ADA – The East Central University Athletic Department will induct six new members to the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame, Friday, Nov. 14. The ceremony will take place at Foundation Hall in the Chickasaw Business and Conference Center at 6 p.m.
ECU Athletics Hall of Fame The Tigers will be inducting Brad Durr (Golf), Grace George (Meritorious), Don Hood (Football), Don Hoover (Baseball/Basketball), Farrell Large (Football) and Larry Ward (Football) as the Class of 2014.
Brad Durr was one of the most decorated players in the history of ECU men's golf from 1991-95. During that time, the Tigers were ranked in the top-10 nationally in the NAIA all four seasons.
He was instrumental in the Tigers best season, serving as team captain and guiding ECU to a third-place finish at the NAIA nationals in 1995, while earning First Team All-American honors in the process, where the Tigers held the team lead, heading into the final round.
Durr was a two-time Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference Champion as an individual and helped lead ECU to team titles those same years. He was also an All-OIC selection the four years he played for the Tigers.
During the final three years of his career, Durr won four individual tournament crowns and was a member of an ECU team which won 10 championships during that stretch.
"Brad Durr was in my second recruiting class and helped build the program to a national powerhouse from mediocre status. I am incredibly proud of what our team and Brad accomplished during that time period," said Scott Varner, who was his coach at ECU and now the head coach at Northeastern State University. "I have been blessed to play and coach on many great teams, but I am probably as proud of our teams at ECU, during Brad's era, as any teams I have been a part of as a player or coach."
Durr went on to play professionally on the Nike Tour and Lone Star Tour and ultimately decided to come back to Ada and finish his degree in criminal justice at ECU in 2001. Durr has also won the prestigious Oak Hills Invitational in Ada five times.
He has been a successful businessman and is married with one daughter.
Grace George was "The First Lady" of ECU football as her husband, Elvan George, had a legendary run as head football coach of the Tigers from 1959-1971.
During those years, the Tigers captured five straight conference championships and an overall record of 98-45-5.
George was only a supporter of the ECU Athletic Department, as she was a member of the faculty from 1955 to 1986, the chair of the ECU's Home Economics Department and sponsored the ECU Home Economics Club.
Her overall contributions to the Tigers also include an ECU Family and Consumer Sciences Scholarship named after her. Prior to her death in 2013, George was recognized for her generous support to the university, as she was inducted as a member of the ECU Educators' Hall of Fame and honored with an ECU Distinguished Former Faculty Award in 2007.
George also taught at Ada High School from 1947 to 1955 before joining the staff at ECU.
George and her two sisters, Mattie and Mardell, who all lived in Knight Hall at the same time, established an ECU tradition that continually encourages their family members to attend ECU. Over the years, at least 29 members of their extended family have either attended or graduated from ECU.
She and Elvan were married in 1945 in a ceremony in ECU's Knight Hall living room.
George graduated from Mill Creek High School and completed a bachelor's degree in 1947 and a master's degree in 1955, both at ECU. She did post-graduate work at the University of Oklahoma, Texas Woman's University and The University of Pennsylvania.
Don Hood was an All-Oklahoma Collegiate Conference selection as a linebacker in 1964 and was a member of the Tigers' conference championship team that same year.
Hood earned a football scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, but later chose to play for coach Elvan George and the Tigers from 1962 to 1964.
As a high school player, Hood was a state high school shot put champion at Ada High School and was a High School All-American in football, playing in the All-American Football Game in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
After graduating from ECU, Hood coached football at Ada High School as an assistant under Craig McBroom. He was part of a coaching staff that guided the Cougars to state championships in 1970 and 1974. He also coached eighth grade basketball and was later the Ada High School Head Basketball Coach, leading the Cougars to the championship of the East Central Basketball Tournament.
Hood and his family later moved to Moore where he was an assistant coach to Glen Wolfe in the 1971 and 1972 seasons, before returning to Ada to coach under McBroom in the 1973 and 1974 seasons.
In 1975, Hood moved back to Moore as head football coach and his 1976 team reached the state semifinals.
He later became the athletic director at Western Heights High School in Oklahoma City and later moved back to Moore, becoming the director of maintenance for the Moore Public Schools System.
Born and raised in Ada, Hood and his wife, Jane, have been married for 52 years. They have two sons Joe Don (now deceased) and Jeff, who were both born in Ada, but lived most of their formative years in Moore. Dr. Jeff Hood, wife Kimberly, granddaughters – Maggie and Kendall, presently live in Ada where Jeff is a physician at Mercy Hospital.
Don Hoover was a baseball standout at ECU, earning All-OIC Most Valuable Player awards three times in 1958, 1959 and 1960 and was the batting champion of the league all three of those seasons.
It was reported that he only struck out once in four years and committed only one error during that span. Hoover also played on the Tiger basketball team and registered an impressive 96.4 free-throw shooting percentage from 1956-60.
Following his collegiate career, he pursued teaching and coaching at Roff, where he guided the school to a 192-24 record in baseball, 126-32 record in boys' basketball and a 53-26 mark in girls basketball.
Hoover also led the Roff boys' basketball team and baseball squad to state championships in 1968. His teams claimed 15 district titles, eight bi-district championships and two regional crowns, while earning him three Coach of the Year Awards – two for baseball and one for basketball.
Among Hoover's professional achievements are being selected for a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 from the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators, a Pioneer Award from the Organization of Rural Oklahoma Schools and he was named to the Roff Athletic Hall of Fame.
Hoover attended Ada schools and set a state free-throw record with 101 consecutive made shots during the 1955-56 season. He was also an MVP of the American Legion State Tournament in 1955 and was a quarterback/safety and kick returner for Ada High School's state championship football teams in 1954 and 1955.
He married his wife, D'Esta, in 1959. They have three daughters and seven grandchildren.
Farrell Large was an All- OCC pick as a tackle in 1962 for legendary ECU head coach Elvan George.
He graduated from Ada High School in 1959 and eventually earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from ECU in 1963 and later completed his master's degree in physical education from ECU in 1969.
Large began his career as a teacher and football coach at Pauls Valley High School. He taught biology and was an assistant football coach before joining the Ada High School staff and an assistant coach and physical education instructor.
In 1970, Large joined the football coaching staff at Cameron University in Lawton and remained there until 1973 when he was named head football coach and athletic director at Chickasha High School.
He left Oklahoma in 1976 to teach and coach at Brewer High School in White Settlement, Texas, located near Fort Worth.
In 1979, Large returned to the Cameron football program as offense coordinator and served in that position until the end of the 1984-85 school year, thus completing his 22-year career in education.
He remained in Lawton and became an agent with Farmers Insurance Group, opening his own agency in 1984. He recently retired from his 30 years in the insurance business on Oct. 31, 2014.
Larry Ward, who played for ECU from 1960-62, was a two-time All-OCC pick as a halfback in 1960 and 1961.
The 1960 Tigers went 7-5 and defeated Henderson State, 25-7, in the Rice Bowl.
Ward was ranked nationally in yards per carry and yards per game in 1962.
