MARTIN, Tenn. – Joe Exum, a 1969 graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin who was commissioned a lieutenant in the Armor branch of the United States Army, will represent the Skyhawks in the “Hoops for Heroes” initiative at this week’s Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championships. Now retired, Exum was Senior Vice President of Reelfoot Bank in Union City, Tenn. For 23 years, he was also Chairman of the Board of Leland Powell Fasteners based in Martin.
Exum will be formally recognized this Friday, March 6 in an on-court presentation during the men’s semifinals session of the 2020 OVC Basketball Championship tournament, which will be held at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
Selected by the UT Martin Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Exum served as Executive Officer of an AIT Company in Fort Knox, Ky. and additionally as a tank platoon leader and acting company commander in Vietnam. He was a Distinguished Military Graduate from UT Martin’s ROTC program and later served in the Tennessee Army National Guard.
Following his active-duty military service, Exum earned a graduate degree from the University of Alabama. He was a loan officer at First Federal Savings and Loan Association in West Point, Ga., a divisional sales manager with Pepsi Cola in Marion, Ill. and a Senior Vice President of Reelfoot Bank in Union City, Tenn. For 23 years, he was also Chairman of the Board of Leland Powell Fasteners based in Martin.
Now retired, Exum is a member of the University of Tennessee President’s Council and the UT Martin Chancellor’s Roundtable. In 2017, he received the Chancellor’s Award for University Service from UT Martin.
Exum has been married for 51 years to Vicki Pettit Exum. The couple has two daughters and three grandchildren.
The “Hoops for Heroes” program is in its 10th year, as the OVC SAAC representatives created the program as a way to honor military men and women in OVC communities. The honorees receive a two-night hotel stay in Evansville, up to four tickets to Friday and Saturday’s tournament sessions, as well as gas and meal gift cards.