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Considering the amount of tears that were shed in the lobby of Hutto-Patterson Gym on the afternoon of April 16, one may never have guessed that they were surrounded by some of PCC’s greatest and toughest athletes.Ten Lancers of the past were inducted into PCC’s Hall of Fame in a ceremony that took place beneath the wall of photos of players who were inducted before them.

“It was a blessing to be a part of this,” said former PCC football player Jerome Harrison. “To be put in the Hall of Fame and to still be alive to witness it with a great group of guys is an honor.”

According to PCC’s website, Harrison still holds the second place spot for all-time career rushing at 2,092 yards and is the only running back in Lancer history to rush for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons.

Harrison, who now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football League, remembered when he aspired to be a part of PCC’s athletic history.

“I used to see [the Court of Champions] out here,” he said. “I would say, ‘One day I’m going to have my statue put up!”

Another athlete who was inducted was women’s basketball player Tiana Sanders, the first State Player of the Year and the first South Coast Conference MVP in PCC’s women’s basketball history, according to the athletic website.

“I’m very humbled and excited,” Sanders said. “I was just trying to pay my way through school and win; I didn’t know that I was going to break records.”

All of the athletes recalled their time as a student-athlete and the struggles they endured.

Jonathan Smith, another record-breaking former running back for the Lancers, thanked his young son whom he brought up to the podium.

“I had [my son] at 17 and it was pretty rough,” Smith said. “I wanted to give him everything I had and that year we were struggling … But my father told me that football was the way to go if I wanted to provide for my son.”

Smith broke Jackie Robinson’s touchdown record at PCC, among others according to the website.

Kim Maxwell and Chris Zboril were also inducted and though they came at different time periods, they shared one thing in common: Head Softball Coach Sandi Iverson.

“[Maxwell and Zboril] were so deserving and both great athletes,” Iverson said after the ceremony. “I was lucky to have such great players who played for me here. It made my job a little easier.”

Maxwell is PCC’s most successful pitcher in its softball history while Zboril is considered to be the greatest two-sport women’s athlete in Lancer history.

Other athletes wore their emotions on their sleeve, getting choked up out of sheer gratefulness or while remembering fallen family members who inspired them to push harder on the track.

“The [National Hockey League] has a slogan for their playoffs: ‘History is Made’,” said Robert Lewis who is in charge of sports information at PCC and was the MC at the event. “Well, I feel that way about alumni like Smith, Harrison and Zboril. When you watched them play contests at PCC, and kept statistics on them, you knew these were future Hall of Famers.”

Among the athletic elite was PCC President Mark Rocha, who also sits on the Selection Committee.

“The Hall of Fame induction event was a wonderful example of the ‘proud past’ of PCC,” Rocha said.

“The inductees were not just great athletes; they are men and women of great character. It shows how important intercollegiate athletics is as a premier educational program for student-athletes.”

Following the ceremony, it was announced that the Court of Champions would be named after Hall of Fame and Court of Champions Chairman Dick Ratliff.

“[I’m] overwhelmed, proud and satisfied,” said Ratliff, who is one of four generations of his family who have competed at PCC. “The important thing is that it was going to add a dimension to the college, in terms of adding something that was well done and probably not done by very many other community colleges.”

The Dick Ratliff Court of Champions is located just outside Hutto-Patterson Gym and houses the busts and plaques of PCC’s former athletes.

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