Tulsa’s 2015 Athletic Hall of Fame Class Inducted Friday Night

Video on Elmer "Gloomy Gus" Henderson
Video on T.J. Rubley, Michael Ruffin and Jillian Robbins

On Friday night, three former student-athletes as well as a legendary football coach were inducted into The University of Tulsa's Athletic Hall of Fame at the Lorton Performing Arts Center on campus.

The student-athletes include: T.J. Rubley from football, basketball star Michael Ruffin and women's basketball All-American Jillian Robbins. Legendary football coach Elmer "Gloomy Gus" Henderson was inducted posthumuosly.

The honorees will also be recognized during halftime festivities of today's Tulsa-Houston football game.

MEET THE INDUCTEES . . .

ELMER "GLOOMY GUS" HENDERSON
Football Coach, 1925-35
After raising the stature of football at the University of Southern California, paying off with a Rose Bowl invitation in 1923, "Gloomy Gus" left the west coast for Oklahoma in 1925 to become the Tulsa head coach, thus stunning football fans across the country. He compiled an 11-year record of 70-25-5 as head coach of the Hurricane football team, while posting 10 straight winning seasons. Won the most games in school history. Henderson led his teams to five conference titles, including one in the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference, three in the Big 4 Conference and one in the Missouri Valley Conference. He had only one losing season in his 11 years as the Tulsa coach, while his teams suffered just one loss in each of three seasons.

T.J. RUBLEY
Football, 1987-91
T.J. Rubley was a four-year starting quarterback who led Tulsa to two Bowl appearances, including the 1989 Independence Bowl and the 1991 Freedom Bowl. He also started three games in 1990 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Rubley made a splash in his collegiate debut as he completed 27-of-36 passes for a career-best 386 yards and two touchdowns at Oklahoma State. He had six career games with four or more touchdowns, including a career-high five TDs against Bowling Green in 1989. Rubley passed for over 2,000 yards in each of his four seasons, tying an NCAA record, and finished his career as the school's all-time passing leader with 9,324 passing yards and 73 touchdowns. He completed his career with seven school records. Rubley was a ninth round draft choice of the Los Angeles Rams.

MICHAEL RUFFIN
Basketball, 1995-99
A four-year starter for the Golden Hurricane, Michael Ruffin left as the school's career leader for rebounds (1,211) and blocked shots (266). He became the first player in school history to reach the 1,000 plateau for both points and rebounds. Ruffin was named to the Western Athletic Conference's all-defensive team and all-Academic team for three years, while earning first-team all-WAC honors in 1997-98 and second-team merits in 1998-99. Ruffin had career averages of 9.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots. He played in 128 career games, and led Tulsa in rebounding 87 times and had 41 double-doubles. As a senior, Ruffin led the WAC and was eighth nationally for rebounding with a 10.4 average. He earned first-team GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 1999 and was a recipient of the NCAA Top VIII award in January of 2000. Ruffin was selected as the College Hoops Insider 1999 Student-Athlete of the Year for the sport of basketball. He played in the NBA for nine years and also played overseas.

JILLIAN ROBBINS
Women's Basketball, 2003-07
The most decorated player in the history of Tulsa women's basketball, Jillian Robbins completed her career ranked first on the school's career charts for points (2,108), field goals made (747), free throws made (602), rebounds (1,313), steals (347), blocked shots (251) and double-doubles (66). She helped lead Tulsa to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and NCAA victory over North Carolina State in 2006. Robbins was a two-time Kodak/WBCA and Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American. She was the 2005-06 Conference USA Player of the Year, as well as the 2005-06 and 2006-07 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year. Robbins was a four-time all-conference first-team selection and three-time all-defensive team performer. Throughout her career, she was tabbed as the Conference Player of the Week 13 times. Robbins was named the Western Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year in 2003-04. She completed her career with averages of 17.4 points, 10.9 rebounds. 2.8 steals and 2.0 blocked shots. Robbins still plays professionally overseas.

Tulsa’s 2015 Athletic Hall of Fame Class Inducted Friday Night

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