The ring commemorating the Texas Tech men's track and field team's 2023 Big 12 outdoor championship looks big enough to slide off of Wes Kittley's finger. Bling for the team's 2024 indoor national championship hasn't come in just yet, so Kittley is fine celebrating the past for now.
The same can be said for the Texas Tech athletics Hall of Honor. Normally reserved for coaches and administrators who have been away from Texas Tech for a decade or so, Will Culpepper, executive director of the Double T Varsity Club, said those rules were changed a few years ago. That means while Kittley is still guiding the Red Raiders, will also be inducted into the Hall of Honor during the Nov. 8 ceremony.
"I can't tell you what it did with my heart to get this award now while I'm still coaching," Kittley said Wednesday, "because I didn't think it was possible. It just means everything because my 25 years culminating, raising our boys here and our families here, and have (Texas Tech football offensive coordinator) Zach here to coach is bringing everybody in my family close together. And for them to be able to enjoy that also is just second to none. ..."
Kittley is one of eight who will be honored this year. Texas Tech will welcome six new members to its athletics Hall of Fame, including Danny Amendola (football), Cory Carr (men's basketball), Amanda Dowdy (volleyball), Taylor Lytle (soccer), Ifeatu Okafor (track) and Omo Osaghee (track).
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Derrell "Mookie" Mitchell will receive the Heritage Award, which has been given annually to a former letterwinner who achieved great things after their Texas Tech careers.
Culpepper said the Hall of Fame voting — done exclusively by former players, coaches, trainers and managers — had its highest volume of votes ever. Only athletes who received all-America or all-conference honors are eligible for the Hall of Fame. Athletes must also be nominated by former players to be on the ballot.
"It's a class for the players and by the players," Culpepper said.
Amendola, winner of two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, suited up for the Red Raiders from 2004 to 2007. He was a three-time all-Big 12 selection, including a first team nod as a true freshman punt returner. He accumulated 204 receptions, 2,246 yards and 15 touchdowns in his time at Tech and still ranks second all-time at Tech for single-season receptions when he brought in 109 as a senior.
Carr is among the best scorers to ever don a Texas Tech basketball uniform. The Kingsland, Arkansas, native averaged 23.1 points per game during his junior year and upped that to 23.3 as a senior. He ranks second all-time in 3-pointers with 262 and is sixth on the scoring list. He was a second round pick by the Chicago Bulls in 1998 and started seven games during the 1998-99 before embarking on a lengthy overseas career.
Dowdy, who also competed for Kittley in indoor track as a high jumper, was twice named first team all-Big 12 during her volleyball career, just one of two Tech players to achieve that mark. She's second in program history with 1,495 kills and holds the record for single-game kills with 37. She joined the Pro Beach Volleyball League in 2017 and retired from the professional circuit in 2021.
Lytle still holds the Texas Tech soccer record for all-time assists as one of the pillars of Tom Stone's early tenure in Lubbock. She led the Red Raiders in assists, points and shots as a freshman. Competing from 2008 to 2011, Lytle was named a team captain in her junior and senior seasons, starting 36 matches and notching five goals and eight assists in that span. She played for the U.S. women's national under-23 team in 2012 and had a pro career with the National Professional Soccer League, playing for Sky Blue FC and Utah Royals FC.
Osaghae is a Lubbock native who earned first team all-American status four times. He won the 60-meter indoor hurdles to help Tech claim its first Big 12 championship in 2009. Osaghae added a 110 outdoor hurdles title the same year. At one point, Osaghae held the fastest time in the world in the 60 hurdles when he ran a 7.45 at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championship, becoming the first Red Raider to win an individual world title.
Okafor won the Big 12 title in the shot put during the 2011 outdoor meet to become a first team all-American. She was named first team all-Big 12 twice and set the school record in the event in 2011 until it was broken in 2022. She's the second-best thrower in Tech history, topping out at 58 feet, 3-3/4 inches. Okafor was also named NCAA Woman of the Year in 2013 and was the recipient of the Big 12 Conference Dr. Gerald Lage Award, the league's highest academic honor, in 2012.
Heritage Award recipient Mitchell is being honored for his success after Texas Tech. He was a standout receiver with the Red Raiders from 1992-93 and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2016 following an 11-year career that saw him play with the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos. He earned CFL rookie of the year in 1997 in leading the Argonauts to the Grey Cup, which he won twice in his career.
Each of these inductees have wrapped up their careers. Meanwhile, Kittley's still going strong.
Wrapping up his 25th year at Tech this past season, Kittley is the longest-tenured coach in school history. His accolades include 12 team Big 12 championships while 36 individual athletes have garnered NCAA titles under his leadership. Kittley's teams have finished in the Top 10 at the NCAA championships 18 times including eight Top 5 finishes.
Texas Tech captured the 2019 men's outdoor national championship and added an indoor national title earlier this year.
He led the men to the Big 12 indoor title and NCAA indoor titles this past year. Kittley signed a seven-year deal worth $3.8 million last summer and has previously said he plans to coach past the age of 70. Earning a nod to the Hall of Honor while striving for more is a great honor in itself for Kittley.
"Nothing's changed, Kittley said. "It's the greatest time ever to be at Texas Tech. ... I feel like in my career, the last five years we've got two national championships and I think we're right at the heart of having an opportunity to just do some more great things for the university and I just want to give back the best I can."
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