ELON, N.C. – The 48th class of Elon University’s Sports Hall of Fame, which will be inducted in a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 8, includes men’s tennis standout Damon Gooch ’09, football All-American Terrell Hudgins ’10 and men’s golfer Jimmy Lytle ’08.
Gooch was a four-year letterwinner for the men’s tennis program from 2005-09. The two-time team captain earned three team MVP honors and holds the program’s NCAA Division I record with 64 career dual singles wins. His 67 career dual doubles wins rank second in the program’s Division I history. Over the course of Gooch’s career, the Phoenix posted an 80-23 overall record and went 33-4 in Southern Conference play, capturing two regular season league titles. Gooch was named the 2006 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection in both singles and doubles as the maroon and gold went 19-5 overall and 8-1 in league play.
The following season, he again earned first-team All-SoCon accolades in both single and doubles as he helped the Phoenix to a 23-3 overall record and a perfect 9-0 ledger in conference play. That year, Elon advanced to NCAA tournament play. As a junior, Gooch garnered first-team all-conference honors in both singles and doubles as he helped Elon to a 17-9, 7-2 mark.
In 2009, Gooch again captured first-team all-league honors in singles and doubles and was named the recipient of Elon’s Stein H. Basnight Award as the most outstanding male athlete. That year he helped the Phoenix to a 21-6, 9-1 record and competed in NCAA Tournament play in both singles and doubles. In NCAA Tournament singles play, Gooch advanced to the Round of 32. He ranked 72nd nationally in singles and 38th in doubles in 2009. Over the course of his career, Gooch earned six Southern Conference Player of the Week honors, three SoCon Player of the Month accolades and was named an ITA Scholar Athlete.
Hudgins was a four-year lettterwinner for the football squad from 2006-09. One of the greatest players to ever play at the NCAA FCS level, Hudgins was the first receiver in Division I history to post four 1,000-yard receiving seasons as he set 10 NCAA records. Among the records he established during his time in the maroon and gold were career receptions (395) and career receiving yards (5,250), both of which currently rank second all-time at the FCS level. He currently holds the FCS career record for receptions per game (8.78). His 45 career touchdown receptions currently rank third in the history of FCS football, while his career 116.7 receiving yards per game ranks fourth. Hudgins compiled 28 career 100-yard receiving games and three 200-yard receiving games. Hudgins ranks third in the history of the Elon program with 5,277 career all-purpose yards and holds the program’s FCS records for single-season points (110) and career points (316).
In 2006, Hudgins was named first-team All-Southern Conference by the league’s media and second-team by the coaches after catching 69 passes for 1,027 yards and eight touchdowns. That year he was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press.
As a sophomore, Hudgins led all of FCS with 117 receptions, 10.64 receptions per game, 1,474 receiving yards, 134.0 receiving yards per game and tied for the lead with 18 receiving touchdowns. Hudgins earned first-team All-America honors from the Associated Press, The Sports Network, College Sporting News, the Walter Camp Football Foundation and CollegeSportsReport.com as well as first-team all-conference accolades. He earned seven national player of the week honors and finished 11th in the voting for the 2007 Walter Payton Award.
In 2008, Hudgins caught 86 passes for 1,116 yards and 10 touchdowns and again earned first-team All-America and all-league distinction. He placed 15th in the Walter Payton Award voting as a junior. In his senior campaign, Hudgins helped Elon to its first-ever FCS Playoff appearance as he led all of FCS with 123 receptions, 10.25 receptions per game, 1,633 receiving yards and 136.1 receiving yards per game. The first-team All-American finished as the runner-up for the Walter Payton Award and was again a first-team All-SoCon honoree.
In 2009 he picked up two national player of the week awards. The 2009 team concluded the season ranked ninth in the final The Sports Network top 25 and 10th in the coaches poll, while the 2008 squad ended the year ranked 17th by The Sports Network and 19th by the coaches. Hudgins was the 2010 recipient of Elon’s Stein H. Basnight Award as the department’s top male athlete.
Lytle was a four-year letterwinner for the men’s golf team from 2004-08. At the conclusion of his career he held Elon’s NCAA Division I record with a 73.65 career stroke average, a number that still ranks second. Lytle’s career 1.89 vs. par currently is the record for the program at the Division I level. He also hold’s program Division I records with 12 career top-five finishes, 22 career top-10 showings, 46 career rounds of par or better and 130 career total rounds played. He is tied for second on the program’s Division I chart with two individual tournament wins and ranks third with 48 career tournaments played.
The four-time team MVP won one medalist honor as Elon captured one tournament crown in his freshman season. The following year, Lytle earned second-team All-Southern Conference honors. As a junior, Lytle was a first-team all-conference honoree after posting a 72.84 stroke average, a number that still ranks as the sixth-best in the program’s Division I tenure. That year he established a program record with six top-five finishes and helped the Phoenix to a pair of team titles.
In his final year at Elon, Lytle notched a stroke average of 72.51, a mark that now ranks as the fourth-best average in the program’s Division I tenure. He set a program record with eight top-10 individual finishes and was a first-team All-SoCon selection. His play earned him an individual spot in the NCAA West Regional, the first for the program at the Division I level. Over the course of his career, Lytle earned two SoCon Golfer of the Week Awards and two SoCon Golfer of the Month honors.