The Lubbock ISD Athletics Hall of Honor would like to congratulate the inductees of the class of 2024.
Congratulations to the Class of 2024
A huge thank you to the sponsors for this year’s event.
The Lubbock ISD Athletics Hall of Honor would like to congratulate the inductees of the class of 2024.
A huge thank you to the sponsors for this year’s event.
Bill Dean | LISD Community Supporter
The love for a sport can fill a life. For Dr. Bill Dean, that sport is baseball. His love for the game led him to a brilliant playing career, and more importantly to a career as a volunteer coach that would affect the lives of countless young players. The impact he has had on baseball is one of the reasons Lubbock is known as a great “Baseball Town.” From his early days, Bill always seemed to have his baseball glove and a bat nearby. In 1952, he started playing American Legion Baseball, which led into his high school career at Lubbock High School. He was one of the best hitters for the Westerners from 1953 to 1956, hitting .432 as a junior and .340 as a senior. In his final two seasons with the Westerners, he received All-District honors and was named Co-Captain of the team his senior year. Upon graduating from Lubbock High School, our inductee traded his gold and black for red and black. He continued to shine on the diamond as a threeyear letterman for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, finishing with a .320 career batting average. While attending college, he served as Sports Editor for The Daily Toreador Newspaper and the La Ventana Yearbook, as well as being elected Texas Tech Student Body President. Once his playing days were over, he served as a graduate assistant coach, taking control of the Texas Tech Freshmen Team and guiding them to a 13-1 record during the 1961 season. While serving six years in the U.S. Army, he continued making positive contributions in the Lubbock community. He taught journalism and served as the Director of Student Publications at his alma mater, Lubbock High. When Coronado High School opened, he transferred to be their Student Activities Director. Bill was involved in putting together the school song, the fight song, and setting up the school council and graduation for the Mustangs. It wasn’t long before Bill made the move back to Texas Tech, teaching journalism classes and serving as the Director of Student Publications. Bill Dean was always a student favorite. In fact, student polls named him Texas Tech’s Best Teacher 14 different times. There was one other subject he loved to teach – baseball. He decided to share his love of the game at a foundational level. Over the next 38 years, he invested in the lives of hundreds of young baseball players. From Little League, to the Pony and Colt Leagues, he taught the skills of baseball and life, and how to win. His eight years in Little League produced eight First Place teams and a 137-8 record. He coached at the Pony League level for two years, going 30-9. When he moved to the Colt League, he found his home as a baseball coach. He would spend the next 31 years there coaching baseball. His Colt League teams won 19 First Place trophies and eight Second Place awards. Bill also coached the 1972 Bell Red Checks, the Monterey Plainsmen summer team, to an American Legion State Championship. Dr. Dean has served at Texas Tech for 51 years, and as the Executive Director, now the President and CEO, of the Texas Tech Alumni Association since 1978. That tenure will end on December 31, 2018, when he retires. However, he will continue to teach in the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech. Dr. Dean was elected to the Texas Tech Athletics Hall of Fame as the winner of the Heritage Award, and received the President’s Teaching Award for Excellence two times. In 1997, Bill was given the Faculty Distinguished Leadership Award and the Mass Communications Outstanding Alumnus Award. While he has had a distinguished career as a professor and served at the helm of the Texas Tech Alumni Association, our inductee’s contributions to Lubbock ISD and baseball cannot be overstated. He unselfishly mentored young baseball players for decades. That impact is still felt today and will continue for generations.
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