TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Florida A&M University announced Thursday that three athletic facilities will have new names to recognize contributors to FAMU athletics.
Ken Riley (football field), Veronica Wiggins (softball field) and George Thompson (football locker room) will have their names placed on the respective facility.
The university’s board of trustees approved the renaming of the facilities during a meeting Thursday.
The football field will be updated to Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Riley, who played quarterback while a member of the FAMU football program, was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1969 NFL draft.
Riley transitioned from quarterback to defensive back with the Bengals and played 15 seasons of professional football with Cincinnati.
After his pro football career, Riley served as FAMU's head football coach for eight seasons beginning in 1986. FAMU added he was the university's athletic director.
Riley, who died in 2020, will be posthumously enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Aug. 5 in Canton, Ohio.
The softball field will be known as the Veronica Wiggins softball field.
Wiggins, whose tenure leading FAMU softball began in 1992, has the most coaching wins in Florida A&M University athletics history with 726 wins spanning 29 seasons.
FAMU athletics notes she led the softball team to its first winning season in 1992 and its first conference championship in 1993. During her time leading the program, FAMU won 13 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships and won one game in the NCAA Division I softball tournament in 2006.
The football locker room will be known as the George "Godfather" Thompson locker room.
Thompson was a member of the FAMU football program as a running back and defensive back in the early 1950s.
Thompson, a FAMU alum, was associated with the university for 49 years; primarily as an equipment manager.
FAMU athletics said there will be ceremonies to celebrate the naming of the facilities at a later date.
