The Lamar University athletic department will soon add to its Hall of Honor, inducting five new members with backgrounds in three different sports.
Kade Harrington (football), Jesse Dickson (football), Kurt Phoenix (football, track), Sandra Thomas (women’s basketball) and Larry Tidwell (women’s basketball) will all enter the Cardinals Hall of Honor in February.
The 2021 induction ceremony was pushed back by the coronavirus pandemic, but athletic director Marco Born said it was important to recognize its new members nonetheless.
“We’re extremely excited to be announcing the 2021 Cardinals Hall of Honor class,” Born said. “Due to the pandemic, this group has had to wait a little longer to be recognized, but we’re looking forward to having each of them back on campus.”
Harrington and Dickson are the most recent of the athletes. Harrington was a running back at Lamar from 2013-16, rewriting the record books at the position. He was a consensus FCS All-American in 2015 and the Southland Conference Player of the Year.
Running for 2,000 yards in just 10 games during that season, he became the seventh Division I running back to ever reach that yardage mark.
Dickson was a member of Lamar’s original signing class when the school brought football back. He starred on the Cardinals defensive line for four seasons, graduating with 40 tackles for loss and 29 sacks during his Lamar career.
Phoenix is the only two-sport athlete on this year’s hall of honor list. He played both ways on the Cardinals football team in the late 1970s and early 80s, owning the longest touchdown return in program history (98 yards) while also being the team’s best defensive lineman with 166 tackles.
Following his football career, Phoenix went on to become an elite hurdler on the Cardinals track and field team.
A trailblazer at Lamar, Thomas broke the color barrier for the Cardinals women’s basketball program as the first African American player. She graduated as the team’s all time leading scorer and still ranks in the top 10 with 1,268 total points. Thomas also set school records for games played (104) while leading the Cardinals to three 20-win seasons.
Tidwell is the only coach on this year’s hall of honor list. He spent six seasons leading Lamar’s women’s basketball team, helping turn the program into a Southland Conference powerhouse. He set a school record with 128 wins and led the Cardinals to an appearance in the 2010 NCAA tournament.
Coaching 10 players who went on to play professionally, Tidwell also coached the Bahamian Women’s National team as it attempted to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. He’s currently an assistant coach at the University of Kansas.
The induction ceremony for the Class of 2021 will take place on Saturday, Feb. 19 inside the McDonald Gym. The inductees will also be honored during halftime of the Lamar men’s basketball game against Stephen F. Austin, which starts at 3 p.m. that same day.
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