Valdosta State athletic director Herb Reinhard makes his VSU Hall of Fame speech earlier in 2024.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Valdosta State Director of Athletics Herb Reinhard is one of five Gulf South Conference’s greatest student-athletes or administrators to be elected into the GSC Hall of Fame Class of 2024, the league office announced earlier this week.

The newest members of the GSC Hall of Fame included Reinhard, Delta State football’s Josh Bright, men’s basketball coach Bill E. Jones from Jacksonville State and North Alabama, along with Alabama Huntsville softball standout Kristin Spencer Spearman and West Florida softball’s Krissy Styrna.

“We are excited and pleased to be able to induct and celebrate all this hall of fame class has accomplished,” said GSC Commissioner Matt Wilson. “Their careers, collectively and individually, are the embodiment of the Gulf South Conference and what it has continually strived to achieve for the last 50-plus years. Congratulations to all of this year’s members.”

Honorees were submitted for nomination by their respective institutions and selected by the conference’s Hall of Fame Selection committee. Reinhard’s induction marks the sixth-straight year of a Blazer being enshrined into the Hall of Fame.

This year marks the conference’s tenth Hall of Fame class and the number of GSC Hall of Fame inductees stands at 50.

The GSC Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will be celebrated Thursday, May 30 as part of the conference’s annual award ceremony at the Hilton Pensacola Beach Hotel in Pensacola, Florida. Information regarding tickets or how to watch will be released at a later date.

Reinhard was inducted into the VSU Athletic Hall of Fame in January and is scheduled to retire as Director of Athletics in June after 32 years at the helm of the Blazers. He is one of the longest tenured athletic directors in GSC history and was one of two GSC representatives for the NCAA Gold Award in 2023 honoring the 50th Anniversary of NCAA Division II. Reinhard guided VSU to seven national titles and 52 of the program’s 56 GSC titles.

During his time in Titletown, he has been credited with expanding VSU women’s athletics with the reinstatement of volleyball (1995), along with the addition of women’s soccer (2011). He has served on numerous NCAA Division II committees including Ad Hoc Championship Committees, Football RAC, Membership (which he later chaired) and a six-year term on the Management Council.

Reinhard began at VSU in 1992, coming from Florida A&M University where he was the assistant athletic director in charge of marketing and promotions. John Hansen, current head tennis coach at VSU, who has won two of the school’s eight national championships, was the only current head coach already on campus when Reinhard came on board.

The impact of Reinhard’s leadership is not just felt on the VSU campus. On November 6, 2021, the City of Valdosta declared that day forever be known as Herb Reinhard Day in Valdosta. Earlier this month, at Reinhard’s retirement celebration, VSU President Dr. Richard Carvajal announced the VSU Athletic Complex Lobby will now be known as the Herb Reinhard Lobby.