UH head coach Art Briles has been selected as a 2008 High School Sports Hall of Fame inductee, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.
Briles, who will be inducted May 3, has spent the entirety of his coaching career in Texas and began his tenure as head coach of Stephenville High School in 1988.
In his 12 seasons as head coach at Stephenville, Briles and his team won four Class 4A state championships.
"I’m a Texan. That’s the bottom line. Being a Texas guy, that does make it special." Briles told the Houston Chronicle. "I’m honored and kind of shocked at the same time."
Briles, who played collegiate football at UH as a wide receiver, began his career in 1979 as an assistant coach at Sundown High School.
This is not the first time Briles has received a Hall of Fame nod. In 2006, Briles was inducted into the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in West Texas.
The High School Sports Hall is located in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco.
Thad Johnson, a sports editor at The Beaumont Enterprise from 1943-1971, started the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1951.
After Johnson’s idea was unanimously approved by the Texas Sportswriters Association, Texas became the first state to honor its athletes with a hall of fame.
Briles will have the company of talent such as Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler as well as former Cougar coaches Bill Yeoman and Jack Pardee in the Hall.
Being placed in the same category as previous inductees has been a humbling experience for Briles.
"I guess they had to throw just one normal person in there, and I guess I’m the guy," Briles told the Chronicle.
Briles may be joining some of the biggest names in Texas sports, but he hasn’t forgotten everyone who has been with him along the way.
"I’m in total gratitude to all the dedicated players and coaches that I’ve been fortunate to have been around for the last 30 years," Briles told the Chronicle. "It’s a tremendous honor, it really is."
