CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Wednesday, September 3, 2003
Former Hudson Valley Community College student-athlete Huey Whittaker, now a wide receiver on the University of South Florida's football team, was recognized by ESPN for a spectacular catch he made on Saturday, August 30 against the University of Alabama.
Whittaker's diving catch over an Alabama defender was listed as the top play in the Top-10 Plays segment of Monday night's "SportsCenter." Whittaker, who played for Hudson Valley in 1999, caught five passes for 53 yards during the contest.
Hudson Valley's football program was established in 1969. At the time, Hudson Valley was one of only two junior colleges in New York to field a varsity football team. Since then, nearly 300 Hudson Valley football players have earned scholarships to four-year schools and 15 have gone on to play professionally. The Vikings competed in the Coca-Cola Bowl in Iowa in 1980. In 1996, Hudson Valley posted an 8-0 record, part of a dominant stretch that included 15 straight victories.