2011 High School Award Winners

• Scholar-Athlete of the Year

  • Wesley Carr (North Mesquite): Carr will study pre-med at Texas A&M.

• Charles S. Sharp, Jr. Scholarship

  • Bret Roper (Granbury): Roper plans to attend Hardin-Simmons.

• TicketCity Bowl Scholarship

  • Damian Brown (Dallas A. Maceo Smith): Smith will attend Henderson State (Ark.)

2011 Major Award Winners

• Distinguished Texan Award

  • Gary Patterson: In 10 seasons in Fort Worth, Patterson has guided TCU to a 98-28 mark, including three consecutive seasons of 11 wins or more, and four conference championships. His .778 winning percentage ranks third among all active coaches nationally with a minimum of five years’ experience. Patterson is just 12 wins shy of passing College Football Hall of Fame coach Dutch Meyer, who led the Horned Frogs to 1935 and 1938 national championships, as TCU's all-time wins leader. The Horned Frogs' 21-19 Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin was their first New Year's Day bowl win since 1957. TCU's No. 2 final ranking was the program's highest since winning the 1938 national championship. In fact, Patterson's Horned Frogs have been ranked in the final Associated Press poll seven times since 2002, nearly doubling the program's historical total, and they boast four top-ten finishes in the past six seasons. TCU is the only program in the nation to appear in the top 10 of both major season-ending polls the past three seasons. Their average ranking of No. 5 over that span also leads the nation.

• Legends Award

  • Tommy Hudspeth: A seasoned veteran of the Texas high school football coaching ranks, Tommy Hudspeth spent 28 years coaching in Weatherford, McKinney, Longview, Sherman and Mesquite. In his 20 years as a head coach, Hudspeth boasted a 131-59-7 and claimed five district titles, four undefeated regular seasons and directed McKinney to the Class 3A state finals in 1966. Hudspeth coached the North squad in the Texas High School Coaches Association All-Star Game in 1977 and represented Texas in the Oil Bowl one year later. A longtime member of the THSCA Board of Directors, he served as the association’s president in 1978. Hudspeth was elected to the THSCA Hall of Honor in 1985. After coaching, Hudspeth spent 15 years in academic administration in Sherman. He currently works with a faith-based group ministering to teenage boys in Grayson County Juvenile Justice Boot Camp. Hudspeth graduated from the University of Texas in 1956 and hails from Weatherford, Tex.

• Steve Storie Official of the Year

  • Charles Stephenson: Charles Stephenson is a 42-year officiating veteran with a myriad of experience and accomplishments at the high school and college levels. He was the head referee of the 1995 Class 5A Division I championship game between Converse Judson and Odessa Permian. Stephenson served on the same Gulf Coast Conference crew with award namesake Steve Storie, and the two also officiated the 1983 NCAA Division II playoffs together. Stephenson currently serves as the secretary of the Dallas Football Officials Association, where his duties include arranging crews for regular season and playoff high school football games. He also conducts multiple rules clinics per year to officials’ associations and coaches conventions across the state. After retiring from the field, he has worked as the clock operator for the Big 12 Conference and the Dallas Cowboys. Stephenson is a lifetime member of the Texas Association of Sports Officials and the Dallas Football Officials Association.

• Athletics Director of the Year

  • Ken Purcell (Denton ISD): Ken Purcell has been the athletics director of Denton ISD since 1997. In that span, Denton ISD has sent 12 teams to state championship contests in six different sports. On Dec. 18, 2010, Denton Guyer and Denton Ryan each battled for state championships at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, making Denton ISD the only school district in University Interscholastic League history to have two schools qualify for state championship games in the same year. Under Purcell’s leadership, Denton ISD opened C.H. Collins Athletic Complex in 2004. The complex includes a 12,000-seat football stadium, which hosts all of the school district’s football, soccer, marching band and drill team events. In 2007, Purcell and Denton ISD passed a $282 million bond which upgraded facilities at both Denton and Ryan High. Before beginning a career in athletics administration, Purcell spent several years coaching high school football in North Texas. He earned a 78-54-2 record at Allen and directed the Eagles to the regional finals twice. Purcell holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of North Texas and is a native of Vega, Tex.

• Large High School Coach of the Year

  • Randy Jackson (Mesquite Poteet): After inheriting a program that finished 1-9 in 2009, Randy Jackson pushed Mesquite Poteet to a 12-3 finish and an appearance in the Class 4A Division II semifinals in 2010. The remarkable turnaround earned Jackson Coach of the Year honors from The Dallas Morning News, the Texas Sports Writers Association and TheOldCoach.com. Before arriving at Poteet, Jackson was the head coach at Paducah where he accumulated an 82-37 record. A native of Tenaha, Jackson attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe and was a member of the 1987 Division I-AA national champions. Jackson began his coaching career at Quinlan Ford in 1990.

• Small High School Coach of the Year

  • Jim Bob Puckett (Lucas Lovejoy): A 30-year veteran of the coaching community, Jim Bob Puckett has guided the Lucas Lovejoy Leopards to a 31-12 record in six seasons as the head coach. He directed the Leopards to a 11-2 mark with a District 11-3A championship and an appearance in the Class 3A Division I Region II finals in 2010. In 2009, Lovejoy again posted a 11-2 record and qualified for the Class 3A Division I Region II finals. Puckett was named the Collin County Coach of the Year and the Class 3A Region II Coach of the Year following the season. Puckett arrived in Lucas after serving as the defensive coordinator at McKinney North from 2000 to 2004. He was the defensive coordinator at Allen from 1983 through 2000. Puckett began his coaching career at Van Alstyne, where he coached wide receivers and defensive backs from 1981 to 1983. A native of Plano, Puckett is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University.

• Large High School Assistant Coach of the Year

  • Pete Gee (Mesquite Poteet): A 17-year coaching veteran, Pete Gee arrived at Mesquite Poteet with Randy Jackson. Gee was an integral part of the Pirates’ 11-win turnaround in 2010, transforming from a 1-9 squad in 2009 to a 12-3 state semifinalist one year later. Gee has previously coached at Terrell and North Forney. He served as the defensive coordinator on Euless Trinity’s Class 5A Division I state championship squad in 2005. Gee is a native of Elk City, Okla., where he won state championships in football, track and field and martial arts. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree from Texas A&M University.

• Small High School Assistant Coach of the Year

  • Billy Thompson (Lucas Lovejoy): Billy Thompson has been a member of Jim Bob Puckett’s staff at Lucas Lovejoy since 2006, serving as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. He was selected as the Billy Whitman Award winner as Collin County’s top assistant coach in 2010. Thompson’s defense limited opponents to just 11.8 points per game and posted six shutouts in 14 contests. The Dunwoody, Ga., native’s career began as an assistant coach at Dallas W.T. White in 2001. A 1996 graduate of Texas Christian University, Thompson won three letters at defensive end and helped the Horned Frogs earn a share of the Southwest Conference championship in 1994.

2011 Collegiate Scholar-Athletes

• Evan Beaton (East Texas Baptist)

• Derek Epperson (Baylor)

• Zack Eskridge (Midwestern State)

• Adam Farkes (Texas A&M – Commerce)

• Pete Fleps (SMU)

• Bart Johnson (TCU)

• Austin Light (Austin College)

• Micah Mosley (UNT)

• Jacob Rowe (Tarleton State)

2011 High School Scholar-Athletes

• Jay Ajayi (Frisco Liberty)

• Tareyton Banks (Irving Nimitz)

• Tyler Barnett (Keller Central)

• Sean Beard (Little Elm)

• Braxton Bearden (Carrollton Newman Smith)

• Rob Blowers (Aledo)

• Tyleil Bradshaw (Keller Fossil Ridge)

• Damian Brown (Dallas A. Maceo Smith)

• Kyler Dillon Brown (Midlothian)

• Logan Brown (Rowlett)

• Wesley Carr (North Mesquite)

• Blake Childress (West Mesquite)

• Sawyer Cooper (Justin Northwest)

• Judson Dax Damrich (Plano West)

• Divan Ealy (Duncanville)

• DaMichael Estrada (Fort Worth Dunbar)

• Leslie Evans (South Grand Prairie)

• Nick Foster (Frisco Centennial)

• Jordan Funches (Carrollton Creekview)

• Chance Grayson (Van Alstyne)

• Josh Green (Arlington Seguin)

• Scott Hanks (Richardson Lake Highlands)

• Dionte Johnson (North Dallas)

• David Kaplan (Dallas Jesuit)

• John Brooks Keene (Colleyville Heritage)

• Austin Laudenslager (McKinney North)

• Ethan Lington (Wylie)

• Reagan Lucio (Richardson Berkner)

• Paul Mata (Carrollton R.L. Turner)

• Payden McBee (Rockwall)

• Conner Michelson (Plano)

• Joe Minden (Coppell)

• Johnny Paramore (Denton Ryan)

• Ryan Pollard (Arlington Martin)

• David Porter III (DeSoto)

• Walter Rampy (Plano East)

• Ryan Rice (Frisco Wakeland)

• Jett Robertson (Richardson Pearce)

• Javan Robinson (Lewisville Hebron)

• Bret Roper (Granbury)

• Stephon Sanders (Mesquite Horn)

• Ben Selby (Birdville)

• Christopher Spachholz (Mesquite)

• Kyle Stouffer (Highland Park)

• Brent Tolbert (McKinney)

• Justin Torris (Garland Naaman Forest)

• Josh Tucker (Keller)

• Charles Conner Vaughan (Maypearl)

• Louis Wilson (Wichita Fallas)

• Tyler Wood (Rockwall-Heath)

• Kyle Zimmerman (McKinney Boyd)