The Community Times Sports

*Kirkland Placed On 2022 Ballot For College Football Hall Of Fame Voting*

The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced the names on the 2022 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, including 78 players and seven coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 99 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks.

“It’s an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.47 million people have played college football and only 1,038 players have been inducted,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “The Hall’s requirement of being a First-Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible. Being in today’s elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game, and we look forward to announcing the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year.”

The ballot was emailed today to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers whose votes will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF’s Honors Courts, which will deliberate and select the class. The FBS Honors Court, chaired by NFF Board Member and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Griffin from Ohio State, and the Divisional Honors Court, chaired by former Marshall head coach, longtime athletics director and NFF Board Member Jack Lengyel, include an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletic administrators, Hall of Famers and members of the media.

“Having a ballot and a voice in the selection of the College Football Hall of Fame inductees is one of the most cherished NFF member benefits,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, a 1989 Hall of Fame inductee from Mississippi. “There is no group more knowledgeable or passionate about college football than our membership, and the tradition of the ballot helps us engage them in the lofty responsibility of selecting those who have reached the pinnacle of achievement in our sport.”

The announcement of the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2022, with specific details to be announced in the future.

The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6, 2022, and permanently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. They will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2022 season.

The criteria for Hall of Fame consideration include:

First and foremost, a player must have received First-Team All-America recognition by a selector that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise its consensus All-America teams.

A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation’s Honors Courts 10 full seasons after his final year of intercollegiate football played.

While each nominee’s football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether the candidate earned a college degree.

Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years.* For example, to be eligible for the 2022 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1972 or thereafter. In addition, players who are playing professionally and coaches who are coaching on the professional level are not eligible until after they retire.

A coach becomes eligible three full seasons after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years of age. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age. He must have been a head football coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage.

Nominations may only be submitted by the current athletics director, head coach or sports information director (SID) of a potential candidate’s collegiate institution. Nominations may also be submitted by the president/executive director of a dues-paying chapter of the National Football Foundation.

*Players who do not comply with the 50-year rule may still be eligible for consideration by the Football Bowl Subdivision and Divisional Veterans Committees. Veterans Committee candidates must still meet First Team All-America requirement.

Once nominated for consideration, all FBS player candidates are submitted to one of eight District Screening Committees, depending on their school’s geographic location, which conducts a vote to determine who will appear on the ballot and represent their respective districts. Each year, approximately 15 candidates, who are not selected for the Hall of Fame but received significant votes in the final selection, will be named automatic holdovers and will bypass the district screening process and automatically appear on the ballot the following year. Additionally, the Veterans Committee may make recommendations to the Honors Court for exceptions that allow for the induction of players who played more than 50 years ago. The Honors Court annually reviews the Hall of Fame criteria to ensure a fair and streamlined process.

Of the 5.47 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on Nov. 6, 1869, only 1,038 players have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, or less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of those who have played the game during the past 151 years. From the coaching ranks, 223 individuals have achieved Hall of Fame distinction.

*Pearl Moore To Be Inducted Into Basketball Hall of Fame*

One of the Pee Dee’s own will now have her basketball legacy enshrined among other greats of the sport.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Sunday that Florence native Pearl Moore would be among the inductees in its 2021 class.

Moore is the all-time leading scorer in the history of women’s college basketball, with 4,061 points between one semester at Anderson Junior College in 1975, followed by four years at then-Francis Marion College from 1975-1979.

She was also a four-time Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Small College All-American.

“I am terribly humbled by this honor,” Moore said in a statement provided by Francis Marion University. “Who could have dreamt that playing hoops in the yard with my brothers and sisters could lead to me being recognized with the who’s who of the game of basketball.”

Moore is the third South Carolina native to be inducted in the hall, and the second with Francis Marion ties behind former coach Sylvia Hatchell.

Moore later went on to play in the Women’s Pro Basketball League from 1979-1981 before playing an additional season in Venezuela.

It’s not her first hall of fame induction, either.

Moore was one of the first inducted into the FMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992, followed by inductions into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000, the Florence Area Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Items of Moore’s were also previously sent to the Naismith Hall of Fame as part of its women’s basketball exhibit. She was first nominated for induction by FMU in 1994, according to the university.

The City of Florence’s Pearl Moore Basketball Center was also named in her honor in 2018 - the first building in the city to be named after a woman.

Before college, Moore attended Wilson High School in Florence.

Moore joins an induction class that includes former NBA stars Chris Webber, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh and Ben Wallace, as well as former WNBA stars Yolanda Griffith and Lauren Jackson.