(Basketball 1950-53)
Sam
Hardy was a four-year basketball letterman for the Lions from
1950-53. He led the team in scoring in 1950 (404), 1951 (347)
and 1952 (388). His top single-game performance was a 35-point
outburst against Lambuth in 1952.
Hardy played in 90 career
games with 545 field goals, 235 free throws and 1,325 points for
a 14.7 average. His 404 points in 1950 and his 1,325 career
points set school records at the time. At the time of his
induction, 42 years after his graduation, he still ranked sixth
among UNA's all-time leading scorers. A graduate of Phil
Campbell High School, Hardy graduated from Florence State in
1953 with a degree in math and chemistry.
He later received a
Doctor of Science degree in 1979 from the Southeastern Institute
of Technology. His career consisted of 30 years as an Aerospace
Engineer with the U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal
in Huntsville, Ala. At retirement, he was serving as the
Technical Director of the Army Missile Command's Advanced
Systems Concepts Office.
