honors as a freshman. She was named a first team All-American in 2006 and was selected to the third team in 2007. She is just one of four players in the history of FSU Softball to be a three-time NFCA All-American during their career.
Wootson finished with a career batting average .322, which included a .360 average her junior year and .344 as a senior.
She totaled 282 hits over her career with 29 home runs, 137 RBI and stole 79 bases. She ranks in the FSU all-time Top 10 in 10 different categories, including doubles, triples, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage.
MAMI YAMAGUCHI
Soccer (2005-07)
Mami Yamaguchi became the most decorated player in Florida State soccer history in 2007 as the winner of the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy presented to the top female player in NCAA Division I soccer, and the school’s first consensus first team All-American.
Yamaguchi claimed the top individual honor after leading the country in points (66) while finishing second in goals (24) and assists (18). She concluded the season as the only student-athlete in the nation to rank in the top 10 in three major offensive categories including points per game, goals per game and assists per game.
In the 2007 NCAA Tournament, she paced the Seminoles with three goals and eight assists as her assist total set the all-time postseason school mark. The junior forward played a vital role in leading the Seminoles to their first appearance in the national championship game that same year. Yamaguchi began the 2007 season by setting the school record with at least one goal scored in seven consecutive contests. She finished the season registering a point in 22 of 26 games for the Seminoles. By year’s end, Yamaguchi held the FSU single-season records for points, goals and assists. She also set the school record for points in ACC play with 15. During the 27-game schedule in 2007, she tallied three hat tricks to become the first Seminole to register three, three-goal games in a career.
The Tokyo, Japan native, was also recognized as the NSCAA, Soccer Buzz and Soccer America Player of the Year and the ACC Offensive Player of the Year.
BOB PERRONE
Moore – Stone Award
Bob Perrone was a four-year high jumper for the FSU track team from 1972-1976 and while he scored in several meets his greatest feat come chronicling Seminole athletics as a historian. He has assembled the records for every Seminole athlete and team to wear the garnet and gold.
In 1999, Bob began to research and publish online the complete history of athletics – teams and individuals –
at his University. By 2007, he had posted the records and accomplishments of all of FSU Athletics on his Nolefan.org website. He spent thousands of hours gathering newspaper articles, box scores, media guides, game and match records, team rosters and photographs.
Making countless journeys from his Jacksonville, Fla. home to scour FSU’s files for the written history of Seminole athletics, he has uncovered new information, organized and codified the statistics, then published them online in a research-friendly database.
Today, Nolefan.org is a definitive record of the history of FSU
Athletics, containing the individual records of more than 10,000 athletes and each of our past and current sports programs.
Bob continues to update individual and team records as they change each week. Through his volunteer efforts and at his own expense, the records of Florida State athletics can be accessed from office, home and mobile device.
The Historian of FSU’s Hall of Fame and Recognition Committee since 2007, he was awarded the Circle of Gold Award by the Alumni Association for his service.
He recently retired after a long career as a technologist for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In over 70 years of FSU Athletics, no volunteer has devoted more time and effort to preserve our history than Bob Perrone.
