Hall of Honor
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Tom Byron graduated from Eastern Baptist Seminary in 1958 and passed away in 1973 while working at Westmont College. At Eastern, he served as a coach and administrator from 1958 to 1963. During that time, he was not merely a member of the athletic department, he was, for all intents and purposes the athletic department. He coached basketball and soccer, served as athletic director, worked as a dorm proctor, and served as Dean of Students. The depth of Byron's legacy, however, surpassed the breadth of his responsibilities.
His commitment to mentoring students, and his desire to see them mature in all aspects of their lives spurred those who played for Byron and who knew him to establish a scholarship in his memory. Westmont's annual basketball tournament is named for Byron.
He was presented for induction by 1,000 point scorer Dave Rowlands. Matt Nadelhoffer, who served as Eastern’s Head Basketball coach said of Byron, "I think it was outstanding for us to have an example of a coach who understood his job as a sense of calling. The more we learned about his legacy the more we saw how much his presence here influenced his students to do great things. It was great to have his family here."
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