2015 NSU Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet RSVP

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Northeastern State University Director of Athletics Tony Duckworth announced Tuesday the 2015 NSU Athletics Hall of Fame inductees.
 
The newest class includes three All-Americans, one national championship team, one World War II veteran, and a former member of the field hockey and volleyball teams. The additions to the NSU Athletics Hall of Fame are Mike Adams, Jim Bittle, Eric Moore, Keith Miller, and the 1994 Football Team. Rose Cheek has been selected as the first Spirit of Excellence member.

"The Northeastern State University Department of Athletics welcomes its newest members into our prestigious Hall of Fame," Duckworth said. "The caliber of the 2015 class ranks among the best ever given the number of All-American's inducted."
 
The class will be enshrined at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet at 11 a.m. Feb. 28 in the community room of the NSU Event Center. The banquet will precede the Northeastern State basketball team's contests against Fort Hays State University.
 
1994 FOOTBALL TEAM             FOOTBALL                                        1994
The 1994 Northeastern State football team captured the second NAIA Division I National Championship in school history after posting a 10-2 record. The Redmen broke 11 school records, including most shutouts (4), most interceptions (28) and most teams held to negative rushing yards (3). NSU also finished with eight All-Americans (three on offense, five on defense).
 
Long-time coach Tom Eckert was honored as the national coach of the year, while All-American running back Eddie Akins was named the NAIA Championship Player of the Game.
 
The team defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 13-12 on the road in the title game. The Redmen took down Langston 3-0 in the national semifinal, avenging a 35-33 loss earlier in the campaign. The 1994 team led the entire nation in rushing yards allowed per game (81.3).
 
MIKE ADAMS                               FOOTBALL/TRACK                          1983-88
Mike Adams was a two-sport athlete at NSU, and he was also inducted into the NSU Student Hall of Fame in 1988. He was honored as an NAIA First Team All-American in 1987 as a member of the football team, and he was also a three-time All-Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference performer (1985-87). He served as team captain in both 1986 and 1987, and also signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys after graduating from Northeastern State.
 
As a member of the track team, Adams was a four-time national championship qualifier in the 110 meter hurdles. He was a four-time conference champion in the same event and also won two 110m hurdle District 9 championships. He holds seven school track records.
 
During his professional career, Adams has coached football and taught at Enid High School, East Central High School, Sperry High School, Bishop Kelley High School and Memorial High School. He also served as the Athletic Director for Tahlequah Public Schools.
 
Adams has three children, Dawson, Jake and Cole. He currently resides in Owasso and is a member of the Farmer's Insurance family.
 
JIM BITTLE                                   BASKETBALL/BASEBALL               1946-51
Jim Bittle has been inducted into the NSU Athletics Hall of Fame posthumously. He was an All-Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference performer as a member of the basketball team. He was also one of the top baseball players for NSU.
 
Bittle served in the United States military during World War II and was discharged in 1947. He graduated from Northeastern State in 1951 with a degree in mathematics.
 
He served 34 years as an athletics coach and education administrator in the public school system in Oklahoma. He also competed as a steer roper in professional rodeos and served as a lay minister for the trucker ministries for cross country truck drives.
 
He was married to Jean Wells Bittle.
 
KEITH MILLER                            FOOTBALL                                        1975-79
Keith Miller was a four-year letterwinner on the NSU football team, and he left the school with seven school records. He was an NAIA All-American in 1976 and was named the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Year in 1978. He was also a three-time All-OIC performer and a three-time All-District 9 honoree.
 
He was selected in the eighth round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, and he played one season for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.
 
Miller graduated from Northeastern State in 1979. He currently resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and works at Snows Furniture. He has been married to Janetta Miller for 33 years, and the couple has three children; Alicia, Kristan and Keith, Jr.
 
ERIC MOORE                                MEN'S GOLF                                      2000-04
Eric Moore was a four-year letterwinner at Northeastern State. He was named a Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-American in 2003 and 2004, and he was also a two-time GCAA All-America Scholar (2003-04). He was captain of the 2004 team that finished seventh at the NCAA Championship and won the NCAA South Central Regional Championship. The finish at nationals is still the best in school history, and the 2004 team remains the only team in school history to bring home a regional championship.
 
Moore tied for 35th at the national championship, which marked the best individual finish in school history at the national finals. He was also named to the 2004 Lone Star Conference All-Academic Team and the 2003 LSC Commissioners Honor Roll.
 
He earned both his masters and bachelors degrees from Northeastern State, and he also served as graduate assistant for the Redmen golf teams.
 
After leaving NSU, Moore competed professionally on both the Nationwide and Hooters Tours, while also competing at the PGA Tour Qualifying School. He is currently the head men's golf coach at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. He is also married to 2014 NSU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Alli Toomer Moore.
 
ROSE CHEEK                                FIELD HOCKEY/BASKETBALL       1974-79
Rose Cheek competed in field hockey and basketball during her time at Northeastern State. She graduated from NSU in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education, with a minor in business.
 
Cheek has spent time since leaving NSU coaching athletics and teaching health classes at the elementary and high school levels. She has coached a plethora of sports, including basketball, softball, track, football, volleyball, and cheerleading. She has spent the past 28 years as the senior high volleyball coach at Siloam Springs High School in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. She has led her team to seven state championships, which includes a state record six straight.

Cheek has served on the coaching staff of the annual Arkansas State All-Star game five times. She was also selected as the 2013 National Volleyball Coach of the Year by Prep Athletics, a sports magazine in Iowa. She has been named the NFHS Regional Coach of the Year and has been honored four times as the NFHS Arkansas State Coach of the Year.

She is married to former NSU graduate Bill Willis.
 
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