March 28, 2024

Garden City CC Athletic Department announces 2023 Hall of Fame Class

Garden City, KS–The Garden City Community College Athletic Department announced today their 2023
Hall of Fame Class, which includes four new inductees: former football star, Brent Venables, basketball
legend Darrin Hancock, United States Olympic track star, Darvis “Doc” Patton, and the 2003 Broncbuster
women’s basketball team led by Head Coach, Bobby Brasel. They were selected by a nine-member
committee.
“This is a tremendous class,” Director of Athletics, Mike Pilosof said in a statement. “When you think
about the star power with each one of the inductees, it really is something. This is an incredible honor
for all four, and it is well deserved.”
This year’s class is highlighted by Venables, who was a Junior College All-American linebacker at Garden
City in 1990. The Salina, KS native recorded 276 career tackles before transferring to Kansas State in
1991. Following his playing career, Venables, 51, spent five years as an assistant coach for Bill Snyder at
Kansas State before Bob Stoops hired him as the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 1999. After 12
years with the Sooners, the 2016 Broyles’ Award winner, which is given annually to the top assistant
coach in the country, was hired as the defensive coordinator and Associate Head Coach at Clemson
under Dabo Swinney. That eventually paved the way for his big break when he was hired as the Head
Coach at the University of Oklahoma in 2022.
“Venables has been one of the best defensive minds in college football for more than two decades,”
Pilosof added. “And what’s great is that every story you read about him, it always chronicles his start in
Garden City.”
Joining Venables is Hancock, who was considered one of the top Junior College recruits in the nation,
earning NJCAA Player of the Year honors in 1992. He then transferred to the University of Kansas, where
he played in the NCAA Final Four. In 1994, he was taken in the second round of the NBA Draft by the
Charlotte Hornets.