Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 9 No. 6 | June 2017

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8 Inside Hokie Sports
Beamer on College Football Hall of Fame ballot
The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame
announced June 1 that longtime Virginia Tech head coach Frank
Beamer is among six FBS coaches on the 2018 ballot for induction into
the College Football Hall of Fame.
The announcement of the 2018 class will be made Jan. 8, 2018, in
Atlanta. The city is serving as the host for the College Football Playoff
National Championship, which will be played later that same day at
Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The 2018 class officially will be inducted
during the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4, 2018, at the
New York Hilton Midtown.
Prior to his retirement in 2015, Beamer was the winningest active
coach in FBS history at the time of his retirement, having tallied
an impressive career record of 238-121-2 at Virginia Tech. Under
Beamer, Virginia Tech football enjoyed unprecedented success, with
23 consecutive bowl appearances, a mark that the Hokies extended to
24 straight under head coach Justin Fuente in 2016.
Beamer guided his alma mater to four Atlantic Coast Conference
championships, five ACC Coastal Division crowns, three BIG EAST
Conference titles, six BCS appearances, two “major” bowl victories and
a trip to the national championship game in 2000. Including his tenure
at Murray State from 1981-86, he finished his illustrious career with
280 head coaching victories.
A three-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year (1995, 1996, 1999), Beamer
earned ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2004 and 2005. He was the
consensus national Coach of the Year in 1999.
Beamer continues to serve Virginia Tech as an ambassador for
athletics and the spokesperson for the Drive for 25 campaign that seeks
to increase membership into the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund (aka the
“Hokie Club”) to 25,000 members.
by
Jimmy
Robertson
Hokies to play Iowa
in the men’s basketball ACC-Big Ten Challenge
The ACC, Big Ten and ESPN announced the matchups for the 2017
ACC-Big Ten Challenge played in November, and Virginia Tech will
face Iowa at Virginia Tech Carilion Court. The Hokies played Iowa in
the 2012 Challenge, a game in which Iowa won 95-79. Last year, Tech
knocked off Michigan 73-70 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, recording its
fourth win in the Challenge.
The Hokies finished the 2016-17 season with a 22-11 overall record
and a 10-8 record in ACC play, and they earned their first NCAA
Tournament berth since 2007.
ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 14 games of
the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, matching top college basketball programs
playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioner’s Cup. All
games also will be available to stream via the ESPN app.
Football program announces incoming transfers
The Virginia Tech football program is adding two transfers, as the
program announced the additions of receivers James Clark and Damon
Hazelton to the team.
Clark, a 5-foot-10, 186-pounder who graduated this past May from Ohio
State, is eligible to play this upcoming season. At Ohio State, he played
in 28 career games, including all 13 this past season when he caught six
passes for 47 yards. Also a track standout, the New Smyrna Beach, Florida
native participated in the recently concluded NCAA Outdoor Track and
Field Championships as a part of the Buckeyes’ 4x100-meter relay team.
During the indoor season, he came in ninth in the 60-meter dash at the Big
Ten Championships, running the event in a time of 6.87 seconds.
Hazelton comes to Tech from Ball State and must sit out the upcoming
season. He’ll have three years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2018.
The 6-2, 207-pound Baltimore native started seven games as a
freshman for Ball State and caught 51 passes for 505 yards and a team-
high four touchdowns. His best game came against Toledo when he
caught 12 passes for 102 yards.