June 11, 2012

WACO, Texas -- Heisman Trophy running back Ricky Williams tops a storied list of Texas Longhorns nominated for consideration into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Cat Osterman (Softball), Keith Moreland (Baseball) and Richard Quick (former women's swimming head coach) are also among the 20 primary ballot nominees.

Marty Akins (Football) is included on the veterans ballot.

Official Voting Members (OVM) of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame will once again be able to help the selection committee induct the newest class. Those who have joined the museum's OVM program will receive their ballots this summer.

The public can join with only a $25 membership fee and receive an official ballot by going to the museum's website. The OVM registration deadline to vote for the upcoming class is Aug. 1, 2012.

The announcement of the Class of 2012 will be made in September.

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee, comprised of media members around the state and chaired by Texas Football Magazine's Dave Campbell, set the final ballot of nominees.

Ricky Williams, who recently retired from the NFL, set 21 NCAA records and 46 UT marks in a career that was punctuated by a Heisman Trophy victory in 1998. In his final home game that year, Williams rushed for 259 yards against Texas A&M to eclipse Tony Dorsett's 22-year-old NCAA rushing record with 6,279 yards. He went on to lead UT to a 38-11 victory over Mississippi State in the Cotton Bowl to cap the first year at Texas for Mack Brown with a 9-3 record. The first-ever two-time winner of the Doak Walker Award (nation's top running back), Williams also claimed the Maxwell Award (nation's top player), Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year and Associated Press Player of the Year as a senior. He was a two-time unanimous first-team All-American and twice was tabbed the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. As a pro, Williams has produced three of the top five rushing games and rushing seasons in Miami Dolphins history, and his 5,763 rushing yards with the Dolphins are second only to Larry Csonka on the teams all-time list.

One of the top pitchers in softball history, Cat Osterman was a three-time National Player of the Year and four-time All-American during her four seasons at The University of Texas. The only softball individual to ever win National Player of the Year honors three times, she paced the Longhorns to three trips to the Women's College World Series (2003, 2005 and 2006) while earning USA Softball's National Player of the Year honor in each of those three seasons. During her redshirt season of 2004, Osterman trained with the USA National Team and was the only collegian and youngest member of the Olympic Team that earned a gold medal in Athens. A three-time selection as Big 12 Conference Female Athlete of the Year (2003, 2005 and 2006), she still holds UT career records in victories (136), ERA (0.51), shutouts (85) and no-hitters (20) and holds the NCAA record for career strikeout ratio per seven innings (14.35). Osterman was a recipient of the NCAA Today's Top VIII Award in 2006, an honor presented to the top eight senior student-athletes in the country.

Keith Moreland was a praiseworthy baseball player at Texas from 1973-75. Moreland was a career .388 hitter with Texas and was a three-time All-American. He led the Longhorns to three NCAA College World Series appearances. Moreland was the co-captain of the 1973 National Championship team. Moreland played 12 major league seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs. His jersey number was retired by UT in 2010.

Richard Quick was the Women's Swimming head coach from 1982-88 and during this time he built Texas into a swimming powerhouse. Quick's teams won five straight NCAA titles from 1984-88 and six SWC titles. He coached 17 Olympians, 25 individual NCAA champions, 11 NCAA relay titlists and two swimmers of the year. His accomplishments culminated in five NCAA Coach of the Year distinctions. Quick was the head coach of U.S Olympic teams in 1988, 1996, 2000 and 2004. Quick passed away in June 2009 after battling an inoperable malignant brain tumor that was diagnosed in December 2008.

Marty Akins led UT to 27 wins during his three seasons as quarterback from 1973-75. He is the only player to start three years at quarterback under Royal and was the first wishbone quarterback to earn All-America honors in 1975. That year, he was also co-captain and MVP of the Southwest Conference championship team that finished 10-2. For his career, Akins totaled 1,974 rushing yards, 1,188 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.