Washington State's Rueben Mayes elected to College Football Hall of Fame

PULLMAN — Rueben Mayes, former Washington State running back, has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Mayes is among 15 former players and coaches elected Thursday. The class also includes Troy Aikman and Lou Holtz.

Mayes is the third Cougars player to be inducted into the hall and the first since tackle Glen "Turk" Edwards (1929-31) was enshrined in 1975. Center Mel Hein (1928-30) was inducted in 1954. Former WSU coaches Orin "Babe" Hollingbery and Forest Evashevski also are hall inductees.

"I am completely humbled to have been selected for this prestigious honor and represent Washington State," Mayes said. "It means to a lot to me and my family. My wife of 20-plus years, whom I met at Washington State, and my two sons Logan and Kellen were very excited about the award."

Mayes, from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, was an All-American for the Cougars. He held the WSU season rushing record of 1,632 yards that stood from 1984 until Jerome Harrison rushed for 1,900 yards in 2005. Mayes set an NCAA record for most rushing yards in a game when he ran for 357 yards against Oregon in 1984.

"This school means a lot to me for not only my athletic career, but also my professional career," said Mayes, a fundraiser for WSU's School of Business. "A lot of people helped me along the way, from high school and collegiate coaches to mentors at a number of different levels."

Mayes played for former WSU coach Jim Walden from 1982 to 1985.

Drafted by New Orleans in the third round in 1986, Mayes was named the NFL rookie of the year after rushing for 1,353 yards in his first year with the Saints. He played with New Orleans through the 1991 season, earning selections to the Pro Bowl in 1986 and 1987.

After five years with the Saints, Mayes played two seasons with the Seahawks before retiring. He ran for 3,484 yards and 23 touchdowns in seven NFL seasons.

Mayes was inducted into the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.

Joining the 71-year-old Holtz, who won 249 games with six schools and a national title at Notre Dame in 1988, at a news conference in New York on Thursday were former Northwestern linebacker and current Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald and former Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson.

Aikman started his college career at Oklahoma, then transferred to UCLA. After two stellar seasons (1987-88) with the Bruins, he was drafted first overall by the Dallas Cowboys. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

The other nine players chosen by the National Football Foundation's selection committee: Louisiana State tailback Billy Cannon; Virginia offensive tackle Jim Dombrowski; Florida linebacker Wilber Marshall; Arizona State guard Randall McDaniel; Wyoming tight end Jay Novacek; Texas Tech split end Dave Parks; Florida State nose guard Ron Simmons; Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas; and Army quarterback Arnold Tucker.

John Cooper, who went 192-84-6 with Tulsa, Arizona State and Ohio State, was the other coach elected.

The class will be inducted at the NFF banquet in New York in December and enshrined in the summer of 2009 at the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.