Online Reporter
Collin Matiza
Zimpapers Sports Hub
TOP Zimbabwean professional golfer Scott Vincent will finally be honoured by Virginia Tech, who have named him among seven athletes who will be inducted into their Sports Hall of Fame in September in the United States.
According to reports from Blacksburg, Virginia Tech will enshrine seven new members into the school’s Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, September 19.
This was announced on Wednesday by the school’s Director of Athletics, Whit Babcock.
Slated for induction are Kaylea Arnett (women’s diving), Kevin Barker (baseball), Devin Carter (wrestling), Kendall Fuller (football), Erick Green (men’s basketball), Courtney Liddle Barbour (softball), and Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe (men’s golf).
The seven-member class increases the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame to 240 members. The seven new members will be officially inducted on September 19 at The Inn at Virginia Tech and will be recognized during half-time of the Hokies’ American football game against Wofford on Saturday, September 20, at Lane Stadium.
Vincent was on a golf scholarship at Virginia Tech from 2011 to 2015.
Notably, he was in the First Team All-America in 2014 that still holds the programme’s career scoring average record at 71.65.
He is the most decorated men’s golfer in programme history.
Vincent became the only first-team All-American in programme history in 2014 and finished his career with a school-record 71.65 scoring average.
He posted 22 top-10 finishes, including four wins, and helped the Hokies advance to NCAA regionals all four seasons and reach the NCAA Championship twice.
His career-best round of 64 (-8) at the 2013 Golfweek Conference Challenge remains tied for the individual 18-hole programme record.
Vincent later represented Zimbabwe at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he tied for 16th with an 11-under 273.
He played the 2023 and 2024 seasons with Iron Heads GC of the LIV Golf League, recording 10 top-20 showings.
Vincent secured playing privileges on LIV Golf by winning the International Series Order of Merit during the 2022 Asian Tour season.
He remains an active member of the Asian Tour.
The hall of fame, which was established in 1982, is located at the south end of the Cassell Coliseum ambulatory.
The other inductees are Kaylea Arnett, Kevin Barker, Devin Carter, Kendall Fuller, Erick Green and Courtney Liddle Barbour.
Arnett was a three-time All-American for the Hokies from 2011-15 in women’s diving. The programme record holder in the 1-metre and 3-metre, she was named the ACC’s Most Valuable Women’s Diver four consecutive years.
A six-time ACC gold medalist — the most ever by an ACC diver or a Virginia Tech swim and dive athlete — she won two gold medals at the 2012 US Olympic Diving Trials.
On the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, she finished fourth at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Barker earned second-team All-American honours as an outfielder in 1996, his third season with Hokies baseball.
The Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, he’s still the programme leader in triples in a season (nine) and a career (17).
The power hitter paced his team in home runs and RBI in his final year in Blacksburg. He was an All-Metro Conference pick in 1995 after producing a team-high 44 RBI. He was a third-round pick in the 1996 MLB Draft by Milwaukee and also played in San Diego, Toronto and Cincinnati.
He’s currently a broadcaster for the Blue Jays.
Carter was the first NCAA finalist in Virginia Tech wrestling history. A three-time All-American and a national runner-up at 141 pounds in 2014, he was a staple of the program from 2011-14.
The first four-time ACC champion in program history, he was the conference’s wrestler of the year in 2012-13 and the co-rookie of the year in 2011-12.
During his sophomore campaign, he ascended to No. 1 in his weight class — the first Hokies wrestler to do so since 2002. He’s now a high school wrestling coach in the Long Island, NY, area.
Fuller was one of the best cover cornerbacks in Virginia Tech football history, much like his brother, Kyle, before him.
A two-time All-ACC selection and an All-American in 2014, he racked up 119 tackles, eight TFLs and 3.5 sacks in three seasons in Blacksburg.
He was named the 2013 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year after picking off six passes, forcing a fumble and recovering one.
He had eight interceptions in his career, three of which came in one game — vs Duke on October 26, 2013.
He was a third-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by Washington and won a Super Bowl in 2019 with Kansas City.
Green was a third-team All-American and the ACC Player of the Year in 2012-13 for men’s basketball after leading the nation in scoring with 25 points per game.
He set a programme record for points scored in a single season with 801.
He shot 47.5 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from behind the arc in his final season while scoring in double figures in every game.
Green had 20-plus points on all but four occasions and had four 30-point outings. A second-round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by Utah, he spent time in Denver before winning multiple trophies in Europe.
He currently plays for Napoli Basket in Serie A in Italy.
Liddle Barbour was a three-time All-ACC selection for Hokies softball from 2009-13 who holds the programme record for walks (146) and ranks second in on-base percentage (.467).
She’s also top 10 in school history in home runs (32) and RBI (136).
In 2010, she hit 11 home runs— then a Tech freshman record. She was part of a squad that reached the NCAA Tournament in 2012 and ’13.
The 18th overall pick in the 2013 NPF College Draft, she hit .320 for her career in Blacksburg and drew 45 walks in back-to-back seasons as a junior and senior.
