By Fletcher Word
The Truth Editor
This past weekend the African American Sports Legends Hall of Fame welcomed 10 inductees and offered Toledoans several opportunities to celebrate the accomplishments of local sports heroes.
On Friday evening, June 26, the 2026 HOF honorees were feted at the annual Sports Legends Smoker and Hospitality Reception at The Pinnacle in Maumee. Visitors were able to view memorabilia from the inductees’ athletic careers ahead of the reception and later hear them speak of their lives and accomplishments.
This year’s theme was “Putting in the Work,” an appropriate reminder of that each inductee had achieved his or her status and accomplishments in basketball, football, track and field and in the classroom through hard work, dedication and perseverance – on and off the field.
This year’s inductees are: Abraham “Abe” Steward; Anthony “Scoop” Williams; Eric Newsome; Jazlyn Davis; Kevin Jamaal Koger; Lance Price; Shareese Ulis-McBrayer.
In addition to the Hall of Fame honorees, special recognition was given to three individuals whose contributions were important in shaping athletics and community in the northwest Ohio area.
Emanuel “Manny” Newsome, PhD, was inducted posthumously and founding African American Sports Legends members Ralph Lewis and John Edwards received emeritus status.
Abraham “Abe” Steward developed his hoops skills at Libbey High School and, after high school, entered Casper College in Casper, Wyoming, competing against top junior college talent. He then entered Jacksonville University during a time when that college was competing at the highest Division I level.
Steward continued playing professionally overseas after college, including a six-year stint in the Brazilian International professional league. A Brazilian reporter once called him the best American professional basketball player he had ever seen.
Anthony “Scoop” Williams was a standout basketball player at Scott High School, emerging as one of the city’s most dominant players under Coach Ben Williams. He earned All-City, All-State and High School All-American honors in 1990 and was a cornerstone of that year’s Scott Bulldogs State Championship team.
He continued playing basketball at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M before transferring to the University of Toledo, excelling on the court and in the classroom. He launched a successful 14-year international career competing in multiple countries.
Eric Newsome, a 1983 graduate of Rogers High School, earned First Team All-City honors in basketball as a sophomore. He repeated that accomplishment in the next two years sharing Co-Player of the Year honors with Dennis Hopson in 1982. He finished his high school career as the City League’s all-time leading scorer.
Newsome was also First Team All-City in cross country, and a standout scholar, graduating fourth in a class of 587 with a 3.9 GPA. At Miami University, he earned All-MAC honors, finishing as the program’s second all-time leading scorer.
Jazlyn Davis, a standout basketball player at Bowsher High School, built a reputation as an elite scorer, dynamic playmaker and relentless competitor. As a senior, Davis earned First-Team All-Ohio honors.
She continued her basketball career at Mt. San Antonio College in California, as she helped her program to consecutive California State Championships and earned a scholarship to Arizona State University where she competed at the Division I level in the Pac-10 Conference.
Kevin Koger, a football standout at Whitmer High School, established himself as a two-way gridiron athlete. As a tight end, he set the school record with 1,190 career receiving yards on 75 receptions and scored 16 offensive touchdowns. Defensively, he recorded 151 tackles, 26 for a loss, 16 sacks, three fumble recoveries, two interceptions – one for a touchdown. He earned First-Team All-Ohio honors as a defensive end.
Kroger entered the University of Michigan and earned All-Big Ten honorable mention honors in 2011. He went into coaching and joined the University of Tennessee’s football program in 2015 and has advanced through the couching ranks since then.
Lance Price, Sr., a track and football star at Scott High School, made All City in track for three years, became a state champion in the 110 high hurdles his junior year and recorded the third fastest time in state history. He was a two-year co-captain in football and earned All City honors as a running back and defensive back.
Price earned an athletic scholarship to The Ohio State University where he played both football and track. He was named an Academic All-American in 1991.
Shareese Ulis-McBrayer, a Waite High School student and basketball player, was named City League Player of the Year three times and was named the Ohio High School Association Division I Player of the Year in her senior year.
A McDonald’s All-American nominee, Ulis-McBrayer went on to play at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, guiding the Lady Cardinals to the NJCAA National Tournament as both a freshman and sophomore. She transferred to the University of Cincinnati to earn her undergraduate degree and then earned a master’s degree at Detroit-Mercy. She is currently the assistant coach of the Eastern Michigan Lady Eagles basketball program.
Emanuel Newsome, PhD, (March 21, 1942 – May 24, 2025), a posthumous inductee, was a Gary, Indiana native and an outstanding basketball player and scholar. At Gary Roosevelt High School, he excelled in both basketball and track, eventually inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. At Western Michigan, he became one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball history – leading the entire nation in scoring in his senior season.
Newsome earned his doctorate degree in Counseling & Psychological Services in Higher Education from Indiana State University and eventually served as the Dean of Students at the University of Toledo. He is the father of inductee Eric Newsome.
John L. Edwards, Sr. a high school football player at Scott High School, has earned emeritus status with the African American Sports Legends Hall of Fame because of his vision, leadership and contributions to sports and community advancement.
Edwards is a former Assistant Law Director for the City of Toledo, then an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Ralph Lewis is the primary author of the African American Sports Legends By-Laws. Aslo a Scott graduate where he was an outstanding athlete in football, basketball and baseball, he was First Team All-City and All-State in basketball.
Lewis was an Assistant Law Director for the City of Toledo and an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
After the Hospitality Reception on Friday, the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony was held on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jerusalem Baptist Church. As always, and appropriately, Tom Cole, former athlete, longtime sports broadcaster and community ambassador for Taylor Automotive hosted the ceremony.
Cole’s background and broadcasting experience adds quite a lot to the ceremony since he has covered the exploits of a number of inductees. This year in addition, he had played against at least one of the inductees and his niece had played on the same team with another.
Opening the ceremony, Cole cited some lines from a favorite poem of his – Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall.”
“In our society, breaking down fences is a good thing,” said Cole. “Moving forward and lifting our community is what Bobby [Robert Smith] and the African American Sports Legends committee do – breaking down fences and lifting people up; you are a community that is breaking down fences and allowing people in.”
Singer Vickie Simpson added to the attendees’ enjoyment of the ceremony with a number of songs suitable to the occasion including “The Black National Anthem” and “You’re Number One,” by Gladys Knight.
Robert Smith, founder and director the African American Legacy Project, has been the driving force behind the AALP and the AA Sports Legends.