 Our first inductee is Jeb Barber. Jeb, a 2002 graduate of Villa Julie, served in a variety of roles in the athletic department. He was the lead men's basketball assistant coach for six seasons, was an assistant athletic director, and also did stints as the men's tennis coach and sports information director. The foundation of Villa Julie's athletics was really some individuals who worked very hard, understood what college athletics was to be, and worked very hard to get Villa Julie up to speed. You know, the history of Villa Julie, we have 25-year history of NCAA athletics. Well, Jeb was a part of 10 years of that. I mean, you're talking 40% of Villa Julie and Stevenson's history, and we do have athletes that were pioneers in their era as far as helping teams compete, and he certainly did that with tennis, but he was a pioneer administratively. He was a pioneer for our sports information staff, our game day operations, our equipment managers, our strength and conditioning. He was a pioneer administratively as well. And matter of fact, he did jobs that we have many people who do those jobs now. Back to his leadership, that was part of it, his commitment to the university. You know, I've been here a long time, and I can share that some of my most memorable moments. Jeb Barber was right there on the side of the bench with me. When we won the conference championship and got the automatic bid, when we got the at-large bid and we went to Manhattan to play in the NCAA tournament to watch the tennis team win the championship. Alongside of us, when we joined the Northeast Athletic Conference, when we weren't a part of a conference before, to watch our transition to the Capital Athletic Conference. I mean, many of my fondest memories, Jeb Barber was right there. Well, each of our core values, Jeb is obviously a leader and the integrity they have. He's always going to do things the right way. Jeb built a community outside of Stevenson, but also built our community within both the administration and our community of our student. Our student-athletes loved him, and they are still very close to him to this day as his athletes are the other. And then Jeb was an excellent student. You know, when you talk about education, Jeb was actually doing his master's program in the middle of all the other jobs I had mentioned earlier. And then he's finishing up his doctorate as well. So every value that Stevenson has, you know, leadership, integrity, community, education, you know, excellence, all of those things, you know, he embodies. From the class of 2002, it is my honor to welcome Jeb Barber into the Dick Watts Athletics Hall of Fame. So I just want you to recognize that in the tennis pictures, those are T-shirts that we had made for ourselves. So I just want to tell you how far we've come looking out here at some of these facilities. And Steve and I were joking about that before, but, you know, I first want to thank, you know, first want to congratulate all of the Hall of Fame inductees. So can we give them a round of applause? Let me first thank God because without him, nothing is possible. I also want to thank my parents because without them instilling a love in athletics and competition through my younger years, I would not have ended up with experiences that I had. Not to mention putting thousands of miles on their vehicles running me up and down the coast to different tournaments as a child. Also a big thank you to Scott Duncan and Brett Adams for recruiting me. You know, really they, you know, back then Delugeeley was very different than the Stevenson University that we all know and love today. We did not have on-campus dorms or cafeteria that was open on the weekends or for dinner. It was a very, very different place. You know, President Manning I was talking to today, he said I was the first one to come into his office on his first day to complain about something. It was a, you know, a car sticker issue. No big deal but, you know, that's what it was back then, you know, having your right sticker on your car was a big deal. You know, as an independent, you know, the schedule we were playing was brutal and I know Brett kind of mentioned that. Playing games and others could fit us in their conference schedule. Only the top teams in our region or on the East Coast would play us because the other ones were scared that we could beat them. You know, one of the ones that comes to mind is Goucher College would refuse to play us in all the sports and that was kind of a natural rival that we thought we could have. You also haven't lived until you have an exhausted coach driving home late at night from an away game, traveling in two 15 passenger vans and you have been tasked with a job of keeping them awake. You know, it's kind of one word, terrifying, as some of you guys and gals from my payback in the day can attest. I played basketball and tennis during my two years as a student athlete after transferring in from Montgomery College, Rockville. I had some amazing teammates and made some great friends during my time at Greenspring Value. My two years at Villa Julie were, as a student athlete, were two of the best in my life. We played against top-notch competition in both sports, never being afraid of tough opponents. Both sports traveled away games in the shuttles that the security office used during the day, so that was always interesting. I have great memories as a student athlete making a game-winning shot against Missiah or beating the number one tennis player from Wesley and watching him heave his tennis racket as hard as he could over the fence. You know, let me step back for a second. I also want to thank a couple of people that made this really a special night. I'm probably going to forget somebody, so I apologize, but Paul and Allison and MC, some of the people who are really, really easy to connect with. I also can't leave without giving the story about Paul. Probably one of my top experiences was Paul always, he's very, very hyper competitive. He hates to lose and he would always tell me, man, I was a great tennis player. I was a great tennis player, jab, I'll beat you in tennis anytime. So, you know, I finally said, all right, anytime, anytime. So a lot of the admin team, they all came out and Paul came out and Chris Reimer came over to me and he said, run him around the court. So Paul, great serve. He'd always charge the net really aggressively and I just kept lobbing him over, lobbed him over. And he was getting so mad and he was cursing under his breath and the one time he ran into the fence. I said, Paul, are you okay? So I ended up beating him, but man, the competitiveness, which what makes him really, really good in all facets of his life was there, but it was a tough day for Paul. Upon graduation, I was given the opportunity to stay at my alma mater to work in the athletic department and I felt like the luckiest man alive. At Villa Julia had opportunities to coach indoor track and basketball and tennis while holding positions like game day manager, SID, assistant AD, assistant coach, associate head coach, and head coach. You know, it was a banquet like this at the end of the year, which kind of brings me back to some of those admin days where we were hosting the lacrosse championships the next day against Cabrini. And the field is always an issue and it had been raining for a couple of days. So we had the tarps out there that Brett, Chris, and I would go out there and put tarps on there. Well, somehow, mysteriously, the sprinkler system got turned on underneath the tarps. So there was a panic meeting by all the admin and we had to figure it out. So at 11.30 at night, Chris and I were up there squeegeeing off the creases of the lacrosse field, so it would be good enough to play that next day. Some of you guys are smiling and nodding, so you remember. As an assistant basketball coach, my first year I logged 21,000 miles on my personal car. Did I mention that we didn't reimburse for mileage back then? We didn't have the budget. We brought in people like the Wade Henninger who was inducted and Anthony Fitzgerald and a lot of the team that was inducted with that first NCAA tournament team that Brett talked about in New York. These student athletes would eventually earn the VJC conference championship two trips to the NCAA tournament and won 60 games in a three-year span. Also, as a tennis coach, I was lucky enough to coach student athletes that won two conference championships. I also had the opportunity to share an office with two pretty amazing role models early on in my career that shaped the direction that my life would go. First, I shared an office with the namesake of the Hall of Fame Dick Watts. What an amazing experience that was and a breath of knowledge for the athletic department world. He taught me that there was always more work to do and that dreams can become a reality if you put your mind to it. Second, I shared an office for a long time with Chris Raymer. As I watched him limp into the 20th century with a flip phone in his paper and pencil that he would always carry around, it was a treat each and every day. You also had the Ramarizms that the staff grew to love or tolerate. Don't get nervous or you can't hurt steel. You're going to get gray hair. So all those things kind of have hit him in the back later on in life, which is pretty prophetic if you ask me. We had a pretty amazing staff that was tight knit back then and made a young professional feel a part of the team instantly. Fran Fiddler, Carol Zimmerman, Scott Duncan, MC McFadden were still people that I get to call friends today. Last but not least, I want to thank Brett Adams. He recruited me to VJC at Montgomery Community College and saw something in me that I probably didn't see it myself at that point. He urged me to play tennis and then gave me a chance at a career in athletics by offering me $23,000 a year. And on $90 to $100 hours a week. Who wouldn't sign up for that as a young professional, right? I spent 10 years here as either a student athlete or a coach and the relationships and memories I made during that time are some of the best in my life. Thank you so much for this great honor and I am humbled and appreciative to everyone involved. Thank you.