Athletic Hall of Fame welcomes four new members

FOOTBALL STANDOUT Jerome Felton ’08, tennis stars James Cameron ’03 and Mary Neil Hagood McKie ’05, and longtime women’s tennis coach Debbie Southern will be inducted into Furman’s Athletic Hall of Fame October 5.

Felton, who earned All-Pro recognition in 2012 with the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League, gained 2,652 yards rushing and scored 63 touchdowns in four seasons as Furman’s starting fullback, during which time the Paladins won a Southern Conference title and made three NCAA I-AA (FCS) playoff appearances. He holds numerous school records and was a three-time All-Southern Conference choice and an All-America selection.

Cameron was conference player of the year and male athlete of the year in 2003. With John Chesworth ’03, he earned All-America honors after they advanced to the doubles quarterfinals of the 2002 NCAA tournament. A seven-time all-league selection, he received the Furman Academic Achievement Award in 2003.

During her four years at Furman McKie was twice the league’s player of the year and helped her squad to a 38-0 conference regular-season record. She holds the school record for most doubles wins with 75. She received the 2004 Southeast Region Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award and was the league’s female athlete of the year in 2005.

With 435 victories during her 30-year Furman career, Southern has led Furman to nine NCAA tournament appearances, 16 conference tournament titles, and a winning streak of 100 straight conference matches from 1998 to 2010, the longest run of success in league history in any sport. She was inducted into the International Tennis Association Women’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012 and the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004.