CLEVELAND STATE ATHLETICS STARTS HALL OF FAME WITH 25

by Ron Bush – Chattanooga Times Free Press

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — What could have been a bulky beginning to the Cleveland State Community College Hall of Fame was full but smooth Saturday, beginning with the induction brunch at the Mountain View Inn.

Twenty-five people were part of the inaugural class and 22 of them were present, along with a host of family members, friends and other Cougars supporters, but the event moved crisply with WTVC sports anchor Darrell Patterson as emcee. The presentation of the 25 and highlights of their careers and future achievements lasted last than an hour, after brief welcoming remarks from athletic director and baseball coach Mike Policastro and school president Dr. Carl Hite.

The inductees were presented again between games of the afternoon basketball doubleheader against Chattanooga State.

"I thought it was outstanding," said inductee Jim Cigliano, Cleveland State's first admissions director and longtime athletic director and vice president who now is commissioner of the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association. "This is another way of connecting with those who have been here before."

Cigliano and others talked "for years" about creating a hall of fame even before his retirement from the school in 2005, and the details for the first class were about a year in the works.

"I think this was a good number to start with, and we'll probably have a similar amount next year," he said. "There are so many out there who need to be honored. But in two or three years we'll probably scale down to a smaller group going in every year."

The first class focused on the 1967-79 athletes and coaches but with softball players Rhonda Snow and Kim Gentry from the early 1980s included. The school did not add that sport until 1979.