Honoring a legend
Leader file photo
The late O.K. “Buddy” Davis, legendary sports editor with the Ruston Daily Leader, will be part of the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday. Davis is shown here with Grambling legends (from left) Wilbert Ellis, Aaron James and Willis Reed.
Grambling State University will be inducting the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame Classes of 2020 and 2021 — featuring the late Ruston Daily Leader Sports Editor O.K. “Buddy” Davis — on Saturday at 5 p.m. via Zoom.
The virtual induction ceremony will feature 14 new members that range from the well-known local journalist to athletic trainers who played for Eddie Robinson.
The ceremony is usually held in person at the Eddie G. Robinson Museum on the campus of GSU. However, due to COVID-19, greater precautions have been taken to ensure the health of inductees and ceremony attendees.
The Class of 2020 has patiently waited for the world to open back up and for their accomplishments to be recognized. This particular class features Virgie Broussard, Andrew Glover, John Jeter, Albert Hartwell, Michael Moore, Carlos Pennywell, and Daniel Washington.
The class of 2021 consists of O.K. “Buddy” Davis, Robert Barber, Lee Fobbs, Dwight Scales, and Wilmer Sigler, Kenneth Simpson, and Willie Williams.
Davis earned his spot in the Hall for his diligent and tireless coverage of Grambling athletics. Davis used his pen to let not just Lincoln Parish residents, but also the world know about a “little black school” tucked in the piney woods of North Louisiana.
For over 50 years, “Buddy” covered all things Grambling at a time when it was not procedure to feature historically black colleges and universities on a sports page. His stories became a vehicle for Grambling athletics to be nationally recognized.
Another inductee has a last name that might be recognizable in Lee Fobbs. He is the father of current Grambling football head coach Broderick Fobbs. The elder Fobbs played for Coach Robinson from 1968-1972. During his collegiate career, Fobbs earned All-SWAC honors as a fullback in his junior and senior year. He even became an All-American in 1972 just as Grambling dominated the league to win their second and third of four consecutive SWAC titles between 1971-1974. He went on to play in the Canadian Football League and coach at the secondary and collegiate levels.
“This year’s inductees join the ranks of trailblazers and record breakers that put Grambling State University Athletics on the map,” GSU President Rick Gallot said. “The achievements they’ve accomplished are nothing short of incredible and worthy of perpetual honor.”
