By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Ohio Valley Conference announced its Hall of Fame Class of 2023 this morning and longtime University of Tennessee at Martin head golf coach Jerry Carpenter was one of three names elected to the prestigious honor.
Carpenter joins the late Middle Tennessee head track and field coach Dean Hayes and former SIUE head softball coach Sandy Montgomery in this year’s class. That trio will officially be inducted at the annual OVC Honors Brunch, held on Friday, June 2 in Nashville.
During his tenure as Skyhawk head golf coach (2002-20), Carpenter elevated the program to new heights – helping the program to their first OVC championship in 2016. The Newbern, Tenn. native was named OVC Coach of the Year twice (2014 and 2016) and guided individual UT Martin players to OVC Championship medalist accolades in three consecutive seasons from 2015-17 – becoming just the third OVC school to ever accomplish that feat. He also coached three straight OVC Freshman of the Year honorees (2013-15), becoming the first program in OVC history to achieve that honor.
Overall, the Skyhawks won 24 tournaments during Carpenter’s tenure – which is 24th all-time in NCAA Division I men’s golf history. UT Martin won four tournaments during his final season and was a favorite to capture another OVC championship before the event was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through his final season at the helm, he had coached 30 of the program’s 35 players to earn All-OVC, OVC All-Tournament or OVC All-Newcomer status.
With that said, Carpenter’s most impressive feats may have come away from the course. His Skyhawk teams won seven OVC Team Sportsmanship Awards (including six in a row from 2014-19) and always excelled academically.
Carpenter was inducted into the UT Martin Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021. In March of this year, the program dedicated the “Jerry Carpenter Practice Grounds” at the Rhodes Golf Center in honor of the second head coach in Skyhawk history. Last month, the UTMmys unveiled the “Jerry Carpenter Spirit of the Skyhawk Award”, which will be handed out to the student-athlete that best exemplifies the core values of UT Martin Athletics at the department’s annual student-athlete banquet moving forward.
A 1966 UT Martin graduate, Carpenter has been associated with his alma mater for nearly 60 years. Following his retirement as head golf coach, he has been a volunteer assistant with the Skyhawk program in each of the last three seasons.
The OVC Hall of Fame was organized in 1977 with the intent of honoring the coaches, administrators, faculty and staff that have been associated with the OVC for at least five years and provided extensive, outstanding service to the Conference. With the induction of this year’s class, the membership will reach 96. Carpenter will be the fourth UT Martin ambassador in the OVC Hall of Fame, joining former Chancellor Margaret Perry (Class of 1998), late head men’s basketball coach Cal Luther (Class of 2000) and late athletic director Phil Dane (Class of 2021).
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information