Dugan, Holloway, Weeks to join College Baseball HoF

OMAHA, Neb. — A trio of players with Huntsville connections will take their place among the best in the history of college baseball this week.

The late Ken Dugan, Condredge Holloway and Ricky Weeks will be inducted Friday into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in Omaha, Neb.

Dugan played baseball at Butler High School, Holloway played at Lee and Weeks played for the Huntsville Stars.

In another link, Holloway played basketball at Lee for Dugan’s brother Jerry.

“This was kind of a surprise,” said Ken Dugan’s son, Mike, on hearing about the induction. “We’re super excited and thrilled.”

Mike Dugan said his brother, sister and his two sons will be at the induction ceremony.

Dugan attended David Lipscomb College in Nashville and was a stellar player. He holds school records for batting average (.456) and slugging percentage (.824) over the course of four seasons (1954-57).

Then, he went on to coach baseball there and compiled a 1,137-460 record in 37 seasons (1960-1996). To honor him, the school named the baseball field Dugan Field.

“Dad said that was so important,” Mike Dugan said. “‘I want my grandkids to drive by and see the work I’ve done.'”

Dugan guided the Bisons to NAIA national championships in 1977 and 1979 in eight NAIA World Series appearances. His 1984 squad won a then-school-record 34 straight games.

His baseball journey began in one of Huntsville’s mill neighborhoods. Dugan’s parents worked at the mill and, after work, his dad would take Ken to the ballpark and play.

After his career at Lipscomb, Dugan was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies. However, he didn’t get to play because he was drafted by someone else – Uncle Sam.

“He was stationed in Germany,” Mike Dugan said. “The general at the base was a huge baseball fan and heard my dad was drafted by the Phillies. So, he coached and played on the base team and was the general’s driver.”

“He was hated by everyone,” Mike said with a laugh. “Because he played baseball and drove the general everywhere.”

His military career over, Dugan heard through his brother Jerry that there was an opening for a baseball coach at Lipscomb.

“He got the job and never left,” said Mike, who played for his dad from 1986-89. His brother Kurt also played for their dad from 1993-96.

The school retired Ken’s jersey number 20 but it was recently brought out of retirement – for a third-generation Bison: Mike’s son Will.

Mike said the coach approached his mom and asked if it would be OK to “unretire” the number. “My son, his grandson, is wearing No. 20.

“Events like this, moments like this are important to us.”

Condredge Holloway played baseball for Max Burleson at Lee High School, basketball for Jerry Dugan and football for Keith Wilson.

Then, he took his skills to the SEC, turning down an offer to play in the Major Leagues for the Montreal Expos.

Holloway played football and baseball for University of Tennessee. He was the first African American member of the Volunteers baseball program and the first African American starting quarterback in the Southeastern Conference.

He was inducted into the Tennessee Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 and was just the third UT baseball player to ever have his jersey retired when his No. 1 was honored on April 25, 2015.

Holloway concluded his collegiate baseball career with 147 hits in 417 at-bats, good for a .353 career batting average. A shortstop for UT from 1972-75, he totaled 15 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 63 RBIs, 23 stolen bases and 104 runs scored over 119 games played.

As a senior in 1975, Holloway earned All-America honors from The Sporting News as well as All-SEC recognition after leading the conference with a .396 batting average and powering the Vols to a then school record 32 victories. His 57 hits were a Tennessee single season record at the time. Holloway also authored a 27-game hit streak that season, which still stands as the longest in program history.

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 2002 (.495) and 2003 (.479) for Roger Cador’s Southern University squad. Cador, coincidentally, is also being inducted Friday.

Weeks was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers and played the 2004 season with the Huntsville Stars, the Brewers’ Double-A affiliate.

“When Rickie Weeks played here, he was one of three highly touted prospects the Brewers sent to Huntsville, along with Prince Fielder and Tony Gwynn Jr.,” said Mark McCarter, a former sportswriter for The Huntsville Times. “You knew he was to make it to the majors, but being at Double-A was a huge test.

“Rickie put up videogame numbers in college, at Southern University, but at a lower level of competition.”

According to McCarter, now assistant athletic director for External Operations at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Weeks’s coach said he saved his best performances for the bigger games.

“His college coach, Roger Cador, whom I had known years before when he was a Braves’ prospect, maintained that Rickie always put up better numbers against SEC and big-time opponents than he did in the SWAC,” McCarter said. “Rickie had a nice career in the big leagues and even played in an All-Star Game.”

In his final season at Southern in 2003, Weeks hit 16 home runs and drove in 66 RBI 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 led the NCAA in batting in back-to-back seasons and played 14 years in the major leagues, mostly with the Brewers.