The National College Baseball Hall of Fame has announced its 2022 class of inductees and it includes two HBCU greats from Southern University, Roger Cador and Rickie Weeks.
After two years of of virtual inductions, this year’s class will be inducted in person as part of the College Baseball Night of Champions celebration February 2-3, 2023 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Roger Cador compiled a 913-597-1 record in 33 seasons (1984-2017) coaching the Southern University Jaguars, building one of the most successful Historically Black College/University (HBCU) programs in the nation. In his time at Southern, the Jaguars captured two HBCU national championships in 2003 and 2005, 14 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championships and made 11 NCAA tournament appearances, including the first win in an NCAA Regional by an HBCU program. He is a 13-time SWAC Coach of the Year, producing 10 All-Americans and 62 drafted players. Cador played for Southern from 1970 to 1973 and is a member of the SWAC Hall of Fame, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and in 2021 was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Rickie Weeks put together two of the most outstanding consecutive seasons by any player in NCAA history. The second baseman led the nation in hitting in both 2002 (.495) and 2003 (.479) for Roger Cador’s Southern squad. In his final season in 2003, he hit 16 home runs and drove in 66 RBIs while averaging 1.61 runs per game. The year before, he scored 63 runs, hit a Southern record 20 home runs and drove in 96. He notched Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year and consensus All-America honors in each of his last two campaigns. He helped lead Southern to a nation’s best winning percentage (.863) and 44-7 record in 2003. Rickie Weeks was honored that year with both the Dick Howser Award as the nation’s best collegiate baseball player and the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s best amateur baseball player.
The ten person class of 2023 also includes Condredge Holloway, who was selected by the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s Black College Legends and Pioneers committee headed by Jay Sokol, founder of blackcollegenines.com. The Black College Legends and Pioneers committee was established in 2011 in order to recognize black pioneers in college baseball and honors outstanding players and coaches from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Condredge Holloway was a two-sport trailblazer at the University of Tennessee. In addition to being the first African-American member of the Volunteers’ baseball program, Holloway also holds the distinction of being the first African-American quarterback in Southeastern Conference football history, earning the nickname “Artful Dodger.” He finished his baseball career with a .353 batting average and holds the school record with a 27-game hitting streak. As a senior in 1975, he earned All-SEC and All-America honors at shortstop and is a member of Tennessee’s All-Century Baseball Team.
The College Baseball Foundation, based in Lubbock, Texas, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to recognizing and preserving the history of college baseball. The organization was founded in 2004 and established the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
For more information on the College Baseball Foundation, National College Baseball Hall of Fame and it’s Night of Champions, please click here.
