Montevallo Athletics Hall of Fame adds four members in 2010
Published 12:32 pm Friday, August 13, 2010
The University of Montevallo Athletics Hall of Fame Committee welcomes three former student-athletes and one former student who attended the university prior to intercollegiate athletics being offered.
All four members of the class of 2010 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday, October 10 on the campus of the University of Montevallo.
This year’s group represents the 20th class inducted into the Hall of Fame dating back to 1989. With the addition of the class of 2010, the University of Montevallo Athletics Hall of Fame now has 80 members.
The 2010 class consists of Billy Cannon, a former basketball player and current Director of the McChesney Student Activity Center on campus, Raven Keet, the first ever men’s soccer player at Montevallo to be named All-American, Trent Preuitt, a 2005 Rawlings/ABCA and NCBWA All-American, and Dorothy Brumfield White, a seven-year member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Cannon has been a part of the University of Montevallo family for 40 years. He joined the UM basketball program for the 1970-71 season and played for four years before graduating in 1974. He was part of 1972 and 1973 Alabama Collegiate Conference Champions and was named the team captain in 1974. Following graduation, Cannon joined the Montevallo staff as an admissions counselor. He also helped coach the men’s basketball program for two more seasons as an assistant coach. He spent 29 years in the admissions office at Montevallo eventually being named Director.
After retiring he stayed on with the department as a Senior Admissions Counselor which he did for one year. In 2004 he was given the role as the Director of the McChesney Student Activity Center on campus and has served in that capacity for the past seven years. He has always been a strong supporter of Montevallo athletics and you can find him at almost all the Montevallo basketball games including many on the road.
Keet played soccer at Montevallo from 2002-05. He was the first All-American in men’s soccer history at Montevallo as he was named NSCAA/adidas Third Team All-American. He was a three-time All-GSC First Team member. He holds three of the top four spots in the UM record book for saves in a game and is second all-time in career saves. He also holds the UM single-season record for lowest goals against average with a 0.60 GAA in 2004. He is also the career leader in shutouts with 23. He was in goal for the Falcons first trip to the NCAA tournament in 2004 and also was the goalkeeper for the Falcons first Gulf South Conference Tournament Championship in 2004.
Preuitt played baseball at Montevallo from 2002-05. He was the 2005 GSC East Division Player of the Year. He was twice named to the GSC East Division First Team. In 2005 he was named an All-American by both Rawlings/ABCA and the NCBWA. He ranked first in the nation in 2005 in Toughest to Strike Out. In his four years at Montevallo he had a .367 batting average with 167 RBI and 178 runs scored. He hit 25 homeruns and struck out just 33 times in 754 at bats.
He holds the single-season record for hits with 105 at Montevallo which happened in 2005. That season he struck out just six times while compiling a .436 batting average.
White graduated from Alabama College (University of Montevallo) in 1954. Prior to arriving on campus White joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1947 at the age of 14. The AAGPBL was chronicled in the hit movie “A League of Their Own.” In 1946, at the age of 13 she was offered a spot on a team in Chicago but her parents would not allow her because of her age. In 1947, she attended spring training in Havana, Cuba and was the drafted by the South Bend Blue Socks. She spent seven seasons playing in the AAGPBL and was a part of three different teams including the Blue Socks. Her best season was in 1953 when she had a .332 batting average with 51 walks and just 15 strikeouts.
Using her 55 dollar a week salary she saved up enough money to attended Alabama College and received her bachelor’s in health and physical education. In 2004, she received the University of Montevallo Distinguished Alumna Award. She spent over 40 years in the teaching and coaching profession including 30 years at Henderson State University where she was professor and coach. She is a member of the HSU Hall of Fame and has also received the award for the UM Health, Physical Education and Recreation Alumna of the Year.
The University of Montevallo Athletics Hall of Fame was established in 1989 to provide means by which to recognize the efforts and achievements of various athletes, coaches, team and contributors to the University of Montevallo athletics while reinforcing a sense of history and tradition.