Dallas Independent School District (ISD) announced the inductees for its fifth class of the district’s athletics Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
The inductees into the Dallas ISD Hall of Fame class of 2022 are:
- Jerry Heidenreich
- Michael Hinojosa
- Norman Jett
- Elsie Moreno
- Kevin Murray
- Reginald Samples
- Spud Webb
The class will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during a virtual ceremony on Monday, December 5, at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Jerry Heidenreich graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1968. He was a two-time state champion swimmer and All-American in high school. Heidenreich attended SMU and earned All-American honors all four years of his college career, winning 18 individual Southwest Conference titles before winning an NCAA championship in the 200-yard freestyle in 1972.
Heidenreich earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 1972 Munich games and won two gold medals, one silver, and one bronze while setting five Olympic and four world records. Heidenreich was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1992.
Michael Hinojosa played basketball and baseball at Sunset High School before graduating in 1975. He is being inducted for his contributions as a student-athlete, coach, and administrator.
Hinojosa began his career as a teacher and coach of various sports, including basketball, at W.H. Adamson High School. He has served two terms as Dallas ISD superintendent, from 2005 to 2011 and 2015 to 2022. As a superintendent, he led the passage of the largest bond in Texas history, though his tenure in the position was fraught with extensive controversy, including over disproportionately poor school performance.
Norman Jett is a historic and iconic figure in the history of South Oak Cliff High School. He began his coaching and teaching career at the school in 1962 and became the head coach and athletic coordinator for the Golden Bears in 1970.
Jett took his first South Oak Cliff team as a head coach to the state semifinals, finishing 13-1, foreshadowing the historic football powerhouse the school was to become. During his 12-year tenure as head coach, Jett led South Oak Cliff to three district titles and finished his coaching career as the school’s all-time winningest coach with a record of 103 wins, 29 losses, and five ties.
Elsie Moreno is a 1969 graduate of Kimball High School who helped lead the rise of girls’ athletics in Dallas ISD. In 1973, Moreno became Lincoln High School’s first girl’s basketball and volleyball coach. She also coached girls’ track & field and led Lincoln to a district championship in 1975.
In 1977, Moreno moved to Bryan Adams High School, where she coached soccer and volleyball. Her volleyball teams won three district titles, and her soccer teams won 13 consecutive district championships from 1983 to 1995. Moreno was also the first female athletic coordinator at Bryan Adams and later served as assistant athletic director for the district from 1997 to 2004.
Kevin Murray is a 1982 graduate of North Dallas High School, where he played quarterback and center fielder. During his senior year, Murray was named the DFW Metroplex’s Offensive Player of the Year in football and was selected in the 11th round of the 1982 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Murray chose to play college football at Texas A&M and earned the Southwest Conference’s Newcomer of the Year award and second-team all-conference honors as a freshman.
During his football career at Texas A&M, Murray broke several school passing records and became the SWC’s all-time touchdown leader. He led Texas A&M to consecutive top-10 finishes after back-to-back appearances in the Cotton Bowl.
Murray was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 2012. His son, Kyler Murray, plays quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL.
Reginald Samples is a 1973 graduate of South Oak Cliff High School and has 311 Texas UIL wins as a coach. Samples started his career as a teacher and assistant coach at James Madison High School in 1983 and earned his first head coaching position at Lincoln High School in 1990.
In the two seasons before Samples became the head coach, Lincoln had a 1-19 record. Samples revived the program and led the school to the state championship game in 2004. Ultimately, Lincoln lost a heartbreaking double-overtime game to Kilgore. His coaching record at Lincoln was 122-48-1.
Samples became the head coach for Skyline High School before the 2005 season and led the school that had been in the midst of a playoff drought for over a decade to nine district championships in his 10 seasons. Skyline went as far as the state semifinals in 2011 and 2014. Samples was 110-22-0 as the head coach at Skyline.
Samples left Skyline High School in 2015 for the Duncanville High School program, where he is still employed. In the past seven seasons, with Samples leading the way, Duncanville has been to the UIL playoffs six times and reached the state championship game three times.
Spud Webb graduated from Wilmer-Hutchins High School in 1981. At only 5-foot-6, Webb overcame the odds to reach the NBA and is the shortest player to win the league’s dunk contest.
Webb played college basketball at Midland College and North Carolina State University. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1985 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons but did not make the final roster for Detroit. The Atlanta Hawks invited him for a tryout, and Webb made their roster.
During his 14-year NBA career, Webb scored 8,072 career points, grabbed 1,742 rebounds, and dished out 4,342 assists. He also played for the Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Orlando Magic during his career.
Webb’s surprising win at the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest is the most memorable moment of his basketball career. He beat his teammate and the defending dunk contest champion, Dominique Wilkins, to earn the title.
Currently, Webb is the president of basketball operations for the Texas Legends of the NBA’s G-League.
