ELON, N.C. – The 46th class of Elon University’s Sports Hall of Fame, which will be inducted in a ceremony at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17 in Whitley Auditorium, includes men’s golfer Tim Clark ’92, men’s cross country standout Brian Keller ’97, former football player Chad Nkang ’07 and women’s soccer star Kam Radford ’96. The ceremony is free and open to the public.
Clark earned four letters as a men’s golfer between 1989-92. He began his collegiate career by capturing all-conference honors in 1989 before garnering all-district accolades as a sophomore in the 1990 season. As a junior, Clark was named all-conference and all-district as well as the district player of the year and an all-American. Following his 1992 senior season he picked up all-conference and all-district accolades yet again. Clark was also the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, conference medalist and SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year in 1992. His individual play helped the maroon and gold capture four conference crowns and three district titles (1990-92). The program finished the year ranked in the top-eight nationally in all four seasons that Clark was a member of the squad – eighth in both 1989 and 1990, third in 1991 and seventh in 1992.
A four-year letter-winner and member of the men’s cross country team from 1993-96, Brian Keller helped Elon to South Atlantic Conference titles in 1993, 1994 and 1996 as well as a North Carolina Collegiate Team Championship in 1996. Keller collected all-conference honors in each of his four seasons in the maroon and gold and was named the SAC Runner of the Year following an individual title at the 1994 conference meet. He captured a fourth-place finish at both the 1993 and 1996 SAC Championship and placed second in the 1995 event.
The second all-time tackler in the history of the Elon football program, Nkang lettered for the Phoenix from 2003-06. After beginning his playing career as a fullback, Nkang made the move to linebacker as a sophomore and promptly earned first-team All-Southern Conference and second-team All-South Region honors after making 135 total tackles and recovering three fumbles. In his junior season of 2005 he was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year and picked up first-team All-America honors from four organizations along with second-team Associated Press All-America accolades. The 2005 Football Gazette National Linebacker of the Year and Southeast Region Linebacker of the Year finished fifth in voting for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented to the top FCS defensive player in the country. That year he led the division with 13.82 tackles per game. As a senior in 2006, Nkang again garnered SoCon Defensive Player of the Year distinction along with all-conference honors. He was named a first-team All-American by two organizations and a second-team pick by two others. The 2006 team MVP placed eighth in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award that season and was again named the Football Gazette National Linebacker of the Year. He was named the 2007 recipient of Elon’s Stein H. Basnight Award, which is presented annually to the athletic program’s top male and female athlete. Nkang would participate in the Hula Bowl, earning team MVP honors, and attend the NFL Combine. In his three seasons on the defensive side of the ball, Nkang amassed 414 total tackles, including 181 solo stops and nine sacks. Nkang was a seventh-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played two seasons with the Jaguars, including the 2007 season that saw the team reach the NFL Playoffs. He set a franchise record as a rookie by making 30 tackles on special teams.
Radford was a member of the Elon women’s soccer program from 1991-95, earning letters in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1995. Currently the program’s all-time goal-scorer, Radford netted 59 goals over the course of her career. Her 137 career points still rank third and her 19 assists rate in a tie for sixth on the team’s all-time chart. Radford was a second-team NAIA All-South Region and All-South Atlantic Conference Tournament honoree as a freshman in 1991 after scoring a career-high 20 goals along with seven assists for 47 points. The 47 points stand as the third-most points ever by an Elon player in a season. After missing the 1992 campaign, Radford returned in 1993 to earn second-team all-conference honors. As a junior in 1994, Radford scored 18 goals and had 42 points on her way to first-team All-SAC, first-team All-South Region and second-team All-America accolades. The 1995 first-team All-South Region and all-conference performer netted 13 goals and had 29 points as a senior.