COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M Athletics will induct six former student-athletes into the Lettermen’s Association Hall of Fame and two longtime athletics contributors into the Hall of Honor this fall. Additionally, former Texas A&M University System Regent and recent Distinguished Alumnus recipient Lupe Fraga will receive the Lettermen’s Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Nicky Thrasher Adams, Bob Ellis, Tolga Koseoglu, Keith Mitchell, John Scheschuk and William Thomas will be the 2015 Texas A&M Hall of Fame inductees.
Thrasher Adams was an All-American soccer player and helped guide the Aggies to an Elite 8 appearance as well as helping win three conference titles. Ellis, meanwhile, was the longtime men’s golf coach and was honored four times as conference Coach of the Year and is a member of the National Golf Coaches Hall of Fame. Koseoglu came to Aggieland after serving in the German military and was the 2001 NCAA discus champion as well as earning All-America honors twice. An outside linebacker and edge rusher on the Aggie football team, Keith Mitchell earned All-America honors and still ranks among the Aggie all-time sack leaders. Scheschuk served as a Texas A&M’s baseball team captain and team MVP who helped lead his team to back-to-back conference championships as well as a berth in the 1999 College World Series. Lastly, Thomas stood out as another All-American linebacker who gave opposing quarterbacks fits was named Holiday Bowl Defensive MVP.
The two Hall of Honor inductees are former athletics trainer Terry Klein ’78 and Dr. John Thornton ’75.
Klein graduated in 1978 and became a vice president at Dell Computers and has served so many organizations at Texas A&M with honor such as the Lettermen’s Association, the 12th Man Foundation and the Association of Former Students. The Aggie football team’s locker room is named in his honor.
Dr. John Thornton is a life-long Aggie who grew up in Aggieland the son of a former Yell Leader. He played basketball two seasons for coach Shelby Metcalf becoming the Southwest Conference Newcomer of the Year before being elected team captain for the 1975 SWC Championship squad. Dr. Thornton holds three degrees from Texas A&M and during his time as an assistant coach helped lead the Aggies to the NIT as well as the 1987 NCAA Championships. He would serve as interim basketball head coach during the middle of the 1990 season before moving into athletics administration and serving the student-athletes at Texas A&M so well he would become the interim director of athletics in 2012, helping the Aggies move into the Southeastern Conference.
The newest award, the Lettermen’s Lifetime Achievement Award, will be presented to Fraga ’57, a former baseball letterman. Mr. Fraga has distinguished himself with numerous charities in the Houston area and is the president and CEO of Tejas Office Products, one of Houston’s largest minority-owned businesses. A veteran, he was recently named a 2015 Distinguished Alumnus of Texas A&M by the Association of Former Students and served with honor on the Board of Regents from 2005 to 2011. Not only a successful businessman who has been honored by the Mays Business School as an Outstanding Alumnus, Fraga has also been recognized with the 2004 Fathers of the Year award presented by Community Partners in Greater Houston.
The inductees will be honored during the 38th annual Burgess Banquet which will take place on Friday, Sept. 18, in The Zone Club at the north end of Kyle Field. A reception begins at 6 p.m. in the newly finished Jackie Sherrill Lettermen’s Club and the dinner starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available at $100 each by calling the Lettermen’s Association (979-846-3024) or at the following link: https://www.12thmanfoundation.com/join/burgess-banquet.aspx
Nicky Thrasher Adams
Soccer
—
Nicky Thrasher Adams ’01 played forward for the Texas A&M soccer team and lettered four years, from 1997-2001. A member of teams that won the Big 12 Championship in 1997, captured conference tournament titles in 1997 and 2001 and advanced to the Elite Eight in 2001, she finished her career near the top of virtually every Aggie offensive category. Thrasher Adams ranks third in career points (140), second in goals (57) and fifth in assists (26), and her 391 shots rank as the most in Texas A&M history. Twice Thrasher Adams earned all-region and all-conference honors, as well as NSCAA All-America honors following her senior year.
Bob Ellis
Men’s Golf
—
Bob Ellis served as the Texas A&M men’s golf coach for 27 years, from 1974-2000. During this time, Texas A&M ranked among the best programs in the nation, winning two Southwest Conference Championships, 1982 and 1987, and advancing to the NCAA Championships 15 times. The Aggies were ranked in the top 10 nationally four times, including a No. 4 ranking in 1982, and won the NCAA Central Regional in 1996. Ellis was named SWC Coach of the Year four times – 1977, 1982, 1987 and 1994. He was inducted into the National Golf Coaches Hall of Fame in 1998.
Kemal Tolga Koseoglu
Men’s Track and Field
—
Tolga Koseoglu ’03 grew up in Germany, where he trained as a discus thrower and won the German Junior Championship three times. In 2000, after four years in the German military, Koseoglu joined the Texas A&M men’s track and field team. During his two-year Aggie track career, he won two Big 12 Conference discus titles in 2000 and 2001, won the NCAA title in 2001 and was named an All-American in both years. A member of the Texas A&M team that captured the 2001 Big 12 outdoor championship, he holds five of the top nine discus marks in school history.
Keith Mitchell
Football
—
Keith Mitchell ’96 lettered four years for the Texas A&M football team, from 1993-96, and was a part of the linebacker corps that dominated Aggie defenses. A member of the 1993 Southwest Conference Championship team, Mitchell earned All-SWC honors in 1995, All-Big 12 accolades in 1996 and All-America status in 1996. Among Texas A&M records, Mitchell ranks seventh for sacks in a season (14.5) and fourth for sacks for a career (30). From 1997-2003, he played professional football for the New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2000.
John Scheschuk
Baseball
—
John Scheschuk ’99 played first base and was a four-year letterman for the Texas A&M baseball team from 1996-99. He earned All-Big 12 honors twice, 1998 and 1999, and was selected the Marion Pugh Most Valuable Player following his senior season. During Scheschuk’s tenure, the Aggie baseball team won two conference championships, 1998 and 1999, and advanced to the 1999 College World Series. He holds the single-season school record for most walks (57) and games played (70). For his career, Scheschuk ranks in the Texas A&M top 10 in putouts (1,210), batting average (.352), walks (107) and home runs (28).
In addition to his exploits on the diamond, Scheschuk has also represented Texas A&M following the conclusion of his playing days by serving a term as president of the Texas A&M Lettermen’s Association.
William Thomas
Football
—
William Thomas ’91 earned All-Southwest Conference honors twice at linebacker while lettering three years for the Texas A&M football team, from 1998-90. A menace to opposing quarterbacks, Thomas holds the Texas A&M season record for most quarterback pressures (30), is tied at eighth for single-season sacks (13) and ranks 10th in career sacks (21.5). Thomas was named Defensive Most Valuable Player in the 1990 Holiday Bowl after Texas A&M dismantled Brigham Young and Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, 65-14. He played professionally for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1991-99 before closing out his NFL career with the Oakland Raiders. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 1995 and 1996.
2015 Inductees into the Texas A&M University Athletic Hall of Fame
Nicky Thrasher Adams ’01, Soccer
Coach Bob Ellis, Men’s Golf
Kemal Tolga Koseoglu ’03, Men’s Track & Field
Keith Mitchell ’96, Football
John Scheschuk ’99, Baseball
William Thomas ’91, Football
2015 Texas A&M Hall of Honor Inductees
Terry Klein ‘75
Dr. John Thornton ‘78
2015 Texas A&M Lifetime Achievement Award
Lupe Fraga ‘57
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics