Cheyney University will host its 27th Annual Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Friday, September 30 at 6:00 pm in the Ada Georges Dining Hall on the university campus.

Chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee, Dr. Robert Murray has announced that Dr. J.B. Flynn, Ann Strong Jaynes, John “Lefty” Johnson, Casper Lonesome, Randy Monroe, Fred Pickett Jr., Dr. Anthony Pinnie and Anthony Sorrell have all been selected to enter the Cheyney University Athletic Hall of Fame.  Flynn has been a fixture at the University for 36 years and was coach of the football team.  Strong Jaynes lettered in both volleyball and basketball.  Lefty Johnson is a former quarterback for the Wolves as well as president of the C Club.  Lonesome earned four letters in football and basketball while at Cheyney.  Monroe is a former Cheyney basketball player and assistant coach.  Pickett is the legendary coach at Chester High School.  Pinnie wore many hats during his tenure at Cheyney.  Among them were, Assistant Coach, Sports Information Director, Public Relations Director and professor just to name a few.  Sorrell was a standout on the gird iron as well as the hardwood.

The banquet will also mark the portrait unveiling of 2004 class of inductees.  Tickets may be purchased in the Athletic Department for $ 25.00.  For additional information contact the Athletic Department at 610-399-2287.

Anthony Sorrell

During his freshman and sophomore years at Cheyney, Sorrell had the good fortune of playing two sports.  During the fall he was a starting member of the Wolves football team playing running back when the Wolves had the ball and defensive back when Cheyney was on defense.  In the winter time he was the starting guard on the basketball team.

Sorrell looks back on those days with a great deal of fondness.  To be able to play two sports at the collegiate level was a dream come true and is still today looked upon with true admiration.

Sorrell taught in the Philadelphia School District as a Special Education teacher until he retired in 1994.  He also worked part-time for the Department of Recreation for ten years.  He coached midget football for eight years.

Sorrell is the father of three grown children and nine years ago became a grandparent.  He is married to “Tender,” Barbara Rose Sorrell.  Sorrell is a 1959 graduate of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.

John R “Lefty” Johnson

Lefty earned varsity letters in football and track and field.   A 1960 graduate of Cheyney Lefty played quarterback, linebacker and was the place kicker for the Wolves.   Lefty was a javelin thrower as a member of the track and field team. 

After graduation from Cheyney, Lefty enrolled in Temple University’s Tyler School of Art to improve his graphic arts skills.  Through the Tyler program he traveled and studied in England, France and Italy.  Lefty returned to teach in the School District of Philadelphia and to form his own graphics company – FabPrint.  It was through FabPrint that he began his payback to Cheyney.  In 1981 Lefty designed and donated jerseys for the women’s basketball team about to compete in the first NCAA Championship in Norfolk, Virginia.   He designed and donated running singlets for the Cheyney track and field and cross country teams.  Most recently, he donated t-shirts and wool caps for the members of the Cheyney football team. 

In 1988, Lefty was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Alumni Association.  In 1989, he was elected President of the Board of Directors of the National Alumni Association and a lifetime member of the Association.  In 2005, Lefty was elected President of the newly reactivated “C” Club whose mission is to raise money for student-athletes. 

Even today, Lefty still gives back.

Randy Monroe

Monroe graduated from Cheyney with honors (Magna Cum Laude – 3.5) in 1987 and was a power forward on the basketball team during the 1984-85 season.  He also came back to his alma mater as an assistant coach from 1985 - 1987. 

Monroe is currently the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, a position he was promoted to a year ago.  Prior to that, Monroe served as an assistant coach for the UMBC Retrievers for ten seasons.  In 2003, Monroe was recognized as the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year.  During the 1993-94 campaign Monroe was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt.   The Commodores were an NIT finalist that year.  After leaving Cheyney in 1987, Monroe was an assistant coach at LaSalle for five seasons.  While at LaSalle, the Explores earned three NCAA bids and one NIT bid.  While on the Philadelphia campus he had the opportunity to coach National Player of the Year Lionel Simmoms, Doug Overton, Randy Woods and Jack Hurd just to name a few. 

The winners were selected from a field of more than 350,000 coaches across the nation. The criteria in the second annual AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year program allowed for coaches to win based on longevity, expertise, contributions to the school and community, and special achievements throughout their careers.

Dr. Anthony Pinnie

Dr. Pinnie worked at Cheyney University for 25 years in several different capacities.  He served as Sports Information Director for 16 years from 1966 to 1982.  He was also assistant basketball coach to John Chaney, Hal Blitman and Tony Coma.  While at Cheyney, Pinnie was also a professor of education administration until he retired in 1991.

Besides teaching courses in numerous disciplines, Pinnie also served as Director of the Educational Development Center at Cheyney University.  He was also Director of the Cheyney Migrant Program, Cheyney’s Public Relations Director, the Director of Public Relations for the Rose Tree Media School District and Director of Teacher Corps/Peace Corps Program. Pinnie also served the United States as a Special Agent in counter intelligence in 1955 for the U.S. Army. 

Pinnie graduated from Southern High School in 1949.  He went on to earn his degree from Penn State in 1953.  Pinnie continued his education at Temple University earning a Masters in Education in 1959 and a Doctorate in 1965.  He went on to become a post doctoral fellow at Cambridge University in England (1972-1973).  Pinnie continued his education back in the United States earning a law degree from the University of Delaware in 1979. 

Pinnie is practicing attorney and adjunct faculty member at Widener University. He has four children and six grandchildren. 

Casper “Cass” Lonesome

Lonesome was a two sport athlete while at Cheyney.  He was a 4-year letter winner in both football and basketball.  As a football player he was a tight end and a forward/center on the basketball team. 

Lonesome is a 1956 graduate of Cheyney University.  He went on to earn his masters in counseling from Trenton State (1968) and his doctorate in 1976 from Antioch University.  Lonesome is a founder of the Apex Educational Consulting.  Apex is a highly skilled group of consultants which specialize in educational solutions that bring practical and innovative approaches to their clients. 

Lonesome has extensive professional experience and training in counseling, urban education, management and supervision, assessment and data analysis, program development and teaching.  Cass worked at a middle school through college, and with a charter high school.  His knowledge is expansive in practical and proven approaches to academic and counseling program development, particularly those challenges faced by diverse academic environments.  His recent focus is on assessing and changing thinking patterns and facilitating effective problem solving.  He has worked with students and professionals alike, to channel their skills, knowledge and actions for greater success and personal goal attainment.  Besides numerous workshop presentations, Cass has authored three articles: Educating the Forgotten African American Youth that addresses the use of traditional tests that unfairly label students; A Structured Tutorial Program for Urban Underachievers at the Twelfth Grade Level which demonstrates the impact of one to one tutoring on student achievement; and Minority Student Achievement: A Comparison  of Minority and Non-Minority Views that researches the widening gap between both groups and strategies to address this dilemma.   

Fred Pickett Jr.

Pickett began his coaching career 1982 as an assistant coach at Delaware County Community College.  After three years at the Media, PA school, Pickett moved to Chester High School and has been there ever since.  In 1985 he became an assistant coach at Chester High School, a position he held for ten years.  In 1995 Pickett was named head coach at Chester.  This past March, Chester was PIAA AAAA State Champion.  Pickett was also voted PIAA AAAA Coach of the Year by the Associated Press and was inducted into the Chester High School Athletic Hall of Fame.  Five years earlier he led Chester to the PIAA AAAA State Championship.  He was also voted PIAA AAAA Coach of the Year and Delaware County Coach of the Year.

To date Pickett has amassed a 245-65 overall record.  He has qualified for ten state championship tournaments.  He competed in three state championship games, winning two (2000 & 2005) and runner-up once (2003).  Chester has appeared in five final fours.  Under Pickett’s direction, Chester won five District 1 Tournaments and Eight Del Val League Championships.

He is the winningest coach in Chester High School history and Chester’s first coach to win four consecutive District 1 Championships.  He has captured seven consecutive league championships (1998-2005) and ten consecutive 20 win seasons (1995-

2005).

Pickett earned his B.A. in Recreation in 1986.  

Ann Strong – Jaynes

Strong lettered in two sports while at Cheyney.  She was a hitter on the volleyball team and a forward- center on basketball team.  In 1981, Strong-Jaynes was on the team that competed in the first ever NCAA Division I women’s basketball championship.  She was also part of the team that went to the final four in 1983.  After she graduate in 1986, she played overseas in Bilboa, Spain.  Upon her return to the states, she coached high school girls’ basketball in Toledo, Ohio. 

Since 1994 she has been employed by Crown Cork & Seal.  For the past two years she has also tutored elementary and high school students for an after school.  She is currently going back to school pursuing an associate’s degree in radiology.

Dr. J.B. Flynn

Flynn earned his Bachelor of Science in Physical Education at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.  He went on to earn his Masters of Science in Physical Education from Bowling Green State University before earning his Doctorate of Education from Temple University. 

He began his professional career teaching in 1966 at the Sandusky Public Schools in Ohio.  Flynn was the first black male to teach and coach at the secondary level in Sandusky.  After three years in Sandusky, Flynn moved to Cheyney where he has been ever since.  When he started at Cheyney in 1969 as a professor, he was also named Defensive Coordinator.  He continued in that capacity until 1983.  Flynn coached many great players in his tenure, including All-American linebacker Alonzo Covert, Maxwell Award Winner, Art Henry (1972-1973) and All State Safety Marvin Frazier (1972).  In 1972 he was the architect of one of the best defensives in the country.  Cheyney set a school record of seven interceptions in one game, led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division in every defensive category.  The Wolves only surrendered 89 yards per game rushing, 75 yards passing, ranked sixth in the country in total defense, led the PSAC and nation in interceptions (29) and shut out four opponents. 

 In 1983 he was chair of the physical education curriculum committee.  In 1995 he was named Chairperson of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation a position he held until 1991.  Over the next several years while still teaching, Flynn was Chair of the University Self Assessment Committee, Co-Director of University Planning and Co-Chair of Faculty Professional Development Committee.  In 1994, Flynn was named Interim Vice President for Student Affairs. 

Flynn continues to be a full professor in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department, teaching classes in recreation, physical education and health.  He has been published several times, submitted several grants and served on and chaired countless university committees.  His professional and community presentations are too numerous to mention.