It was a special night to honor Mississippi’s sporting greats here at Friday’s 43rd annual Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame awards banquet at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

“This is an awesome event and we’re happy that the people of Vicksburg have stepped up to help us put this on again this year. We hope to be back next year,” said Mike Robbins, president of the Jackson Touchdown Club who also serves as chairman of the induction ceremony.

Eight men were inducted into the 43rd class, increasing the Hall of Fame’s membership to 233.

Two images from the video presentation of the honorees seemed to rivet the capacity crowd.

The first was members of the United States women’s national basketball team right after they had won the gold medal in Athens last August. Circling together, the group broke and in the process, unfurled the American flag. This was a team coached by MSHOF inductee Van Chancellor.

“There’s no greater honor than getting a chance to represent your country in a venue like the Olympic Games,” Chancellor said during his pre-taped speech.

But as an individual honor, going into the MSHOF tops the cake for Chancellor.

“I’m just thrilled to be here,” said the coach of the four-time WNBA champion Houston Comets. “I may live in Houston, Texas, but Mississippi is my home and this is such a tremendous honor.”

The second stirring clip was a highlight of former Southern Miss and Cleveland Browns defensive back Hanford Dixon. Playing on a muddy field at old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the great voice of the NFL, John Facenda, pointed out the outstanding game Dixon had just had against the Steelers.

“I’d just like to thank my family, Bud Holmes and the University of Southern Mississippi for taking a chance on me,” Dixon said during his acceptance speech.

Bill Goodrich, a former broadcaster for Ole Miss and Southern Miss and one of the pioneers of sports broadcasting in the state, was posthumously inducted. He died in 1999.

“It’s great that my father is being recognized for his body of work,” said Goodrich’s son, Page.

Joe Iupe, one of the state’s best amateur golfers, seemed to capsulize the evening’s affair.

“I congratulate all of the athletes in the Class of 2005. It’s a great privilege to be surrounded by my heroes from all corners of this state,” Iupe said.

Also inducted into the class were former Ole Miss football great Bobby Ray Franklin; former Belhaven basketball and tennis coach Charlie Rugg; former Mississippi State football player Hal Easterwood; and former Southern Miss basketball coach M.K. Turk.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Rugg said after his presentation.

Along with the inductees, two national championship teams and two athletes of the year were honored.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Todd Pinkston accepted the Mississippi Pro Athlete of the Year award.

“You never think you’d be in a situation like this,” Pinkston said. “I hope the State and Ole Miss people don’t feel too bad, because we got more people from Southern Miss here.”

Mississippi State track star Tiffany McWilliams was the state’s Amateur Athlete of the Year honoree. McWilliams captured three individual NCAA national titles in the indoor mile and the 1,500 meter outdoor run.

The Delta State University baseball team was saluted for winning the 2004 NCAA Division II National Championship. Hall of Fame member Dave “Boo” Ferris accepted the award on behalf of coach Mike Kennison.

“Nine times we got to the World Series and eight times we came close. We finally did it last year,” Ferris said.

The other recognized championship team was the 2004 Mississippi School for the Deaf football team that won its fourth straight National Deaf Football Championship.