From the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame:
JASON DUFNER – GOLF | Born March 24, 1977, in Cleveland, OH. Dufner was a walk-on on Auburn University’s golf team. He won three events in college and was named an Honorable Mention All-American in 1997. Dufner’s first professional victory came on the Nationwide Tour in 2001. He first competed on the PGA Tour in 2004. After returning to the Nationwide Tour for a few years, Dufner has been a member of the PGA Tour every year since 2009. He achieved his highest ranking in September 2006 when he was ranked sixth in the world by the Official World Golf Ranking. Dufner’s biggest accomplishment came in 2013 when he won the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. Dufner has won eight professional tournaments in his career.
MIKE MITCHELL – BASKETBALL | Born January 1, 1956, in Atlanta, GA. Mitchell played college basketball at Auburn University where he was a four-time All-SEC selection and was named a Second-Team All-American in his senior season. He remains Auburn’s all-time leading rebounder and is second all-time in scoring. Mitchell was drafted in the 15th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1978 NBA Draft, but he played the majority of his career with the San Antonio Spurs. Mitchell was named an All-Star in 1981. After leaving the Spurs, he played professionally in Italy and Israel. Auburn retired Mitchell’s jersey number in 2013. He finished his 11-year NBA career with 15,016 points, 4,246 rebounds, and 1,010 assists.
FRANK WARREN – FOOTBALL | Born September 14, 1959, in Birmingham, AL. Warren was a defensive lineman at Auburn University where he was named All-SEC for three consecutive seasons from 1978-1980. He was drafted in the third round of the 1981 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. Over his 13-year career with the Saints, he recorded 56 sacks, ranking him sixth among Saints all-time sack leaders. Warren also recorded two fumble recovery touchdowns which ties the Saints franchise record. He retired in 1994 and was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame in 2002. Warren was also named to the Saints 50th Anniversary Team in 2019.
Buddy Davidson earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Auburn University in 1964. Before graduating, he had already worked as a football student manager and an assistant in the sports information department. Including his time as a student worker, Davidson served 50 years within the Auburn athletic department. As the sports information director, he worked with all members of the media covering Auburn athletics. During that time, he promoted and publicized Pat Sullivan in 1971 which led to Auburn’s first Heisman Trophy winner. Davidson was named an assistant athletic director in 1981 and took over the responsibilities of scheduling travel for football, administrative duties and assisting the director of athletics on special projects. Davidson retired from Auburn in 2006 but continued to attend every football game as he hadn’t missed one since 1957, the year of Auburn’s first national championship. The streak lasted 61 years and was capped off by Davidson attending his 700th consecutive game in 2017.
Davidson joins a distinguished list of others who have been honored by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame as Mel Allen Media Award recipients. They are: John Pruett (2014), George Smith (2014), Tom Roberts (2015), Ron Ingram (2017), Cecil Hurt (2019), Paul Finebaum (2020), Rubin Grant (2021), Mark McCarter (2022), Rick Karle (2023) and Randy Kennedy (2024).
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer
