CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.-- Two of the greatest Austin Peay State University athletes from the 1990s along with the coach who built the Lady Govs basketball program into the Ohio Valley Conference's finest will be inducted into the APSU's Athletics Hall of Fame, Saturday.
Susie Gardner, who led the Lady Govs basketball program to Ohio Valley Conference dominance to open this decade; Jermaine Savage, who helped fuel the Governors basketball rise in the mid-1990s, and Susan Sheather, who was a two-time OVC Player of the Year in the early 1990s, will be inducted into the APSU Athletics Hall of Fame during 9 a.m., breakfast ceremonies, Saturday, in the Dunn Center's front lobby. Tickets for the breakfast are $10.
The induction ceremonies will see the APSU Athletic Hall of Fame grow to 87. The newest inductees also will be honored during halftime ceremonies of APSU 7:30 p.m. men's contest against Samford. Gardner, now the coach at Arkansas, will not physically be in attendance but will be live via interactive TV from Fayetteville, Ark.
Gardner built the Lady Govs basketball program into the OVC's best during the early part of this decade. APSU compiled an impressive 112-92 record (.549) during her seven-season tenure but a spectacular 63-29 mark over her final three seasons, including 27-4 record in 2002-03. The Lady Govs won three straight OVC tournament titles from 2001-03, earning the league's automatic NCAA tournament bids. The Lady Govs finished the 2003 season with a perfect 16-0 record and then dominated the tournament. APSU came a basket away of upsetting No. 3 seed North Carolina, losing 72-70, in the first-round NCAA tourney game.
Gardner developed two OVC Freshman of the Year in Brooke Armistead and Gerlonda Hardin and an OVC Player of the Year (Armistead). Armistead (twice) and Hardin (once) also were OVC tourney MVPs. In addition, Armistead became the first APSU female athlete to have her number retired.
The 6-4 Savage, meanwhile, teamed with his much-heralded teammate Bubba Wells to give APSU the best forward combination in the OVC. Tremendously resilient and competitive, the Franklin, Ky., native missed just one practice during his entire four-season career. For three straight seasons he was second on the team in scoring, culminating with a 17.5 average as a senior when he was chosen second-team All-OVC. It included a career-high 34-point effort at Eastern Kentucky where he launched the game-winning basket from near midcourt.
He is ranked 10th all-time in scoring with 1345 points. He also is a member of the exclusive 1000-point, 500-rebound club, finishing with 527 rebounds. But Savage may well be known as perhaps the best defensive player in Dave Loos' 17 seasons as Governors head coach. Never was it more evident than in 1995-96 when he helped lead the Governors to the OVC tourney title and NCAA tournament. During that season, on 16 different occasions Savage held the man he was guarding to well below his respective scoring average or forced him to take an inordinate amount of shots to reach that average. In fact, in all three games of the 1996 OVC tournament Savage locked down his opposite: former prep teammate and second-team All-OVC choice DeMarkus Doss was held to five points in the first round; first-team All-OVC choice and Top 25 NCAA scorer Monty Wilson was held to 15 points and Marcus Brown, one of the nation's top three scorers, was held to 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting in the title game. In fact, he limited Brown to just 13 of 38 shooting over their final two meetings.
Meanwhile, Sheather was one of the OVC's most dominant tennis players in the early 1990s. Twice the Kelso, Australia native won the OVC at No. 1 singles (1992, 1994) and once at No. 2 doubles (1991). She also captured OVC titles at No. 1 doubles (1994) and No. 2 doubles (1991). After owning an 18-2 record at No. 2 singles as a freshman, she proceeded to produce a 46-9 record at No. 1 singles over the next three years. More impressively, however, was a 23-2 OVC record at No. 1 singles during that span. But her game also translated terrifically to double play, where she posted a 57-9 doubles record in her four seasons, including a 28-2 in the OVC playing with three different doubles partners. Sheather followed in the footsteps of other Lady Govs, whose roots were in Australia. T.J. Kleynhans was a two-time OVC champion and Player of the Year in the mid-1980s before Shannon Peters won a pair of OVC No. 1 singles championships in 1990-91. Sheather earned OVC Player of the Year honors in both 1992 and 1994 with a knee injury slowing her down during the 1993 tournament, helping prevent a possible third title.
Sheather's work off the court was equally as impressive. The psychology major was a two-time member of the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll and was a four-time member of the Athletics Director's Honor Roll, including three times earning Dean's List honors.
