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The Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association will induct graduates of the historic Galveston Central High School a the Bearcats a into its Hall of Fame at noon Saturday in the Marriott Hotel South, 100 Gulf Freeway.
Additionally, each Bearcat honoree will receive the prestigious Bernard Crockett Award from Central High School Alumni.
The Bearcat recipients are Johnny "Cosmo" Crockett, for baseball; William Chatman III, for basketball; Douglas King Aliniece, for football; and George "Pete" Henley, for football and meritorious service.
Crockett, class of 1961, played football halfback under Head Coach Floyd Eiglehart and position coach Kermit Courville.
Crockett was the third baseman on the 1960 baseball 4-A District Championship team under coaches Ray T.
Sheppard and Ray Dillon.
Crockett's work ethic and positive attitude influenced the underclassmen as they won the 1962 4A Baseball State Championship.
Chatman, class of 1967, was All-District and All-State (honorable mention) basketball player under Coach Robert Campbell.
Chatman was one of three African Americans recruited by Floyd Wagstaff as the first to integrate Tyler Junior College and they won the conference in 1967 and 1968.
Baylor University, under Coach Bill Menefee, recruited Chatman as one of the first to integrate the basketball team.
Chatman was unanimously selected as All-Southwest Conference in 1969 and 1970 as he averaged 23.3 points and 14.2 rebounds and had the fourth-best shooting percentage in the nation.
Aliniece, class of '66, was a track member under Courville.
Aliniece was an All-District offensive/defensive lineman under Head Coach Ed Mitchell and position coaches Edgar Collins and Leon Bedford and played on the 1963 football 4A State Championship team and the 1965 4A District championship and awarded the Fighting Heart Award.
Henley, class of '67, played football end under Mitchell and position Coach Robert Campbell and was a member of the 1965 District 4-A championship team, which is Central's last football championship team under Prairie View governance.
Henly will be awarded the Meritorious Award as he has served over 16 years as an award-winning CEO and board chair of the nonprofit Old Central Cultural Center, which is housed in the remnants of the original Central High School established in 1885 as the first 12th-grade public high school for African Americans in Texas.
Henley, former Galveston postmaster, has been instrumental in the proliferation of knowledge of, and the experiences of Juneteenth and the Prairie View Interscholastic League.
He is the former president of Gulf Coast Basketball Officials Association, and a founder of the Galveston County Summer Basketball League, which is the forerunner and precursor of County Amateur Athletic Union basketball programs.
Henley's involvement in Galveston's Juneteenth Banquet, pageant, gala and reenactment of the reading of General Order No.
3 have earned Henley "Hometown Hero" status as well as county, state and national acclaim.
Henley's efforts have given light on Old Central Cultural Center and its involvement in the league as the great history of freedom, academics and athletics continues to be told by the Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association.