Two individuals with roots in north-central Arkansas are among the newest inductees into the Arkansas Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame. Steve Wright, a native of Batesville, and Tim Hamilton of Melbourne will be honored for their careers at a luncheon in Springdale on July 30.
Wright, who grew up in Batesville and graduated from the University of Arkansas, will join the Hall as its sportswriter representative. Over the span of his career, Wright worked for several major media outlets, including the *Northwest Arkansas Times,* the *Arkansas Democrat,* and the *Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.* He also served as the women’s sports information director for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. Since 2006, he has primarily worked as a freelancer for JM Associates, covering the Bassmaster Elite Series. An accomplished outdoors writer, Wright self-published *Ozark Trout Trails: A Fishing Guide for the White River System* in 1995 and co-authored *Arkansas Duck Hunters Almanac* with Steve Bowman in 1998. He previously earned an Associated Press award for a special report tracing the White River’s journey from the Boston Mountains to the Mississippi River.
Hamilton, a Melbourne native, will receive the Mike Harrison Award for Excellence in Sports Media, which is being given out for only the second time. Hamilton began his career as an intern at KATV Channel 7 in 1979, eventually spending 32 years at the station covering both news and sports. During his tenure, Hamilton earned two Emmy Awards—one for his reportage of Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign and another for an investigative series on the Peruvian War on Drugs. He was nominated for five additional Emmys and received a combined nine Edward R. Murrow Awards at both regional and national levels. Hamilton’s sports coverage included highlights such as the University of Arkansas men’s basketball team’s 1994 national championship season. In 2012, he returned to his alma mater, Harding University, to teach sports broadcasting.
The Hall also named longtime Little Rock broadcaster Ray Tucker as the sportscaster inductee for this class. Tucker has worked in Arkansas sports media since 1971 and is known as the voice of Little Rock men’s basketball since 2000. He has hosted several coaches’ radio and TV shows for the Trojans and is now co-host of *Ray Tucker’s Arkansas Outdoors* on KABZ-FM. Tucker, a two-time Arkansas Sportscaster of the Year as awarded by the National Sports Media Association, previously served as executive director of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame for 26 years.
The induction ceremony will be part of a Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club luncheon at the Home2 Suites by Hilton in Springdale. The event begins at noon on July 30.