Tate, Blair Among Hall of Fame Inductees
9/15/2005 8:00:00 AM | Terrapin Athletics
Sept. 15, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Deanna Tate, one of the top women's basketball players in school history, and legendary sports information director joe f. blair are among the inductees for this year's University of Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame, with the ceremony to be held on Sept. 30.
Also being inducted are Paul McNeil (wrestler), Walt Williams (men's basketball), Tom Cosgrove (football) and Jessica Wilk (field hockey / lacrosse).
A member of the Terrapin women's basketball team from 1986-89, Tate was the third All-American in school history, earning Kodak All-America honors in 1989. In 1986 and 1988, she was named ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the Terps to the conference crown.
A 1989 first team All-ACC pick, she helped Maryland to a third conference crown and the NCAA Final Four that same season. A 5-8 guard from Gastonia, N.C., Tate led the team in scoring in 1986, averaging 16.7 points per game, while shooting .550 from the field. As a senior, she was second on the team in scoring with 19.8 ppg, the third-best single-season scoring average in school history.
Tate ranks fifth in scoring in school history with 1,541 points and is third with 500 career assists and 293 career steals. She averaged 16.5 ppg over her three-year career, second all-time at Maryland, and her .536 career shooting percentage is ninth all-time. Her 126 steals during the 1988-89 campaign still stands as a school record. Tate sat out the 1986-87 season because of injury.
blair, whose trademark lower-case initials to his name spoke of his behind-the-scenes humility, was the sports information director at Maryland from 1950 to 1962 and from 1983 until his death in 1995. In those years, he successfully publicized the Terrapins' athletics endeavors and gained the respect of student-athletes, coaches and media.
His first publicity campaigns helped the All-America candidacy of Terp football greats Shoo-Shoo Shemonski, Bob Ward and Jack Scarbath. blair later became the publicist of the Washington Redskins from 1962 through 1983 when he returned to the university.
In 1991, the third floor area of the Byrd Stadium press box was named in honor of both blair and Jack Zane. blair was honored for his career contributions with the Skeeter Francis Award by the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1993, and he received an honorary letter from the M Club in 1994.
The 2005 Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be held at the campus' Inn and Conference Center on Sept. 30. Tickets for the black-tie optional event are $75 and can be purchased by contacting the M Club at 301-314-7020 or 301-314-5372.
