OTTAWA — Jeff Hull, a 1984 Iola High graduate and standout football player, was inducted into the Ottawa University Braves Athletic Hall of Fame last weekend.
“It’s an honor as it approaches 25 years since I was a player at Ottawa,” Hull told the Register in a telephone interview Tuesday. “There’s a lot of great players in the Hall including several NFL players.”
Hull and Andy Carrier, a longtime Ottawa University men’s basketball coach, were inducted during a banquet and ceremony last Thursday. They were honored at halftime of the Braves’ homecoming football game Saturday.
“I got to do the coin toss which was cool,” Hull said. “We loss the toss but got the ball. And yeah, we got the win.”
Hull is the co-managing partner at Highlander Partners, L.P. in Dallas, Texas. He graduated from Ottawa University in 1988.
He was a four-year starter on the Braves football team and was selected as the College Football Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete of the Year (1988), one of only three NAIA players at the time to receive the honor since 1956. He was a first-team KCAC selection on the offensive line as a senior and earned second-team honors as a junior.
Hull played offensive guard. He said the Braves used the veer offense and he did a lot of pulling as a guard to block for the running backs.
He was a two-time Daktronic Academic All-American (1987, 1988) and also was named to the Associated Press Little College All-American honorable mention team in 1988.
Hull shares with his family a rich history of OU athletics. His father, Richard, was a four year starter at defensive end and a member of the 1970 KCAC Championship team. His brother Michael, a tight end, was OU’s first and only two-time First Team All-American and a member of the 1997 KCAC Championship team; and his sister, Cindy, was an All-Conference women’s basketball player at OU.
“Yes, my first meeting of the board of trustees and they announced the inductees for 2013. And my brother Michael will be going in the Hall at that time,” Hull said, who currently serves as chair of Ottawa University’s Board of Trustees.
Hull said the university announce the Hall of Fame inductees two years in advance.
“That’s pretty exciting. We’ll be the first brother combo in the Hall. We have an uncle already in the Hall of Fame.”
Hull made the cornerstone gift for OU’s state-of-the-art Hull Center for Athletics in 2004 in honor of his grandfather Robert Hull, who served for more than 20 years as OU’s superintendent of buildings and grounds.
Hull is also the nephew of Braves Athletic Hall of Fame member Bob Lawson. He is married to Tracy Hull and the couple has four children; Chandler, Griffin, Gentry and Crosby.
Former Iolan Jeff Hull inducted into Ottawa U. athletic Hall of Fame
