2025 Concord Athletics Hall of Fame Class Announced

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University Athletic Department has released the eight-member class that will be inducted into the 2025 Concord Hall of Fame in the fall.

The 2025 hall of fame induction ceremony will take place October 11 at 9:00 a.m. in the Jerry and Jean Beasley Student Center Ballroom as part of Homecoming Week on the Campus Beautiful.

The class is made up of one former head coach, one member of meritorious service and six former student-athletes. Former football coach Garin Justice will be inducted into the hall of fame a decade removed from his success on the CU sidelines. Longtime Concord Athletic Department secretary Anita Conner will be welcomed to the prestigious club for her service. The six athletes that have been voted into the hall of fame are Chad Frazier (baseball), Jeremiah Johnson (football), Calvinaugh Jones (football), Lauren Lewis Poe (softball), Jake Lilly (football) and Aaron Miller (men's basketball).

The hall of fame class is voted on by a nine-member committee consisting of current Concord head coaches, athletic administrators, past hall of fame inductees, CU faculty and local community members. The voting process utilizes a points system via secret ballot to determine the selections for the hall of fame each year.

Per the Concord Athletic Hall of Fame by-laws, four nominees from this year's ballot carry over to the 2026 ballot without needing a formal nomination due to receiving a necessary number of points this year: Bethany Gatewood Callaway, Jonathan Gore, Diane Miller and Pamm Vass Dunford.

The architect of two conference championships in a four-year span, Justice sported a record of 40-17 from 2011-15. Justice's first championship team was in 2011 when the Mountain Lions defeated West Virginia Wesleyan in the regular-season finale to claim their first West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Championship since 1990. Three years later, Concord not only won the Mountain East Conference Championship, but also won the Super Region One Championship—the first regional championship team in program history. Justice is the only coach in program history to win a national postseason game as CU went 13-1 and advanced to the NCAA Division II National Semifinals in 2014. Justice was named conference coach of the year twice in his career at CU, and was voted as the Super Region One Coach of the Year in 2014.

A long-time supporter of Concord Athletics, Conner goes into the hall of fame for her meritorious service to CU. She served the Concord Athletic Department as its secretary from 1992-2019 before retiring. During her working days and now into retirement, Conner and her husband, Freddie, remain two of the most loyal supporters and fans of the Mountain Lions. At a time when the CU Athletic Department was evolving, Conner brought constant stability to the coaches inside the Carter Center.

Over the course of his four-year career at Concord, Frazier was one of the most consistent hitters in the CU lineup. Frazier enjoyed his best season in 2017 as the Roanoke, Virginia native was named the Mountain East Conference Player of the Year as he helped lead Concord to the MEC South Division title, the last division crown for the Maroon and Gray. Later in the postseason, Frazier was a Third Team All-American. And he was a two-time All-Atlantic Region performer in 2017 and 2018. Frazier ranks third in program history in runs scored (200) and is tied for ninth in career hits (229). His 83 hits during his player of the year season are the most in program history for a single season, and the 73 times he crossed home plate in 2017 are also a single-season record.

Johnson is the only Concord football player to be named to the all-conference first team four times in program history. The Baltimore native was also an all-region selection three times during his career, and the conclusion of his senior season Johnson was an All-American in 2017. Throughout his career, Johnson gained respect from opposing offenses as teams elected to not throw to his side of the field as a cornerback. Still, Johnson ranks fifth in program history with 11 career interceptions and is third in career pass break-up (36). He also had a knack for finding the football as he forced four fumbles in his career. Overall, Johnson started 44 games from 2014-17, and was a prominent player in the Mountain Lions going 13-1 in 2014 and reaching the Division II Semifinals.

In a program that has historically produced legendary running backs, Calvinaugh Jones is near the top of the list. The four-year starter from 2012-15 in the backfield is number one in program history in rushing yards (4,638) and rushing attempts (874) while ranking third in both rushing touchdowns (35) and yards per carry (5.3). Over the final three years of his career, the Maryland native produced 1,000-yard rushing seasons—the only player in program history with three 1,000-yard seasons. The best year for Jones came in 2014 when he gained 1,734 yards and scored 12 touchdowns on his way to be a First Team All-American as well as the MEC Offensive Player of the Year. Jones added another 1,124 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2015. In his career, Jones had 26 100-yard rushing games.

Lewis, now married Poe, stamped her name in the Concord record book with her sweet swing from the left side of the plate from 2014-17. Lewis ranks second in program history in both RBI (156) and doubles (50). Her hits (231), home runs (25) and runs scored (130) all rank third in program history. Lewis burst on the scene as a freshman in 2014 as she smacked a then-single-season program record 20 doubles while hitting .384. She followed it up in 2015 with an all-region season that included 26 extra-base hits and 45 RBI as she was a vital part of the CU softball program qualifying for its first-ever NCAA Tournament. No one in program history played more than the 218 games that Lewis suited up in, in the outfield. Along with her 2015 all-region season, the native of West Virginia's eastern panhandle was also all-region in 2014.

A blue-collar linebacker from nearby Bluefield, West Virginia, Lilly was a three-time All-WVIAC/All-MEC selection in 2011, 2012 and 2013. At the conclusion of his junior season, Lilly was selected as the WVIAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 after piling up 126 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. His senior season was just as impressive with 118 tackles, seven tackles for loss, five forced fumbles and one interception. Lilly was named to the all-region teams in 2012 and 2013, and capped his career on the Beyond Sports Network All-American Team in 2013. Lilly's 377 career tackles are third in program history while his 30 tackles for loss are eighth all-time at CU. He is also the only player in program history with 10 or more forced fumbles.

One of the most prolific scorers in the storied history of Concord men's basketball, Miller ranks in a tie for 10^th in all-time scoring with Will Johnson (CU Hall of Fame Class '98) at 1,746 points. The northern Virginia native did a bulk of his damage from the three-point line as he ranks fourth in program history with 238 made triples. Miller's 42.5 percent from three-point distance is second all-time at Concord. The sharp shooter also ranks sixth at CU in career free-throw percentage (84.4) while shooting over 50 percent for his career from 2013-17. He was a First Team All-MEC performer in 2015 and added an All-MEC Second Team selection in 2017. In four years, Miller scored in double figures 87 times, and was a prominent player to the Concord winning the 2016 MEC Championship, snapping a 19-year championship drought.