Lincoln College to Honor Athletic Hall of Fame Class at Banquet

 

[October 25, 2018] 

Lincoln College will hold its sixth annual Lincoln College Athletic Hall of Fame banquet Friday, Nov. 9. The banquet will be held at the Davison-Sheffer gymnasium and includes a cocktail reception from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and an awards program.

The Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes and celebrates the long and exemplary history of athletics at Lincoln College. The 2018 inductees are: LaToya Doage, LaToya Johnson, Eddie Jones, Jim and Sue Ryan, Phil Styles and Vicki Vaughan.

Here is more information on each of the inductees:

LaToya Doage

Doage, a 1995 graduate of Lincoln College, was a member of Lincoln’s highly successful 1994-95 women’s basketball team, which finished the season with a 24-8 record and ended in second place in the Region 24 basketball tournament. Doage was on the All-Tournament Team at the Black Hawk East Tournament and, along with teammate La Toya Johnson, she was selected as an All Region Player for Region 24.

After graduation, Doage played for the University of Nebraska, where she earned All Big Eight and All Big Twelve honors. In 1999 she joined the San Jose Lasers for one season, helping the team finish second the ABL’s Western Conference.

LaToya Johnson

Johnson is also a 1995 graduate of Lincoln College and teammate of Doage. In addition to being selected as an All Region Player for Region 24, Johnson earned an All-American Honorable Mention for her 22.8 point per game average and 14.1 rebounds per game. Along with teammate Amanda Smith, Johnson served as team captain. Johnson went on to play for Arizona State; an NCAA D-I program, she is now an elementary teacher in Las Vegas, NV.

Eddie Jones

Jones, a 1980 graduate of Lincoln College, came to Lincoln College after earning All State and All City honors in basketball at Chicago Cregier High School. At Lincoln College he racked up a series of honors while playing on the 1980 state and regional championship basketball team, including MVP honors at the state tournament level and being named a national All-American, when the team competed in the national tournament in Hutchinson, KS.

After graduation from Lincoln College, he went on to play basketball at Eastern Illinois University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1983. After graduating from Eastern, Jones returned to Lincoln College where he was an assistant basketball coach from 1983-1985.

In 1985 he began working for the Illinois Department of Corrections as a Leisure Time Services Supervisor. He was consistently promoted at the Department of Corrections, serving as a warden, district deputy director, regional deputy director and eventually became Chief of Operations, before retiring in 2011.

Jim and Sue Ryan

Jim and Sue Ryan are being recognized as “Friends of Athletics” for their outstanding support of the Lincoln College athletic program. For decades, the Ryans and Lincoln College have been inseparable. For 32 years Sue Ryan worked in the financial aid office at Lincoln College. Jim Ryan is closing in on nearly two decades of working part-time in maintenance at the College.

Their daughter, Bridgett Thomas is the Dean of Students, while son-in-law Tony Thomas is head baseball coach.

Throughout their decades of service to Lincoln College, the Ryan’s have been unfailing boosters of the athletic program, not simply attending games, but serving as mentors, friends and supporters of student athletes.

Phil Styles

Styles came to Lincoln College to play basketball under Coach Allen Pickering. Today, he credits Pickering and Lincoln College with laying the groundwork for his future success, by teaching him the value of teamwork and effective management. Phil was the 1987 MVP of the NJCAA region XXIV tournament and was a first team all region selection. His 1986-87 team was undefeated in Lincoln Colleges Davidson Sheffler Gym. Upon graduation from Lincoln College, Styles earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Northwestern University, where he played NCAA D-I Basketball for the Northwestern Wildcats.

Styles is a member of the Lincoln College Board of Trustees and today co-leads Willis Towers Watson Diverse Solutions Network, a practice focused on delivering new organic growth to the firm thru powerful strategic partnerships with diverse owned businesses.

Vicki Vaughan

Vaughn served as head women’s basketball coach at Lincoln College from 1991 to 1998 and lead the Lynx to back-to-back 20-win seasons in 1993-94 and 1994-95. While coaching Doage and Johnson, Vaughn ended the season ranked 17th nationally.

Vaughn was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, where she set records at Lawrenceburg High School, including 1,062 career points, 327 assists and a single-game total of 41 points. She was a two-time All-State selection and earned 12 varsity letters while in high school. She was a four-year player and two-year starter at Illinois State University and member of two Gateway Conference championship teams. She also set a single-season field goal percentage record of 57%.
In addition to coaching at Lincoln College, Vaughn was the first female to coach professional basketball in Ireland, earning the IBBA Coach of the Year and winning four championships.
After leaving Lincoln College she was the assistant women’s basketball coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy for two years.

She is currently the Director of Athletics at the Colorado Springs School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she oversees all middle school and high school athletics programs. She is also the women’s basketball coach at the school.

The Lincoln College Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes student athletes, teams, coaches, managers, administrators, faculty, staff, and friends who have distinguished themselves in the field of athletics at Lincoln College, either by their performance on an athletic team or by meritorious efforts in supporting the athletic program at the College. The Hall of Fame banquet is part of the 2018 Homecoming Week activities taking place from Nov. 5 to Nov. 10 on the Lincoln campus.

Ticket reservations for the Athletic Hall of Fame banquet can be made online at https://lincolncollege.givingfuel.com/lc-hall-of-fame-2018  or by contacting Hannah Farmer in the Advancement Office at [phone] or [phone] or e-mail hfarmer@lincoln college.edu.

[Mark Gordon
Public Relations and Media Manager
Lincoln College]