NATCHITOCHES – None of the eight people honored Saturday morning at Northwestern State's annual Graduate N Club Hall of Fame ceremony are relatives, but they each expressed a strong sense of family ties as keys to their success and the trigger to an emotional round of acceptance speeches.
 
Demon baseball's career batting king, Kyle Shade, who hit a school-record .427 in 1992-93, returned from his Arizona home with his brother introducing him, and got inducted alongside a teammate whose offensive numbers were equally impressive, Terry Joseph. The two-time Academic All-American ended his four-year career in 1995 with three Southland Conference championship rings and 10 offensive school records.
 
“Coming home again, to see guys from 20 years ago, and to have Terry next to me – I remember him as a skinny freshman, we came in the same year, when I was a junior transferring in. You could tell from the beginning he was a great young leader,” said Shade. “I'm just so proud of him. He's like a brother.
 
“That's what you remember. It's not records, and nobody plays for awards. You play became you want to impress your family, you want to impress your friends, and your teammates become your extended family. That's why you saw so many tears today, so much emotion. That's what fueled everybody, and that's why we were so successful across every sport. It's that feeling that this is so incredibly important and it's intertwined in what everybody goes on to do throughout life.”
 
The family ties transcended sports boundaries, said Maryalyce Walsh Cox, who finished third in the 1991 USA Junior cross country championships as a freshman and still holds Lady Demon records in the 3k, 5k, and 10,000 meter runs.
 
“You have your family from home, then your teammates and your extended NSU athletic family, because at a smaller school, all of the athletes know each other, among all the sports,” said Cox, an attorney in Houston who was proud to enter the Hall alongside four of her Northwestern athletic contemporaries – Joseph, Shade and four-time All-Southland softball outfielder Amy Grisham Calhoun (1990-93).
 
“I got to witness first-hand their performances on the field, and getting to see them inducted alongside me was really special. It's such an honor,” said Cox.
 
Joseph, who has jumped sports and is the defensive backs coach for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, said he was glad his football team had an open date so he could realize a dream with his mother, his wife Amanda and their two young children in the audience.
 
“This day has been on my bucket list, at No. 2. The No. 1 thing is for my kids to feel like I should be in the Daddy Hall of Fame,” he said.
 
“It's the crowning achievement of my playing career, to come back to a school where you've put in so much hard work, sweat and tears. To go in with a guy like Kyle Shade, who ironically probably drove me in on a lot of the runs I scored in my first two years, makes it that much more special.  It's a great achievement that I can share with a wonderful teammate I had, and with my family, and it's something I'll never forget.”
 
He also relished being enshrined among classmates.
 
“You've got 4-5 of us going in today, whose careers overlapped, and it just goes to show you never know when you're watching greatness unfold,” said Joseph. “They made the extraordinary look ordinary.”
 
Retired Demon football coach Sam Goodwin introduced 1990 All-America defensive end Greg Necaise, describing him as a player whose competitive fire and desire elevated him to exceptional performances.
 
“This is a tremendous honor,” responded Necaise. “The only thing that tops it is hearing the things said today by  Coach Goodwin and from teammates who have called me. Having their respect is the ultimate compliment.”
 
Calhoun, introduced by her father Billy Grisham, reflected on what being included in the Graduate N Club Hall means.
 
“It means all your work and efforts, everything you've done from the time you were playing T-ball on up, has combined to make this possible,” she said. “You can't do it without two things, God and family. I'm blessed that both were with me all the way. It's been a true honor.”
 
The three oldest honorees were profoundly touched by their recognition Saturday.
 
“I'm very honored to have been selected,” said football great Ferrell Yarbrough, the first Demon to play in a college all-star game before he joined the AFL's Oakland Raiders as a defensive tackle following his Northwestern career from 1958-61. “After all these years, I didn't think it was going to happen, but I love Northwestern and it means a lot to me.”
 
Two classmates from the 1970s received Distinguished Service Awards Saturday.
 
“Words cannot describe what it means to me. All I can say is Northwestern, thank you for giving me the greatest time of my life,” said Jack “Britt” Brittain Jr., honored for his selfless efforts for decades on behalf of every sport at NSU. “Thank you so much.”
 
Emma Boozman became the first person previously enshrined in the Graduate N Club Hall (1993) as a competitor to receive the Distinguished Service Award, recognizing her remarkable 36-year career as a high school basketball coach.
 
“What an honor. Over the years, I had the chance and might have made a difference in people's lives, and I am thankful Northwestern has honored me this way,” she said. “It's so special.”