MERIDIAN — (AP) The 50th anniversary class of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted this weekend, with today's awards banquet the centerpiece of two days of activities in Jackson. Former Mississippi State standouts Rafael Palmeiro and Jeff Malone, who went on to all-star careers in Major League Baseball and the NBA, respectively, headline the six-person class. Also set to be inducted are Southern Miss softball star Courtney Blades-Rogers, golf champion and coach Sam Hall, Ole Miss multi-sport standout Eddie Crawford and longtime Mississippi High School Activities Association director Ennis Proctor. The hall of fame reception begins at 5:30 p.m. today at the Downtown Marriott in Jackson, followed by the induction banquet at 7 p.m. A meet-and-greet and autograph session with the 2012 inductees and past inductees takes place at the Hall of Fame Museum at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, with a Drawdown of Champions and auction at 6:30 p.m. that day. Palmeiro, who was born in Cuba but raised in Miami, was a three-time All-American at Mississippi State from 1983-85 before embarking on a 20-year major league career with the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. The four-time All-Star first baseman ended his career as one of four players in MLB history with more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs (Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray are the others). Malone, a Mobile native who played his high school basketball in Macon, Ga., is Mississippi State's all-time leading scorer and was a three-time All-SEC selection and two-time All-American in the early 1980s. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard played 13 seasons in the NBA with the Washington Bullets, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat and was a two-time All-Star. Blades-Rogers, from Baton Rouge, La., is the first softball player to be inducted into the MSHOF. She played two years at Nicholls State before transferring to Southern Miss in 1999, and ended her career as the NCAA's all-time leader in victories and strikeouts. Crawford, a native of Jackson, Tenn., played football, basketball and baseball and ran track at Ole Miss in the early 1950s. He played one season in the NFL before returning to Oxford to serve as head basketball coach and assistant football coach, positions he served in for more than a decade before moving into administration. Hall, from Hattiesburg, played and coached golf at Southern Miss, but was best known as an outstanding amateur player. He won more than 300 tournaments, including a record seven state senior amateur titles. Proctor, a Clinton native, retired in 2010 after 20 years running the MHSAA. During his tenure, the state added eight new championship sports and brought the state football and basketball championships to statewide television audiences. Today's banquet will also mark the first presentation of The Rube, a service award named in honor of late MSHOF director Michael Rubenstein, who died in December. Former Boston Red Sox pitcher and Delta State coach Boo Ferriss has been selected for the honor.
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