TicketsUC to Honor Former Diamond Mentor Sample
Walkway at new stadium to bear his name.
Contact: Tom Hathaway
5/6/2005
Glenn Sample |
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The University of Cincinnati will honor longtime baseball coach Glenn Sample by naming the walkway outside the grandstand of the new UC Baseball Stadium Glenn Sample Way.
The walkway will serve both as a tribute to Sample's 37 years of service to UC athletics and for eventually honoring Bearcat baseball greats. Plaques recognizing the exploits of UC diamond stars will be placed along the walkway.
Formal dedication of the walkway will take place on Sunday, May 15 preceding UC?s 1 p.m. home baseball game with Memphis. Sample will also throw out the first pitch.
"Glenn Sample's impact with UC baseball and as a member of the UC campus community is very evident," stated UC director of athletics Bob Goin. "Establishing Glenn Sample Way is an appropriate tribute to Glenn as well as the Bearcat baseball greats we will eventually honor."
Sample wore many different hats during his four decades at UC. A standout athlete who was active in campus activities as an undergraduate, he returned to UC in 1956 as assistant football coach. In 1959, he took over the Bearcat wrestling program, and over the next five years provided leadership in the community to help establish the sport at the high school level.
It is his 21 seasons as head baseball coach that Sample is best known, however. He succeeded Ed Jucker in 1961 when the latter was promoted to head baseball coach. In his first season, Sample directed UC to the Missouri Valley Conference championship and the school's first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament. In 1981, he concluded his career with 404 wins and four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Sample became director of UC's intramural program in 1967 and over the next 26 years worked to expand the students' sports offerings. He was promoted to assistant athletic director for intramurals in 1981.
Elected to the UC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1983, Sample has also been named to the Western Hills High School Sports Hall of Fame, the Buddy LaRosa High School Sports Hall of Fame, the Ohio Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Hamilton County Hall of Fame.
He has been the official scorer for the Cincinnati Reds for the past 21 seasons.
Sample became accustomed to carrying out a multitude of activities while he was a student at UC. A three-year letterman on the Sid Gillman-coached football teams of the early 1950s, he was a member of the Bearcats' 1950 Sun Bowl team and was a two-time All-Mid-American Conference selection as a linebacker. Sample also starred in baseball as a third baseman. He was elected sophomore class president and held offices in four honoraries and organizations, rose the rank of lieutenant colonel during his four years in the R.O.T.C. and was the Outstanding Physical Education major upon his graduation in 1953.