LUBBOCK, Texas - Former Wichita State baseball standout Phil Stephenson was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame on July 4 in Lubbock, Texas. Stephenson is one of 11 student-athletes and head coaches inducted into the second-ever class.

Stephenson, a native of Guthrie, Okla., played for the Shockers from 1979-82. He was the NCAA Player-of-the-Year in 1982 and still holds NCAA records for career hits (418), runs (420), total bases (730), stolen bases (206) and walks (300).

"I was contacted about making the Hall of Fame in March," said Stephenson, "and if you know me, that was pretty hard for me to keep under my hat. I want to thank my brother Gene Stephenson (current head coach at Wichita State and second-winningest coach in NCAA sports history with 1,600-plus victories) for my baseball knowledge and for taking me into the program after he just had coached at Wichita State for two years at that time. (Fellow inductee) Fred Lynn and I used to sit on the end of the San Diego Padres bench, and I was fascinated by his great baseball stories. Congratulations to Fred and this entire class."

The Class of 2007 and honorees theme "Where the Past Meets the Present" included collegiate greats Jim Abbott of Michigan, coach F.C. "Bobo" Brayton of Washington State, coach Jim Brock (posthumously) of Arizona State, coach and player Bibb Falk (posthumously) of Texas, Pete Incaviglia of Oklahoma State, coach (Arizona) and player (Minnesota) Jerry Kindall, Fred Lynn of Southern California, John Olerud of Washington State, coach Dick Siebert (posthumously) of Minnesota, Phil Stephenson of Wichita State, and Derek Tatsuno of Hawaii.

Also recognized this week were members of the inaugural veterans class (pre-1947 era players and coaches, all posthumously) _ coach Jack Barry of Holy Cross, Lou Gehrig of Columbia, Christy Mathewson of Bucknell, and Alabama coach and player Joe Sewell. Gehrig, Mathewson and Sewell also are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

The attending class of 2007 and representatives appeared very satisfied with the reception and hospitality of the people of Lubbock and West Texas _ home of the future College Baseball Hall of Fame. Current artifacts and oral histories are being housed at the Southwest Collection archives at Texas Tech University. In addition, 41st U.S. President George H.W. Bush, a member of Yale's 1947 and ?48 NCAA World Series teams, has agreed to lend his name to the upcoming College Baseball Hall of Fame facility at a location to be determined in the Lubbock area.

Among the 11 modern inductees there was a total of 158 total seasons and 16 NCAA crowns as players or coaches.