Sports Hall of Fame Inductees from Hinds Community College Honored

RAYMOND, Miss. (VDN) – Hinds Community College will honor five Sports Hall of Fame inductees and alumni award winners during its annual Homecoming festivities Oct. 16.

The awards ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. in Cain-Cochran Hall on the Raymond Campus ahead of the 7 p.m. football game against Southwest Mississippi Community College. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

Lou Anne Askew

Lou Anne Polk Askew of Raymond competed in basketball, volleyball and softball from 1969 to 1971. She later served as a career-technical instructor from 1975 to 2014 and was recognized as the 1989 Outstanding Vocational-Technical Teacher of the Year.

Askew also coached the Hinds cheerleading squad from 1985 to 2000, leading the team to national recognition with multiple Universal Cheerleading Association awards and Top 10 national rankings. She mentored athletes in the classroom as well, helping Hinds earn six David M. Halbrook Academic Excellence in Athletics Awards.

Her service to the college earned her the 3E Award in 2014, the Hinds Life Star Award in 2007–2008 and a place among the “100 People Passionate About Hinds” during its 2017 Centennial celebration. Since retirement, she has served as an alderwoman for the town of Raymond.

Major Christopher “Ron” Davis

Ron Davis of Raymond was a standout defensive lineman for Hinds in 1987 and 1988, helping lead the Eagles to a state championship in 1988. He went on to play at Southwest Baptist University, where he earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention, before continuing his education at Mississippi College and Jackson State University.

After his playing days, Davis returned to Hinds as a coach and developed numerous athletes who advanced to Division I programs and the NFL. He has since built a 33-year career with the Mississippi Army National Guard and the U.S. Marine Corps and now serves as Chief Recovery Officer with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Ervin Dillon

Ervin Dillon of Ridgeland played men’s basketball at the Utica Campus from 1982 to 1984, earning All-American recognition. He averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds his freshman year and 24 points and 12 rebounds as a sophomore, earning Conference Player of the Year honors.

Dillon transferred to Mississippi State University, where he was a two-year starter, and later played professionally with the Mississippi Coast Jets and Wichita Falls Texans.

Matt Fulton

Matt Fulton of Clinton played men’s soccer at Hinds from 2003 to 2005. A key leader on the 2004 team that won both the MACJC State Championship and NJCAA Region 23 Championship, Fulton scored 22 goals with 17 assists that season, earning NJCAA All-American honors.

He went on to earn degrees from Southern Miss, Mississippi College and Belhaven University and is now principal of Sumner Hill Junior High in Clinton. He remains active in his community as an elder at Parkway Baptist Church.

Robert Saums

Robert Saums of Raymond played offensive line for Hinds in 1994 and 1995. He helped lead the Eagles to back-to-back South State, State and Region 23 championships, along with two national championship appearances.

Saums earned NJCAA First Team All-American and Academic All-American honors before transferring to Louisiana Tech University, where he became a starter and team captain.

Now vice president of Security & Investigative Support Services in Jackson, Saums also serves as president of the board at Gateway Rescue Mission and has volunteered as a football coach at Central Hinds Academy for 14 seasons.