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RANDY MATSON - INDUCTEE #49

hall of fame fast fact:

World shotput champion Randy Matson started as a forward on Texas A&M's basketball team as a sophomore in 1964-1965, averaging 8.2 points and 10.1 rebounds.

Randy Matson

Pampa’s Randy Matson won a silver medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as a Texas A&M freshman, set the world record three times in one month, and won a gold medal in the Mexico City Olympics in 1968.

Matson combined his 6’6” height and 250 pounds with awesome strength, incredible quickness, coordination, and a work ethic. At one time, he had the 25 longest throws of all time and 52 of the top 53. At the 1965 SWC Championships, he was the first man to break 70 feet, going 70-7 and smashing what had once been the world record of 67-10. Matson set an Olympic record of 67- 103⁄4. His career-best was 71-51⁄2.

Matson went on to a long career at his alma mater. He joined A&M’s Association of Former Students in 1972 and was executive director from 1979 until his resignation in 1999.