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Ponder returns		Former assistant coach Pat Ponder has returned as the Lions head track & field and cross country coach. Ponder, who served last year as the head track & field and cross country coach at Wayland Baptist University, returned to Commerce this summer to replace former head coach Dr. Phil Williams. Ponder served from 1996 to 2001 as the assistant track & field coach and was the head coach for cross country from 1999 to 2001.

“I am so happy to be back,” said Ponder. “We love the University, and Commerce is home for our family. It’s a great honor to return here.” Last season at Wayland, he coached Justin Cummin to the NAIA National Championship in the javelin throw.
As the Lions cross country coach in 1999, he coached the women’s team to fifth place in the NCAA South Central Regional.
He was also the driving force in obtaining and later was named meet director for the 2000 NCAA Division II South Central Regional held in Commerce.
“A&M-Commerce is very fortunate to get Pat to return,” said athletic director Paul Peak. “He is very respected within the profession and the community. We look forward to seeing his teams compete in conference.”

Two new assistant coaches join staff
The Lions also welcome two new assistant coaches. Justin Gaines joins the football staff, while Tawana Rhoads is the new women’s basketball assistant.
Rhoads, a 2001 graduate of A&M-Commerce, was the women’s assistant basketball coach at Paris Junior College. She helped the Lady Dragons to a school-record 23-8 season.
Rhoads played one season at Jarvis Christian College, earning 2001 Red River Conference Newcomer of the Year. She helped JCC qualify for the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in school history with a 29-5 record.
The 25-year-old Gaines, who will coach the secondary for the Lions, comes to A&M-Commerce from Northern Arizona University where he coached running backs last season. He helped NAU gain a berth in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.
He was a secondary coach at Texas Lutheran University in 2000 and spent the 1999 season as the secondary coach at Florence-Carlton High School in Montana. He graduated from Montana in 2000 with a bachelor of arts in history.

Get your $10 ticket to history being made at Hall of Fame Banquet

The A&M-Commerce Athletic Hall of Fame will add six individuals and for the first time two teams when the Class of 2002 is inducted Friday night, Oct. 25.
Quarterback Wade Wilson heads the class that includes NCAA Heptathlon champion Jackie Alford, Lone Star Conference golf champion Nickie Brice, and football greats Terry Skinner, Aundra “Boomer” Thompson and Clint “Cheetah” White.
History will be made when the 1952 football team and the 1986 volleyball team will be inducted as the first teams in the Athletic Hall of Fame.
The 1952 Lions are the last gridders to go undefeated, while the 1986 Lady Lions were the first women’s team to win a Lone Star Conference Championship.
Wilson, who played in the NFL for 19 seasons and won a Super Bowl ring with the Dallas Cowboys, led the Lions to the 1980 NAIA semifinals. He held the Lion record for single-season passing yardage average of 197.8 in 1980 that stood for 16 years.
Alford, an outstanding track and field athlete, won the 1990 NCAA Division II gold medal in the seven-event heptathlon. She still holds six school records in track.
Brice won the 1964 LSC Championship and the NAIA national runnerup in 1963 and 1964.
Skinner was an honorable mention AP and NAIA All-American quarterback for the Lions in 1977. The first player to lead the team in passing for four straight years, he was the first Lion quarterback to throw for 5,000 yards with 5,401 in his career.
An honorable mention NAIA All-American and eight-year NFL veteran, “Boomer” Thompson holds the Lion single-season rushing record with 1,796 yards in 1975. He also holds the Lion record for career rushing average with 6.52 yards per carry.
White was an honorable mention AP All-American in 1940 as well as a first-team All-Lone Star Conference back in 1938, 1939 and 1940. He helped the Lions to an LSC Championship in 1938.
The 1952 Football Lions posted a perfect 11-0 record, complete with a win over Tennessee Tech in the Tangerine Bowl, the first of four for the Lions. The season was part of a 29-game unbeaten streak for the gridders of coach M.A. “Catfish” Smith.
The 1986 Volleyball Lions won the Lone Star Conference title with a perfect 12-0 record and posted an overall record of 22-2, their only losses coming in a national tournament at West Point, N.Y.
Two other teams will be honored during Hall of Fame and Homecoming activities. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1972 NAIA National Champion Lion Football and Tennis teams.
The Hall of Fame Induction/Outstanding Alumni Coaches Award Banquet will be held on Friday night, Oct. 25. A reception is at 6:30 p.m., with the banquet beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Texas Ballroom of the MSC.
Tickets for the event are $10 and may be reserved by calling the Athletic Offices at (903) 886-LION.