Jeff Bibb named new chairman of APSU Athletics Hall of Fame
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.. ? Austin Peay State University and APSU athletics has turned to a "family" member
to head its Athletics Hall of Fame committee.
Jeff Bibb, a partner in BLF Marketing in Clarksville and longtime supporter of APSU Athletics, has been been
named APSU Athletics Hall of Fame chairman. He replaces the legendary Dr. George Fisher, the former APSU
athlete coach and athletics director who resigned as committee chair after the February induction ceremonies.
"Any association with George Fisher is an honor in itself," said Bibb, also a longtime member of the Hall of
Fame committee. "The opportunity to be around him has been gratifying. Mickey (Fisher's son) and I were in
school together. I was a fan of the Govs when George was head basketball coach. I was a student and on staff
when he was athletics director. There has been a long on-going connection.
"There has been no one more devoted to the University than George?I love him like a family member?so it
is very humbling for me to succeed him in any role."
"Jeff is a logical choice to replace George," APSU Athletics Director Dave Loos said. "The longtime associa-
tion he and his family have had with the University and athletics department, ranging from Jeff's days as a student
to today with a scholarship established in Dr. (Leon) Bibb's name made this a natural move."
Bibb's late father, Leon, was a longtime University professor (28 years) and former faculty athletic chair-
man (23 years) who played a huge role in APSU's admission to the Ohio Valley Conference in the early 1960s?he
was elected to OVC Hall of Fame in 1999. In 1984, Dr. Bibb was inducted into the APSU Athletic Hall of Fame.
After Dr. Bibb's death, his family established in 1998 the Dr. Leon Bibb Hall of Fame Scholarship, an annual
award presented to a graduate student working within the APSU athletics department.
"It truly has been a family affair," Bibb said about his association with the school. "My dad's association with
the University, my mother's support plus my brother and I are graduates of the University. We (he and his wife
Sharon) have a son (Landon) who just graduated and our daughter (Chelsey) is now a freshman. The University
has played such a instrumental part in our lives."
In fact, Bibb was Sports Editor of The All-State during his freshman and sophomore years (1972-73) while
also working in the Sports Information Office. When then-SID John R. Martin resigned just prior to the Govs first
(1973) NCAA basketball tournament appearance, it left to two students, one being Bibb, plus Public Information
Director Sherwin Clift to handle publicity for the Fly Williams-led team that captured the nation's spotlight, at a
time when "Peaymania" was born.
Later, when the APSU Hall of Fame was established in 1977?with former coach and athletic director Dave
Aaron as the only inductee?Bibb produced the program.
"When you look at the 30-year history of the Hall of Fame, it arguabably is one of greatest successes of the
University," Bibb said. "It is my hope that we would allow the committee to evaluate where we are and where we
want to go. Hopefully, we can raise the esteem and prestige to an even higher level, especially from a visibility
standpoint.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with selection process itself. It never has been about politics or agendas,
it always has been about doing what is right for the University and the people who are elected. Every member of
the Hall of Fame has earned their place."
"We can't express in any amount of words," Loos said, "the appreciation we have for Dr. Fisher and what he
has meant to this University first as a player, then coach, an administrator, a teacher and later to this Hall of Fame
committee as it longtime chair. The respect we have for his work and efforts is immeasurable."