Five to be inducted into Athletics Hall of Fame

PLAINVIEW — Four former athletes and a former coach are scheduled to be inducted Saturday, Nov. 4, into the Wayland Baptist Athletics Hall of Honor.

Rosemary Brown Bowser (basketball), Alexey Carvalho (basketball), Johnny Cobb (wrestling), Brett Cook (baseball), and Andrew Williamson (golf) are scheduled to be inducted into the prestigious group of former Wayland athletes and coaches. The Wayland Athletics Hall of Honor was started in 1992. The 2023 class increases membership to 118.

The induction takes place at 9 a.m. in McClung University Center on Wayland Baptist University’s Plainview campus.

Bowser played for the Flying Queens for two seasons from 1974 to 1976. She was a two-time AAU All-American and an NWIT All-American. Bowser played on Wayland’s AAU national champion team as well as an AAU national runner-up team. She also was a part of the 1975 USA All-Star Team.

A Pioneer for four years, Carvalho played from 1987 to 1991, finishing as the No. 7 all-time scorer in program history with 1,761 points. A native of Brazil, he was District 8 Player of the Year, First Team NAIA All-District 8, and an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American in 1991.

The catalysts behind the beginning of WBU wrestling, Cobb went on to serve as the program’s head coach for four years. He recruited future Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock, later helping coach her as she trained for the Tokyo games. Cobb has an endowed scholarship, and Wayland's most prestigious wrestler award is named in his honor.

Cook was an NAIA First Team All-American and an All-Sooner Athletic Conference second baseman who held eight Pioneer batting records at the end of his career in 2009. He still reigns as the Pioneers’ all-time batting leader and ranks second in runs, third in hits, and sixth in homers. After completing his three-year playing career in 2009, Cook has served as graduate assistant and assistant coach. He currently serves as associate head coach.

From 2014-2018, Williamson was a four-time NAIA All-American – just the second in WBU golf history. The South Africa native claimed two tournament wins and nine runner-up finishes and as a senior was the NAIA’s second-rated golfer and tied for sixth at NAIA Nationals. He was SAC Freshman of Year and SAC Player of Year as well as a three-time finalist for NAIA’s Jack Nicklaus Award. He earned numerous academic honors including CoSIDA Men’s At-Large College Division National Academic All-America of the Year and won the Roy McClung Award as WBU’s top senior student-athlete.