Class of 2023
Tony Brothers
Francena McCorory
Tommy Reamon, Sr.
Michael Vick
Ryan Zimmerman
Kenny Magner – Unsung Hero Award
TONY BROTHERS – A graduate of Booker T. Washington High School and Old Dominion University, has been one of the top officials in the National Basketball Association since making his NBA debut in 1994. As of 2023, he has worked more than 1,700 regular-season games and almost 200 in the playoffs. In a recent survey of NBA players by The Athletic, Brothers was chosen as the league’s best referee. He serves as the coordinator of women’s basketball officials for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Brothers established the Still Hope Foundation and Men For Hope, two charitable organizations that provide resources for families in the Hampton Roads area. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in public administration from ODU, and in 2014 the school recognized him with the Distinguished Alumni Award. He received an honorary doctorate of letters from Norfolk State University.
FRANCENA MCCORORY – has won championships and set records as a track star at Bethel High School, Hampton University, and representing the U.S. on the world stage. At Bethel she led the Bruins to six state team championships (three indoors, three outdoors). She won 15 individual championships and six more in relays, setting the U.S. prep record in the indoor 400 meters. At Hampton, she won three NCAA titles and broke the U.S. national record in the 400. That was merely setting the stage for her international career, where she would win Olympic gold in the 4×400 relay in 2012 and in 2016. She won four more relay golds and one individual gold at world championship meets. McCorory earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from HU and currently operates a meet management company.
TOMMY REAMON SR. – A Newport News native Tommy Reamon Sr. has established an outstanding legacy on the football field as both a player and a coach. He was a standout running back at George Washington Carver High School in the days when local schools were still segregated. At Fort Scott Junior College in Kansas, he was twice named the top offensive junior college player in the nation. He transferred to University of Missouri, where he was the Tigers’ top rusher for two seasons. He played two seasons in the upstart World Football League, winning the MVP award in 1974. Reamon also played in the NFL and the Canadian Football League. He returned to Hampton Roads and has served as head football coach at Ferguson, Warwick, Gloucester, Landstown and Denbigh high schools, winning almost 200 games. Two of the quarterbacks he coached, Michael Vick and Aaron Brooks, went on to stardom in the NFL.
MICHAEL VICK – Vick was one of the most electrifying players ever to take the field in college football and the NFL, changing the quarterback position forever with his dynamic style of play. After a standout prep career at Ferguson and Warwick high schools in Newport News, Vick moved on to Virginia Tech, where he led the Hokies to the NCAA championship game at the end of the 2000 season. The Atlanta Falcons made him the top selection in the 2001 NFL draft, and his ability to run with the football as well as passing it made him an instant star and the iconic face of the popular Madden NFL video game. In his NFL career, which also included time with the Eagles, Jets and Steelers, he passed for
22,464 yards and 133 touchdowns, and he rushed for 6,109 yards, the most ever by an NFL quarterback. He currently works as an analyst for Fox Sports.
RYAN ZIMMERMAN – A Kellam High School graduate Ryan Zimmerman went on to a baseball career that established him as one of the best and most popular players ever to wear the Washington Nationals uniform. Zimmerman was an All-American and a three-year starter at University of Virginia. In 2004 he led Team USA to the championship of the World University Games, batting .468 and earning MVP honors. USA Baseball gave him the Dick Case Award as the nation’s top amateur player. The Nationals chose him with the fourth pick in the 2005 MLB draft, and Zimmerman played in Washington until his retirement in 2021. He won a World Series title with the Nationals in 2019 and he set franchise records for hits, home runs, runs, RBI and total bases. To honor his mother, Zimmerman established the ziMS Foundation to support those afflicted with multiple sclerosis.
UNSUNG HERO AWARD
KENNY MAGNER – In 1978 the Tidewater Tides hired Kenny Magner, making him the youngest head groundskeeper in the International League at the time. Over more than four decades spanning two different ballparks, Magner has overseen every aspect of groundskeeping duties for the Tides. When the
Tides relocated from Met Park to Harbor Park in 1993, it was Magner who installed home plate and the pitcher’s mound. He’s worked over 3,000 games, including a stretch in which he went 23 years without missing a game.
Magner was twice honored as the International League Sports Turf Manager of the Year, in 1993 and 1997 and was a 2019 recipient of the Spirit of the International League Award. In 2023, Magner Announced his retirement after 46 seasons with the ballclub. The Tides capped off Magner’s career with an international League and Triple-A title.