SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference on Thursday announced its 2026 Hall of Fame Class, including App State Football's 2007 national championship team that beat Michigan and Thompson Usiyan, a record-setting star for the men's soccer team from 1977-80.
The ceremony will be held at Battery Park Hall in Asheville on Thursday, March 5, a day before App State starts competition in the SoCon Wrestling Championship tournament at UNC Asheville. Doors open for the ceremony at 7 p.m. that evening, and tickets will go on sale to the public at a later date.
For the first time in the Hall of Fame's existence, teams were eligible for nomination, and App State's iconic 2007 football team received the most votes among those nominees. The other members of the 2026 Hall of Fame Class are Georgia Southern football coach Paul Johnson (1997-2001), The Citadel football standout Paul Maguire (1957-1959), Davidson men's basketball coach Bob McKillop (1992-2014) and Furman women's basketball student-athlete/coach Jackie Smith Carson (1997-2000, 2011-2023).
The 2007 App State Mountaineers captured the national football spotlight early that season, marching into Ann Arbor, Mich., and stunning the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines 34-32 in front of 109,218 fans in the Big House. By Sept. 10, speedster Dexter Jackson was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and the Mountaineers were heavy favorites to win a third straight NCAA Division I-AA National Championship. Hall of Fame Coach Jerry Moore's team did just that, rallying in late October to begin an eight-game win streak with a 34-27 road win at Furman. Wins over Western Carolina and Chattanooga closed out the regular season, and two thrilling wins in the playoffs over James Madison (28-27, thanks to a late fumble recovery in the red zone) and Eastern Washington (38-35) vaulted the Mountaineers into the semifinals. They had little trouble from there, dominating Richmond (55-35, with a record-setting performance from quarterback Armanti Edwards) to reach the finals and steamrolling Delaware 49-21 in Chattanooga's Finley Stadium to cap a three-peat. The Mountaineers became the first program in NCAA Division I-AA history to win three consecutive national titles. The third straight title also marked the first time a Division I program had won three consecutive national titles since Army in 1944, 1945, and 1946. Edwards, guard Kerry Brown, defensive tackle Anthony Williams, linebacker Pierre Banks, safety Corey Lynch, kicker Julian Rauch, running back Kevin Richardson, guard John Holt, center Scott Suttle, defensive end Gary Tharrington and corner Jerome Touchstone were named to the Sports Network I-AA All-America Team, giving App State a record 11 selections in 2007. Jackson and fellow receiver Hans Batichon, linebackers Jacque Roman and DJ Smith and defensive end Tony Robertson earned honorable mention All-America honors from TSN. App State defeated six nationally ranked teams during the 2007 season and averaged a healthy 41.3 points per game offensively. The 2007 Mountaineers had success beyond the college ranks, with eight members going on to appear on NFL regular-season rosters.
Usiyan finished his career at App State as the most prolific scorer in NCAA Division I men's soccer history. Nearly 45 years later, he remains atop that list. A native of Effurun, Nigeria, Usiyan was sensational for the Mountaineers, registering NCAA Division I and SoCon career records with 255 points, 109 goals, and 6.35 points per match – 25 points and 19 goals more than the next-closest scorer. His 1980 season established single-season marks for NCAA Division I and the SoCon in points (108), goals (46), points per match (6.35), and goals per match (2.71), which remain unbroken to this day. A testament to his dominance, Usiyan is listed in the current edition of the NCAA Men's Soccer Record Book 22 times. His second-best single-season marks for points per match (6.00) and goals per match (2.52) also rank second in NCAA Division I history. One of his most electric performances came on Nov. 15, 1978, in the NCAA Tournament, where he blitzed George Washington for an NCAA Division I postseason record 15 points on seven goals and an assist. App State won that match 9-3, advancing to face eventual College Cup participant Clemson in the second round, falling to the Tigers 2-1 in an overtime thriller. Usiyan was named SoCon Player of the Year three times and led App State to a stellar 44-6-3 overall record, which included a 25-0 mark in SoCon regular-season play and three NCAA Tournament appearances. He was named to the Southern Conference's 100th Anniversary Team in 2021. Following his college career, Usiyan spent 14 seasons playing professionally in the United States, both indoor and outdoor. He was named MVP of the MISL in 1992 with the San Diego Sockers, leading the team to a 26-win season and a league championship. Before his time at App State, Usiyan earned a spot on Nigeria's national team roster to play in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, but the country joined 29 other nations in boycotting those games. He was considered a top striker for the Nigerian National Team and scored five career goals in eight international matches played with the Green Eagles. Usiyan passed away on Aug. 31, 2021, at the age of 65 in La Mesa, Calif.
The conference's Executive Committee approved the creation of a SoCon Hall of Fame in 2008, with the first class inducted on May 4, 2009, in Spartanburg, S.C. With the most recent class, the Hall of Fame includes 64 individual members and one team.
Current and former members submit nominations, which an internal committee vets before creating a final ballot. A panel consisting of representation from each current SoCon member institution and a group of voters with historical ties to the league determines the final class. The SoCon Fan Vote, introduced in 2024, is also part of the selection process.
