Wednesday, Mar. 04, 2009

Pasco's Duke Washington finally will land in WSU Hall of Fame

By Jeff Morrow, Herald sports editor

PULLMAN — Washington State University announced its latest class of inductees into the school's hall of fame this week.

There are seven of them, including former Pasco High standout Talmedge "Duke" Washington.

Washington was an All-America running back who starred for the Cougars during the 1952-54 seasons. He won the Bohler Award, played in the East-West Shrine Game and was the first African American to play in the University of Texas’ Memorial Stadium Oct. 2, 1954.

According to WSU, Washington received the loudest cheers of the day from the 28,000 Longhorn fans following a 73-yard touchdown run.

I knew who Duke Washington was when I was a kid because I read my dad's newspaper clippings from his days of playing football for the Richland Bombers.

If you click here, you can hear an interview with Washington on Seattle's KJR 950 AM by Ian Furness, a WSU grad and former voice of the Tri-City Americans. Furness contacted Washington on Jan. 20, the day of President Barack Obama's inauguration.

Washington's name kept coming up in those same papers as he dominated the gridiron at Pasco High.

I met Duke Washington a few years ago when the Tri-Cities Sports Council inducted him into the Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame.

What a classy guy. He has lived in Seattle for years and had no idea what our organization was. But he came over for the dinner and was pleasantly surprised by our event. He seemed touched.

Frankly, I'm surprised he wasn't already in WSU's hall of fame. So this is long overdue in my book.

In addition to Washington, the other inductees who will be honored this fall are: Richard Fry, WSU’s sports information director for 13 years; basketball player Craig Ehlo; volleyball standout Keri Killebrew; steeplechaser Peter Koech; distance runner Bernard Lagat; and former football coach Jim Walden.