More than 300 well-wishers were on hand recently to celebrate the induction of 37 former student-athletes, six coaches, and one trustee into the Inaugural Class of the new Detroit Country Day School Athletics Hall of Fame. The ceremony, held in the Performing Arts Center at the Upper School in Beverly Hills, honored the athletic contributions and achievements that each inductee exhibited in his or her respective sport played at Country Day from the 1970s through the 1990s.
The Inaugural Class of inductees enshrined included Robert D. Ambrose (1978, Lacrosse/Football), Shane C. Battier (1997, Basketball/Baseball), Joesph D’Angelo (Football Coach), Peggy (Evans) Carr (1990, Basketball), Samuel H. Greenawalt, Jr. (Former Trustee), Gerald T. Hansen (Golf Coach/Former Head of School), Hiram E. Jackson (1983, Football/Basketball/Track & Field), Kristi Jackson (1984, Basketball/Track & Field), Charles J. Johnson (1987, Football/Basketball), Kurt Keener (Basketball Coach/Former Athletics Director), Natalie M. Neaton (1992, Soccer/Basketball), Frank Orlando (Basketball/Baseball Coach), Michael Page (1971, Football/Basketball/Track &Field), Kathryn (Sobrero) Markgraf (1994, Soccer/Volleyball), Jennifer Lynne (Thomas)Williams (1999, Basketball), and Chris Webber (1991, Basketball).
The inductees also included 26 women and two coaches from the 1999 and 2000 Women’s State Championship Soccer Teams.
“The members of our inaugural class enshrined have made many valuable accomplishments on the field, court, track and set state and national records while earning widespread recognition for our school,” said Rich Dempsey, Detroit Country Day’s Head of School. “And they have established a standard of excellence that today’s students strive to follow.”
During the ceremony, short descriptions of each honoree’s athletic accomplishments were read for the audience before the honoree was presented with an enlarged plaque bearing the image of the student or coach when they were at Country Day. Each plaque had verbiage about the playmakers’ feats. A segment of the ceremony also allowed inductees to answer questions about their journeys as athletes and scholars at Country Day.
“I graduated from Country Day in 1983,” said Hiram E. Jackson, who excelled in three sports at the school and is now the CEO of Detroit-based Real Times Media, one of the nation’s most extensive portfolio of brands geared towards news, events, and information for Black audiences. “When I started here, I was this young Black kid who had really never been out of Highland Park and didn’t want to come to Country Day at first.”
Jackson, who earned All-State honors in football for three consecutive seasons and set track & field school records in the shot put and discus throw, continued.
“Coming to this prestigious school, I was like a deer in the headlights. However, I learned how to compete academically and got the opportunity to develop my athletic talents. And what I learned here academically and did in sports laid the foundation for me to graduate from Cornell University, an Ivory League School,” where I was a defensive tackle.”
Native Detroiter Chris Webber, who led Country Day to three consecutive State Basketball Championships before starring as a member of the University of Michigan’s “Fab Five,” shared similar feelings as Jackson about attending Country Day.
“I also didn’t want to come to Country Day at first, but my mother was a teacher, and her whole thing was about getting an excellent education,” said Webber, the first Country Day alum to play in the NBA and get inducted into the Naismith Memorial (NBA) Hall of Fame. “However, coming here taught me so much about life beyond the basketball court. It taught me about building character. The Country Day process has worked in my life.”
Shane C. Battier, who won a NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship at Duke University and two NBA Championships with the Miami Heat, reflected on his early days at Country Day.
“When I was a 7th grader and walked into the Shaw Gymnasium for the first time, there were all of these huge felt banners with the names of the past great athletes, like C.J. (Charles Johnson), who as quarterback led Country Day to a State Championship in 1986 and later the University of Colorado to its first National Football Championship,” Battier recalled. “I saw the names and later learned about the athletic accomplishments of Hiram (Jackson), Michael (Page), Chris (Webber), and others. At Country Day, I learned to have and maintain expectations to win academically in the classroom and athletically on the basketball court and baseball diamond. I thank the luminaries on the stage for giving me the expectation of excellence to aim for.”
In addition to former student-athletes being celebrated for their achievements at Country Day, a handful of former coaches were also lauded, including Kurt Keener, Joseph D’Angelo, and Frank Orlando.
“This is quite an experience to be recognized for my coaching contributions at Country Day,” said Orlando, the State’s all-time winningest girls basketball coach. “I’m told that I led the Country Day’s girls’ basketball program to a record 13 State Championships in the 38 years I coached here.”
Orlando pointed to Country Day’s new Hall of Famer, Peggy (Evans), standing a few feet away. He smiled and said he remembers the school’s first state title in 1989 when Peggy dropped 47 points – a state record – on Saginaw Valley Lutheran in the Class C State Title game.
“Coach Orlando is a legend and always got the very best out of all of his players,” said (Evans) Carr, a Detroit native who was crowned Miss Basketball. “It’s a great honor to be a part of this outstanding Inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame class alongside so many incredible former Country Day athletes and coaches.”
Another girls basketball champion in the late 1990s is Country Day’s new Hall of Fame inductee Jennifer Lynne (Thomas) Williams, who earned hoop honors such as Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year, USA Today Michigan Player of the Year and was selected as a Parade All-American. Yet, she was humble when asked about her Country Day Athletics Hall of Fame induction.
“When I got the call, I thought they were asking me to be on the committee,” said (Thomas) Williams, now the Chief Development Officer for USA Basketball and USA Basketball Foundation, as they prepare for next year’s U.S. Olympic Summer Games in Paris. “I’m still pinching myself because honestly, I wasn’t expecting to be honored in the first Hall of Fame class. However, being on the same stage with these great inductees is an honor. I’m proud to be a part of the entire Country Day family.”
The Inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame Inductees were also recognized at halftime of the Homecoming Football Game on Saturday, Oct. 21. While this Hall of Fame class deserves recognition for its vast accomplishments at Country Day and beyond, other talented former student-athletes will be inducted in the future.
“We have had a longstanding history of excellence in academics and athletics,” said Teneka Singleton, Country Day’s Assistant Head of School, who has seen hundreds of great student-athletes in her 19 years at the school. “We are long overdue to honor our former athletes, coaches, and supporters who have helped build this sports legacy and gone on to do other amazing things in life.”
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