DOVER, Del. – Nate Beasley, who starred at running back for the University of Delaware during the mid-1970’s and earned All-American honors as a junior in 1974, is one of eight inductees into the 2009 class of the Delaware Afro American Sports Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony will be held this Saturday, April 18, at the Modern Maturity Center beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 302-762-4843.

Beasley (at right), a native of Dover who starred at Dover Air Base High School, will be joined in the induction class by women’s high school track start and former UD assistant coach Terri Dendy, basketball standout Reggie Lacefield, football standout Jerome Pinkett, former Wilmington High School basketball coach Eugene Thompson, former Delaware State track and field coach Joseph Burden, longtime sports official Roddie Byers, and former National Football League running back Tim Wilson. Wilson be inducted posthumously.

An All-State pick at Dover Air Base High School where he also starred in basketball and baseball, Beasley attended Delaware State University for one year before transferring to Delaware where he quickly became a star in head coach Tubby Raymond’s potent Blue Hen backfield.

He earned three letters as a fullback in 1973-75 and ended his career with 2,697 total rushing yards, a mark that ranked No. 2 at the time of his graduation and still ranks No. 5 all-time at Delaware. He averaged 73.9 yards rushing per game during his career, posted 13 career games with 100 or more yards rushing, and scored 20 touchdowns.

He led Delaware teams to a three-year mark of 28-9 that included an NCAA Division II national runner-up finish in 1974, Lambert Cup Eastern titles in 1973 and 1974, and an ECAC Team of the Year citation in 1974. The 1974 national runner-up team finished with an overall record of 12-2.

A two-time All-East selection, Beasley earned third team All-American honors by the Associated Press in 1974 when he set the school record for rushing yards in a season with 1,397. He also ran for 1,077 yards as a senior in 1975 and remains one of only four players in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season more than once.

A 1976 Delaware graduate, he was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 1976 NFL draft but suffered a neck injury that ended his career.

Beasley went on to coach 13-15 year olds in the Capitol Trail Football League in New Caste County for five years, sending many on to successful college careers, and later was instrumental in establishing a girls basketball recreation league in Wilmington. For 10 years, he was a member of IAABO Board 11 of basketball officials and officiated high school and recreation league basketball games in Delaware and Maryland