Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame announces Class of 2023

by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today
October 19, 2022

The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will induct a diverse class in 2023, including the first marksman in the hall of fame’s history, Olympic skeet shooter Tony Rosetti.

The class, to be enshrined in ceremonies next July, also includes women’s basketball player and coach Carol Ross, Major League Baseball standout Paul Maholm, Millsaps baseball player and coach Jim Page, and former college and professional football standouts Jeff Herrod, John Mangum, Patrick Surtain and Lewis Tillman.

In alphabetical order:

Jeff Herrod: A Birmingham native, Herrod was headed to the U.S. Marines before a late football scholarship offer from Ole Miss where he played for Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer Billy Brewer. When he finished at Ole Miss, Herrod was the second all-time leading tackler in Southeastern Conference history. He then played for the Indianapolis Colts where he led the team in tackles for seven of his 11 seasons and is the franchise’s all-time leading tackler.

Paul Maholm: Born in Holly Springs, Maholm chose a baseball scholarship at Mississippi State instead of bonus money from the Minnesota Twins. It was a wise decision. As a left-handed pitcher for Pat McMahon and Ron Polk, he excelled at State, where he is the fifth winningest pitcher in school history.  Maholm was the eighth pick of the 2003 Major League draft. He spent 10 years in the Major Leagues with the Pirates, Cubs, Braves and Dodgers. Maholm is a member of the Ron Polk Ring of Honor at State.

John Mangum: He will be the first of the remarkable Mangum family of Magee to be inducted into the MSHOF. Mangum’s father, John Mangum, was a football star at Southern Miss and in the old American Football League. Younger brother Kris played at Ole Miss and in the NFL. Son Jake Mangum is one of Mississippi State’s all time baseball greats and is at the AAA level in the New York Mets organization. The younger John Mangum chose Alabama over Southern Miss after being the Mississippi high school player of the year and made the Alabama Team of the Decade for the 1980s before a nine-year career with the Chicago Bears. He still holds the career record for passes broken up at Alabama with 47.

Jim Page: Holds the Millsaps school record for hitting with a batting average of .487 and has coached Millsaps baseball teams to 815 victories, eight NCAA Regional appearances and one College World Series appearance. Page is a renowned hitting instructor who has coached literally thousands of Jackson-area players in summer baseball camps.

Tony Rosetti: A Biloxi native and West Point resident, Rosetti began rifle shooting as a young teen and was named to the 1970 Sports Afield All American team. He won the 1971 U.S. skeet shooting championship and was on the U.S. gold medal winning team in the 1971 Pan American Games. In 1972, he was part of the U.S. Olympic shooting team in the Munich Olympics and is in the National Skeet Shooting Association Hall of Fame. He retired from competitive skeet shooting in 1992 and now is an accomplished golfer at Old Waverly.

Carol Ross: Born in the Yalobusha County town of Oakland, Ross was an outstanding basketball player for MSHOF coach Van Chancellor at Ole Miss where she made the first SEC Women’s Tournament all-tourney team in 1980. She still holds the Ole Miss steals record with 333 and is only one of two players in school history to top 1,000 points, 500 assists and 250 steals. She later was the head coach at both Florida, where she was SEC Coach of the Year two times, and at Ole Miss. She was the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks where she was the WNBA Coach of the Year in 2012.

Patrick Surtain: A four-sport high school star in New Orleans, Surtain played for Hall of Famer Jeff Bower at Southern Miss where he was the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in 1997. He was a second round choice of the Miami Dolphins in 1998 and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection in his 11-year NFL career. He was voted the NFL Defensive Back of the Year in 2002. Surtain, a member of the Southern Miss Team of the Century, now coaches for the Dolphins.

Lewis Tillman: From Hazlehurst, Tillman chose to play college ball for MSHOF member W.C. Gorden at Jackson State, where he rushed for 3,989 yards, broke several of Walter Payton’s records and was the SWAC Player of the Year in 1987 when he gained 1,474 yards. That season, in a 17-7 loss to Southern Miss, Tillman out-gained the entire Southern Miss team. He earned a Super Bowl ring with the 1991 New York Giants. He played five seasons for the Giants and then two with the Chicago Bears where he was teammates with John Mangum.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.