Raymond "Buddy" Hewitt (1990) - Hall of Fame - Murray State University Athletics

Raymond "Buddy" Hewitt

Induction:
1990

Buddy Hewitt - Football 1947-49, Golf Coach 1961-2002 (Deceased)

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Raymond T. “Buddy” Hewitt was one of the rare sports individuals that excelled at football (1947-49) as a student-athlete and golf during his time as head coach (1961-2001).
During the formative years of intercollegiate athletics at Murray State University and in the Ohio Valley Conference, Hewitt created the MSU men’s golf program with great care and conviction.
Named MSU’s first golf coach in 1961, Hewitt guided the program for the next 41 years until his retirement in 2001.
During this time, his teams won two Ohio Valley Conference championships and finished runner-up eight times and third-place five times.
Hewitt coached 15 players that went on to compete at the NCAA national level.
In 1967, the Racers hosted the NCAA College Division Championship at Paxton Park in Paducah, Ky., where they placed second behind champion Lamar Tech. Murray State future hall of famers, Larry Mullen, Ron Acree and Larry Ringer were the top finishers for the Racers in fifth, sixth and ninth place. All three advanced to play in the NCAA University Division Championship as individuals and were later named All-America.
Coach Hewitt produced seven OVC medalist winners: Bill Graham (1962 & 63), Ron Acree (1965), Chris Pigott (1971), Kevin Klier (1977), Chris Carlson (1987) and Adam Grogan (1996).
Coach Hewitt was inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame in 2001.
Hewitt played on one of the greatest football teams in Murray State history in 1948 for Coach Fred Faurot when the Racers won the inaugural OVC championship. The Racers went 9-1-1 and played in what is still the only bowl game MSU has ever played in, the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida, where they tied Texas’ Sul Ross State 21-21 on New Year’s Day 1949. Hewitt was a lineman who was a great player even though he was not as big as other lineman he tried to block.
The 1949 MSU football media guide described Buddy like this: “Few people know his real name is Raymond, but no one is unaware of the fact that Buddy is the best center for his size Murray ever had. Tipping the scales at a mere 155 pounds, he is the toughest, roughest little scrapper ever to spread his legs over a pigskin.”
Hewitt’s relationship with MSU athletics covered his entire adult life, even after his retirement in 2001.
He held a bachelor’s and master’s degree from MSU in Heath & Physical Education and Recreation. For a time, Coach Hewitt directed the MSU intramural program. He also served two years in the US Army.
Coach Hewitt was quoted in the Murray Ledger & Times (Oct. 26, 1990, by reporter David Ramey) on his induction into the MSU Hall of Fame. “Murray State is very special and has been a huge part of my life. It’s kept me going through time of my life. I’ve been very lucky. I hope I have touched the lives of a few young men. I think I have. I know they have touched mine.”
“I’ve known Buddy for a longtime,” said MSU Coach Johnny Reagan. “We have fought together in the trenches, enjoyed the tops of mountains together and the lows of valleys and his cause, for Murray State, has always been the same.”
Coach Hewitt was 87 and three months from his Aug. 16 birthday when he passed away in Murray on May 15, 2015.