SWOSU to Induct Four into Athletic Hall of Fame

February 14, 2006

Weatherford, OK - When Southwestern Oklahoma State inducts its latest class into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, the collection of former Bulldog legends will not only grow in number, but in stature.

Included in the four-person class are three players who took Bulldog athletics to a prominent stage and a coach that is still celebrated for his accomplishments at another school.

SWOSU will induct Brad Lenaburg (multi-sport), Rocky Walcher (golf), Vern Harris (football) and John Prock (coach) into the 62-member Hall of Fame as part of ceremonies planned for Saturday, Feb. 25

Tickets for the Hall of Fame Luncheon are $10 and are available by calling 580-774-3068 or can be bought at the door for the same price. The luncheon begins at 11 a.m. at the university’s new Wellness Center. The formal induction will take place at the halftime of the men’s basketball game against Texas A&M-Commerce later that afternoon.

“Whenever we induct new members into our Hall of Fame it’s always special,” said SWOSU athletic director Cecil Perkins, a hall-of-famer, himself. “This year’s class is as strong as we’ve had. There is no arguing the qualifications of any of these deserving inductees.”

John Prock may be most famous for leading Harding University to football greatness during a three-decade span in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, but it was at SWOSU where he learned the game under longtime coach Joe B. Metcalf. Prock, a native of Hollis, was an undersized offensive lineman, who lettered three years at SWOSU and earned all-conference honors in 1954 as a senior.

After graduating, Prock then began the start of what would be a lengthy and notable coaching career first at nearby Clinton High School and then later at Harding University. Prock coached 27 years at the Arkansas school, including 24 as the head coach. He won 108 games during that time and led the Bison to Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference Championships in 1972 and 1976 and two post-season bowl appearances.

Although it may be difficult to determine the greatest golfer in SWOSU history, no one was more dominant than Rocky Walcher. In the early 1980’s, Walcher won the individual title in an astonishing eight tournaments during his career. He won medalist honors in a crowded field at the 1985 District 9 Championship and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament.

A native of Woodward, Walcher played professionally for a number of years including on golf’s most glamorous stage, the PGA tour. His highest finish was an eighth-place tie at the 1995 Deposit Guaranty Classic which netted him a tidy sum of $20,000.

Walcher had six top-five finishes and ended the year 17th on the season money list on the 1997 Nike Tour. He played on the Nationwide Tour until 2004 before retiring from professional golf. He is now a practicing stock broker for Edward Jones Investments in Oklahoma City.

Brad Lenaburg, of Cordell, arrived at SWOSU under a split scholarship for football and basketball. However, it was later as a baseball pitcher for the Bulldogs where he achieved his biggest fame.

At 6-5, Lenaburg was a powerful right-handed pitcher who went 10-2 in his one and only year (1979) on the hill. He pitched a one-hit shutout against conference champion Southeastern Oklahoma State that featured former Major League all-star Brett Butler on their team.

His efforts were recognized by the professional scouts as the Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the 32nd round of the player draft later that summer. Lenaburg played two years of minor leagues advancing to Class A before retiring. He then turned his attention to coaching high school athletics where he has taught at a handful of Oklahoma schools before going to Florida and teaching there for 17 years.

Currently, Lenaburg is in New Mexico where he is the head boys basketball coach at Kirtland High School.

Of all the outstanding student-athletes that have graduated from SWOSU there may have not been a better one than Vern Harris of Seiling

Harris was a four-year letterman for SWOSU in football where he starred in the Bulldog offensive backfield from 1953-1956. While playing football, Harris was admitted to SWOSU’s prestigious pharmacy school as an incoming freshman. He completed the rigorous course work in just four years and graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Even with the combination of football and pharmacy, Harris found time to be active in band, serve as freshman class vice-president, sophomore and junior class president and senior class salutatorian. He was a member of Alpha Phi Sigma Honor Society, Who’s Who Among American High School Students and a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Social Fraternity where he was named the group’s TKE of the Year.

Upon his 1957 graduation, Harris began a lengthy career as a pharmacist where he spent nearly 40 years as the owner and manager of Harris Pharmacy in Maysville.