Sports Editor

By WAYNE PHILLIPS
Sports Editor

Thirteen former student-athletes at Greeneville High School were honored Friday afternoon during the induction ceremony for the 2008 GHS Sports Hall of Fame.

A near-capacity crowd squeezed inside the GHS cafeteria for the ceremony, the second year in the existence of the Hall of Fame. At last year's initial ceremony, 14 former student-athletes were inducted. This year's inductees were primarily for the period of 1950 through 1970.

Brumley Greene, chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee and himself a 2008 inductee, expressed appreciation for all the support the Hall of Fame has received from the citizens of Greeneville.

"I think the ceremony went very well, and we're so very grateful to all the people who have supported making the Hall of Fame a reality," he said.

"The Sports Hall of Fame itself is now about 95 percent complete, and it's a beautiful addition to our high school."

Of the 13 people inducted this year, three - Jimmy Demo, Jere Disney and John Thomas - are deceased. Two other inductees were unable to be present: Charles "Mutt" Rader, who was at a world-wide rubber industry meeting, and Benny Rippetoe, who had surgery on Monday.

This year's group of inductees were:

• Grady Barefield, Class of 1961:
Barefield played on the 1957-60 football teams and lettered all four years. He was co-captain of the 1959-60 team. He was the only GHS player selected to the All-Big 7 Conference Football first team in 1960, with a second team selection in 1959. He was also an All-East Tennessee second team selection in '60 and received honorable mention for the All-State Football Team for both 1959 and 1960.
Barefield also ran track all four years at GHS.
He served for a number of years as a TSSAA football official.
Raised at Holston United Methodist Home in Greeneville, Barefield expressed thanks to a number of people, including Coach Leonard Coffman, "who took me under his wing and treated me like I was his son," and the Rev. Charles Hutchins and the people at Holston Home, "who gave me Christian teaching and guidance."

• Todd Brenizer, Class of 1970:
While at Greeneville High School, Brenizer was a member of the basketball and baseball teams. He was named the team's MVP and first team All-Big 7 Conference in 1968, 1969 and 1970, and was named Honorable Mention All-State in 1969.
Brenizer averaged 17.5 points per basketball game during his junior campaign and was Conference Player of the Year in 1970, his senior year, when he averaged 18 points per game, seven assists and 11 rebounds per game while serving as co-captain.
He was also selected First Team All-State in 1970, thus becoming the first basketball player in GHS history to receive this award.
Brenizer was a pitcher on the GHS baseball team during 1968-1970 and was chosen for the All-Big Seven Conference Team in 1969 and 1970.
He was recruited by Vanderbilt University, Stetson University and Furman University for both basketball and baseball. He was drafted by the Washington Senators right out of high school, but chose to attend Furman.
He was a member of the freshman basketball team there in 1971 and a member of the varsity basketball team from 1971-1973. He did not play his senior year, 1974, because he was injured.
He pitched all four years he attended Furman and was named the team's MVP during his junior and senior years. He was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year and Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year in 1974.
Brenizer was drafted in 1974 by the Philadelphia Phillies. He pitched at Class A in Spartanburg (S.C.) in 1974, at Class AA in Reading (Pa.) in 1975-1976, and at Class AAA in Oklahoma City (Okla).
Brenizer thanked his mother and father for "moving from Ft. Wayne to Greeneville and giving me and my brother a chance to attend Greeneville High School."
He also recalled his days playing basketball at the old EastView Recreation Center, where he was taught to "grow up or go home."

• Jimmy Demo, Class of 1952 (deceased):
Demo played guard on the GHS football team from 1948-1952 and was selected All-State for two seasons. He also lettered in baseball in 1951.
He was selected and shifted to tackle on the 17th annual All-State Tennessee High School football team. He was also selected to the Knoxville News-Sentinel All-East Tennessee football team and signed a grant-in-aid scholarship to the University of Tennessee.
He had offers to attend college at the University of North Carolina, the University of Florida, Vanderbilt University, the College of William & Mary, the University of Georgia, Emory & Henry, and what was then East Tennessee State College, now ETSU.
Demo was represented by his son, James A. Demo, who said the award would be most special to his father "because it's in his hometown and where it all started for him."
• Jere Michael Disney, Class of 1958 (deceased):
Disney attended Greeneville High School from 1955-58. During his senior year, when he played tailback, he became known as one of the best high school football players in the state.
He practically re-wrote the Big 9 Conference record books in the 1957 season when he led the Greene Devils to an 8-2-1 season, scored a total of 174 points his senior year, rushed for 1,988 yards, passed for 457 yards, and averaged an astounding 48.7 yards per punt.
He was named All-East Tennessee Player of the Year, All-Big 9 Conference, All-State and All-Southern by the Associated Press, and was a Sporting News honorable mention for All-American.
He signed a football scholarship at the University of Tennessee. General Bob Neyland, then the UT coach, personally presented him with the scholarship.
Disney played on the freshman team, then was red-shirted his sophomore season.
After his sophomore year, he transferred to UT Medical School in Memphis.
He graduated from med school at the top of his class in orthopedics and served as flight surgeon in the Navy and was attached to the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam years.
He completed his residency training at Campbell's Clinic in Memphis, where he practiced medicine. Dr. Disney died of a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 59.
Brumley Greene accepted the plaque for the Disney family. Greene said he had been in contact with Disney's widow, Linda, several times. He said both of Disney's sons are physicians and were unable to get to Greeneville for the ceremony.

• Joe Dixon, Class of 1955:
Dixon was a passing and running threat at tailback, where he played from 1951-55, starting his last two years.
He was a three-year letterman and starting quarterback for the East Tennessee State College Buccaneers in 1957-59, with an overall team record of 5-6, 5-4 and 6-3 and a 4-2 Ohio Valley Conference record both his junior and senior years.
In 1966, Dixon started the football program at South Greene High School, where he was teacher and athletic director from 1966-1968.
He left South Greene and moved to Grundy, Va., in the fall of 1968 to teach and coach football. From 1979-89, he was assistant principal at two high schools in Polk County, Fla. He has continued to teach in the computer lab at the elementary school level since 1999.
Dixon said he was honored because he was being inducted "along with 12 of the greatest athletes to ever play at Greeneville High School."

•Brumley Greene, Class of 1949:
Greene was a three-sport letterman at GHS. In football, he played six years, from 1943-1948, and lettered three years as a tackle and defensive end. (He left school after the fall semester of 1943 and 1944 to help on the farm because his brothers were in the armed forces, and he returned for a second senior year, staying until the end of the first semester.)
Basketball returned to GHS in 1947 after a five-year hiatus, and Greene was a two-year letterman.
He was a pitcher and outfielder for GHS on the 1946-1948 teams. He signed a Class AA professional contract with the Giants organization and pitched for three summers from 1948-1950.
After serving in the Army, Greene graduated from what was then East Tennessee State College, where he also played football, and was hired in 1955 as a teacher and girls' basketball coach at Greeneville Junior High School and assistant football coach at GHS.
He later served as head boys' basketball coach and head girls' basketball coach.
In 1957, Greene took a job at The Magnavox Company of Tennessee and began playing on the company's semi-professional baseball team. He continued pitching for the team through 1960, after which he was pitching coach and business manager until their last team in 1970.
For 15 years, from 1956-1970, Magnavox was National Baseball Congress Tennessee State Champions, holding the record for all-time consecutive state crowns.
He also was NBC Baseball Commissioner for the State of Tennessee from 1959 to 1971.
He served as a teacher-coach for 25 years, from 1970-1995, at Morristown West High School, where he coached golf, boys' B-team basketball, girls' basketball, freshman football, and varsity baseball.
In 1995, Greene returned to GHS to coach basketball and baseball until 2008.
He has been involved in a number of community and school-related projects since his return here.

• A.J. Harmon, Class of 1953:
Harmon played football and baseball during his years at GHS. He played both offense and defense and lettered in football four years. Harmon was co-captain for two years.
He received scholarship offers from the University of Tennessee, East Tennessee State College and Emory & Henry College.
He also played baseball and lettered two years.
After high school, he played one year at East Tennessee State. He worked at Weavex for 35 years and retired in 1993 as manager of marketing services.

• Clarence Wayne "Bud" King, Class of 1957:
King played baseball and football and ran track at GHS from 1953 to 1957.
He was selected as football captain during his senior year. He played center and linebacker.
He was selected to the All-Conference Team his senior year and also was presented the first Greeneville Sun Player of the Year Award.
He signed to play at the University of Tennessee under Coach Bowden Wyatt. During the summer of 1957, he was selected to play in an all-star game.
While practicing for the game, King suffered a torn ACL. He went on to UT and stayed for two years.
In 1959, he transferred to East Tennessee State College, where he played for four years and was selected captain of the team his senior year.
Bud was named second team All-Ohio Valley Conference during his junior year and first team All-OVC as a tackle his senior year in 1963. He was named most valuable lineman in 1963.
When he returned from the service after a stint in Korea, he taught and coached at Alcoa High School for two years.
He then moved to Kingsport and coached at Dobyns-Bennett High School for four years before retiring from teaching. King resides in Church Hill.

• Doug Linebarger, Class of 1965:
Linebarger's career at Greeneville High School included two years as letterman in basketball, three years in football, and three years in track.
He was an All-Big Seven Conference footballer in 1963 and 1964. He won the Big Seven Conference 440-yard dash in the spring of 1965.
Following his high school career, he signed with East Tennessee State University, where he became a member of the All-Ohio Valley Conference team in 1967, 1968 and 1969.
He was also voted a member of the All-Ohio Valley Conference 25-year team. He was an All-American in football at ETSU and is a member of the ETSU Hall of Fame.
Linebarger is a football referee in the TSSAA, Southern Conference and the Southeastern Conference. He worked the National Championship game in January 2005, has officiated eight bowl games, three SEC championship games, and five Division I-AA playoff games.
He noted that Coach Coffman and Fred Quarles got him interested in officiating, and noted his long-time TSSAA crew that consisted of him and Melton Loftis, Jimmy Lister, Fred Quarles and Grady Barefield.

• Jimmy Pierce, Class of 1956:
Pierce played football for four years and was a starting tailback and punter on the 1955 football team. He led his team to an 8-2-1 season and an appearance in the Tobacco Bowl.
He was selected to the Knoxville News-Sentinel All-East Tennessee second team, missing the first team by only one vote.
He was on the GHS junior varsity basketball team in 1954 and 1955, and he lettered in varsity basketball in 1956, playing guard.
•Charles "Mutt" Rader, Class of 1953:
Rader lettered in football from 1949-1952. He played every line position except center. His senior year he also played fullback.
He was team co-captain in 1951-1952 and was valedictorian of the 1953 class with a grade-point average of 97.36 out of 100. He was listed as one of the top 300 science students in the nation.
Rader went on to play varsity football at the University of Tennessee from 1954-1956. He was first-string offensive tackle/defensive guard on the 1956 SEC Championship team, and this team was also runner-up for the NCAA Championship.
He received the Roy N. Lotspeich Memorial Trophy that is awarded to a senior UT footballer that has the highest scholastic average.
In his work career in the rubber industry, he became CEO of the Akron Manufacturing Corporation, and later was CEO of the Research Division.
Following retirement in 2001, he now serves as chairman of the world-wide rubber industry research organization.
Rader's award was accepted by Max Woody.

•Thomas Bennett (Benny) Rippetoe, Class of 1967:
Rippetoe was the quarterback on the freshman football team in 1963 and was also a starting pitcher on the GHS varsity baseball team. During his sophomore year, he moved from Greeneville but later returned and joined the football team mid-season.
While the starting quarterback during his senior year, Benny led the conference with nine touchdown passes. He was also voted the best defensive player on the basketball team.
Benny was selected to play quarterback in Tennessee's first TSSAA All-Star game in Nashville and orchestrated the winning drive when East beat West.
In January 1967, he signed a grant-in-aid scholarship with the University of Alabama under Coach Paul W. (Bear) Bryant, who personally came to Greeneville to sign him.
Rippetoe had surgery on Monday and could not attend. Brumley Greene, along with Rippetoe's mother, Louise, accepted his award.

• John E. Thomas, Class of 1965 (deceased):
Thomas was an outstanding player both offensively and defensively on the GHS football team. He played for four years and was a three-year starter at either guard or fullback and linebacker.
He was one of the leading scorers his junior year, with eight touchdowns, and was an All-Big 6 selection.
In 1964, his senior year, the Devils were Tobacco Bowl Champs and the undisputed Big 7 Conference Champions, the one and only time they were to win that honor.
In 1964, he was selected to the All-Big 7 Conference Team, the All-East Tennessee Team, Knoxville News-Sentinel East Tennessee second team, and United Press International All State Team.
Upon graduation he was recruited by the University of Tennessee, but accepted a four-year scholarship to play football at East Tennessee State University. He was a three-year football letterman at ETSU from 1966-68.
From 1971-79, Thomas coached football for South Greene High School, serving as head coach from 1976-1979.
Thomas' award was accepted by Susan Thomas Holzschuh.