Former Murray State head basketball coach Steve Newton has been elected into the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame and will be officially inducted at the annual OVC Honors Luncheon which will be held Friday, June 1 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tenn.
Newton had a 13-year association with Murray State, including six years (1985-91) as head men's basketball coach. Newton's teams compiled an overall record of 116-65 (64.1%), a Conference mark of 43-7 (86%) and won four OVC regular season and three OVC Tournament titles.
“It's a huge honor to be inducted in the OVC Hall of Fame,” Newton said. “I'm happy to be linked with such a great group of people from Murray State who have been inducted before me.
Speaking via telephone from his home in Sarasota, Fla. Newton was quick to thank the people that surrounded him during his time at Murray State.
“It's very evident to me that there was a unique set of circumstances for this to happen,” Newton said. “First it was a vision by those I worked with to build a championship basketball program at Murray State, there was also a tremendous commitment from the MSU administration and you also have to have a competent and able staff which I had at MSU.”
Newton-led squads played in three NCAA Tournaments (1988, 1990, 1991) and were most famous for the 78-75 upset of Jim Valvano and North Carolina State in the 1988 Tournament, a win that marked the Racers first and only win in NCAA Tournament history. Murray State would lose to eventual national champion Kansas by three points in the second
| round; that game was KU's closest in route to the championship. His 1990 Racer squad pushed No. 1 seed Michigan State into overtime in the NCAA Tournament, a game that still marks the closest a 16-seed has come to topping a No. 1 seed. Newton led the 1989 Murray State team to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
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Newton was named OVC Coach of the Year twice (1988, 1990) and recruited and coached 15 All-OVC and four OVC Player of the Year selections, including Racer great Ron “Popeye” Jones. Newton would later go on to coach and work in administration at the University of South Carolina before serving as Director of Athletics at the University of Southern Indiana (1995-01) until his retirement.
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His last visit to MSU was last January when Popeye Jones was part of the 2007 class inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. Newton introduced Jones on that special night.
Even though many years have passed, Newton fondly remembers his time at Murray State. |
“Murray is still considered by my family as our hometown,” Newton said “Our 13 years there were the best.”
Newton is the eighth Murray State inductee to go into the OVC Hall of Fame. The previous inductees are; Roy Stewart (1977), J.D. Rayburn (1979), Johnny Reagan (1988), Bennie Purcell (1990), Dr. Kala Stroup (1997), Cal Luther (2000) and Bill Cornell (2005).
Newton is part of the class of 2007 that also includes former Tennessee Tech Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. Thurston Banks and former Tennessee Tech women's basketball coach Bill Worrell.
The Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame was organized in 1977 with the intent of honoring the coaches, administrators, faculty and staff who have been associated with the OVC for at least five years and who have had extensive outstanding service to the Conference. With the induction of this year's class, the membership will reach 62.
“This year's inductees are truly the best-of-the-best,” said OVC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. “Their accomplishments include building nationally competitive teams and having an impact in the direction of intercollegiate athletics at the national level. The efforts of these three individuals greatly enhanced the collegiate experience of numerous OVC student-athletes and their election to the OVC Hall of Fame is a fitting tribute to their outstanding careers.”
