Trevecca's David Suddeth joins former Tennessee Titan Jevon Kearse in the 2022 Tennessee Sports HOF class

Former Maplewood basketball standout David Suddeth, who went on to score 3,004 career points at Trevecca, was surprised Thursday night when he returned to campus and was told he will be inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

Suddeth, 52, is the second member of the 2022 class. Former Tennessee Titans defensive end Jevon Kearse was announced as the first on Jan. 21. Suddeth will be the first Trevecca athlete enshrined in the hall.

Suddeth was surprised with news of his induction at halftime of Trevecca's game against Walsh.

Suddeth became one of the best high school players in Nashville in the 1980s while playing for several coaches, including the legendary Cornelius Ridley, at Maplewood, and then was a four-year starter at Trevecca (1988-92).

He was a three-time NAIA All-American who became Trevecca's all-time leading scorer under coach Frank Wilson, who attended the announcement.

While Suddeth was an outstanding high school player he made his greatest strides in college by seeking out the toughest competition he could find in the offseason.

"A little-known secret, we used to play at Glencliff when coach Roosevelt Sanders would open up the small gym — Charles Davis would be there, Mike Jackson from Stratford, who played with Ernie (Grunfeld) and Bernie (King) at Tennessee, would be there along with Avery Patton, Calvin Peters, Tommy Springer, my brother (Reggie)," Suddeth said. "The gym was so tough to play in; one game would take an hour-and-a-half."

Suddeth, who already was an All-American as a sophomore at Trevecca at the time, set a goal while playing against those Nashville greats.

"I figured if I could average 10 points in those games college would be easy," Suddeth said. "These guys would knock me to the ground. They were beating me up, but they made me tough."

Suddeth will join other 3,000-point scorers the in hall, including John Pierce and Philip Hutcheson from Lipscomb and Tennessee State's Dick Barnett. Hutcheson, now Lipscomb's athletic director, attended the announcement.

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“David is a Nashville native and one of about only 30 players in the history of all divisions of college basketball to score 3,000 points,” said Brad Willis, executive director of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. “We are excited that he is part of our class of 2022, and we are proud to have a member of the Trevecca Trojans represented in the Hall.”

Along with being a prolific scorer, Suddeth grabbed 993 rebounds (422 offensive), had 490 assists and 276 steals and blocked 92 shots.

Suddeth went on to play for the Jackson Jammers of the Global Basketball Association and later became the YMCA Downtown site director.

Suddeth is the first former Nashville-area college inductee since 2017, when former Vanderbilt women's basketball standouts Chantelle Anderson and Ashley McElhiney were enshrined.

The full 2022 Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame induction class will be released in the coming weeks. Information regarding tickets for the induction ceremony will be announced at a later date.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Trevecca's David Suddeth, Tennessee Titans Jevon Kearse in Tennessee Sports HOF class