By Dr. Mike Gustafson, Double T Association

Junell to Receive Heritage Award
Award honors Red Raider letterwinners who achieve greatness beyond playing field.

LUBBOCK, Texas – Former Texas Tech linebacker Rob Junell will receive the Heritage Award during the 2007 Athletic Hall of Honor Induction ceremony.

The Hall of Honor Banquet will be held Fri., Oct. 12, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Banquet Hall. Junell will also be officially recognized prior to the Tech-A&M football game the next day. Banquet tickets are $50 each and $500 for a reserved table of eight. Contact the Double T Association at 771-4000 for tickets.

A two-year Red Raider letterwinner from 1967 to 1968, Junell was a hard-hitting linebacker who had transferred from New Mexico Military Institute. He later served as a Texas Tech graduate assistant football coach before entering the United State Army.

Junell’s career in law and politics followed completion of a Master’s degree in 1974 from the University of Arkansas and a law degree from the Texas Tech School of Law in 1976. First elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1988, he served seven terms, five of which were spent as Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He was nominated by President George W. Bush to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas in 2003 and now makes his home in Midland, TX.

This year marks the third year that the Double T Association, the athletic letterwinners organization at Texas Tech, is handling the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor voting and induction ceremony, including the presentation of the Heritage Award. Previous winners of the Heritage Award are Quintin Robinson and B.R. “Rip” Griffin.