Gulfport Sports Hall of Fame to welcome Class of 2022

June 9, 2022

WXXV,

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Gulfport Sports Hall of Fame is eager to induct its 12-member class of 2022 to its already prestigious ranks.

On Saturday, a dozen of the finest players and coaches from the City of Gulfport will be honored with a banquet at the Lyman Community Center where they’ll be presented with their brand-new Hall of Fame jackets.

This afternoon, some of these local legends got together in Gulfport to reflect on some of the moments that will make Saturday’s moment so special. Gulfport High Class of 1973 Brian Garriga said, “When I first got the call from Coach Jones, I was of course taken aback. I was thrilled and honored. And probably one of the first things I thought about was looking back. And the reason probably, I was honored in my opinion was because all teammates I’ve had through the years because without them, I wouldn’t have been here.”

Harrison Central High Class of 1983 Marcus Lawton said, “I think one of the greatest honors as I spoke before is my dad had an opportunity to say you have two sons that are in the Gulfport Sports Hall of Fame. You know, being from a small town Saucier, Mississippi, and you growing up and trying to be a professional athlete, as we all dream of playing in the big leagues, to finally get that opportunity was a great honor.”

Gulfport High Class of 1987 Francisco ‘Boo’ Hardy said, “Just like Marcus said, you know, I’m a head coach at Harrison Central, but we got a lot of Gulfport Harrison Central stories, or rivalries or back when I played you know, we won most of the basketball games but we will know it just happy to be, you know, part of this legendary group of people that are simply here and that will be with us on Saturday night.”

Harrison Central High Class of 1981 Jimmy Parker said, “I started out playing baseball and then I got sick, had cancer, had to give up my high school career. But I never give up on what I wanted to do. I think that was God’s way of putting me into coaching. And I knew right then what I wanted to do, and I coached my first team the year after I got cancer. I coached my first team up in the Saucier-Lizana area with a good friend of mine Leon Farmer and he took me under his wing and learned a lot from big Leon and just went from there I knew that was my calling.”

The seventh annual Gulfport Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony starts at 6 p.m. Saturday from the Lyman Community Center in Gulfport.

Here’s a full list: