Former Lady Govs basketball coach Susie Gardner, basketball great Jermaine Savage
and tennis star Susan Sheather to be inducted into APSU Athletic Hall of Fame
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.-- 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 breakfast ceremonies, 9 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 27, in the
Dunn Center's front lobby.
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 the 7:30 p.m. APSU men's contest against Samford that
day.
Gardner, who came to Austin Peay from San Diego in 1996-97, 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 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--the
only time a team has ever gone 16-0 in OVC history--and then dominated the tournament. APSU came a
basket away of upsetting No. 3 seed North Carolina, losing 72-70, in its first-round NCAA regional contest.
A Tennessee native, Gardner developed two OVC Freshman of the Year in
Brooke Armistead and
Gerlonda Hardin and an OVC Player of the Year (Armistead). In fact, Armistead saw her number retired,
becoming the first female to earn that distinction at APSU.
The 6-4 Savage, meanwhile, teamed with his much-heralded teammate Bubba Wells to give APSYU
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.
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).
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Former Lady Govs basketball coach Susie Gardner, basketball great Jermaine Savage
and tennis star Susan Sheather to be inducted into APSU Athletic Hall of Fame--add one 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 back injury slowing her down during the 1993 tournament, helping prevent a possible third
title.
For tickets and other information about the breakfast, telephone
Tara Pfeifler in the APSU athletics
office, (931) 221-7903.
