Selma Mayor George Evans is one of seven honorees that will be inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s Hall of Fame in December.

Evans began officiating SWAC games in 1979 and quickly became one of the conference’s most recognizable officials. He officiated 16 conference tournaments and more than 10 championship games during his time with the conference.

“I’m honored and thankful and feel honored and blessed to be selected,” Evans said.

He also spent more than a decade coordinating officials for men and women’s basketball. Evans said he worked with several current NBA officials during his time with the SWAC.

“A lot of the NBA officials today went through SWAC to become NBA officials,” Evans said. “A lot of the officials you see nowadays in the other divisions and conferences got their start in SWAC, so I know so many of them because I officiated with a lot of them.”

Evans said he started officiating in high school and worked a lot of state tournaments. He said during those games he got recommended for junior college basketball and then moved onto the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics before getting a bump to the next level.

“In 1979, SWAC offered me a contract to officiate for them,” Evans said. “That was the first Division I conference I had worked in.”

Later on, Evans worked games in the Sun Belt, Big 12, Southeastern Conference and Conference USA. He said he still evaluates officials for the SEC at the University of Alabama’s home games.

“I enjoyed running up and down the floor and the exercise,” Evans said. “I enjoyed meeting other officials. Officiating is almost like a fraternity. You develop relationships with guys you hadn’t met before and those relationships last forever.”

Others being inducted are Tommy Gibbs, Sr. (Alcorn State University), Kevin Granger (Texas Southern), Perry Harrington (Jackson State), Maurice “Mo” Hurst (Southern), Alicia Pete (Prairie View A&M) and Steven Rogers, Sr. (Alabama State).

Evans said he plans to attend the induction ceremony, which will take place Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. in Houston, Texas.