Tigers Present Family with #31 "Elrod" jersey

On November 12, 2009, Stephen's family was presented with a framed #31 jersey on the evening of the first home game of the 2009 season. It was a fitting evening for the presentation; Coach Osborne coached and won his 400th game the same evening. The following is the script that was read during the tribute to Stephen.

"Stephen Dale Elrod, a four-year member of the Tiger Men’s Basketball Team and 2007 graduate of Georgetown College, was killed in a tragic vehicle accident in July. Since then he has been remembered in many ways throughout our campus community. Tonight, we honor his memory by giving his parents, Rick and Judy Elrod, and brother, Jon, a framed jersey of his number, No. 31. The Tiger team also honors Stephen each game, wearing “Rod” on the front of each of their jerseys and rubbing a No. 31 jersey in their locker room before heading to the court...

A permanent honor on our campus is planned to be unveiled next year when the area between the George H.W. Bush Fitness Center and Alumni Gymnasium will be named the Stephen D. Elrod Plaza. A sculpture depicting his characteristics and personality will be erected with benches surrounding as a touching tribute to his life.

Stephen was one of the finest kids I have ever been associated with. He was smart, kind, polite, and funny! It looked like he was always having a good day. He lit up the room when he walked in, remembers professor, Jack Birdwhistell.

Coach Happy Osborne has been close to this family since he was an assistant under then Coach Reid and says that as a family, he doesn’t know how you can be any more Georgetown than the Elrods. Happy says that while Rick and Judy been very successful in their time at Georgetown and in life, the most success for them has been as parents because there are no two finer young men than Stephen and Jon Elrod.

Coach Osborne considers Stephen Elrod as the perfect example of a student-athlete. His smile lit up our campus and every gym he visited. Most of all, Stephen lived the example of Christ in that he gave everything for everyone else. Most of all, he was an example to all of us because he saw the good in every one.

Dr. Zahi Haddad, professor of business administration remembers Stephen in the classroom and says, “Stephen Elrod was beloved by all his friends and faculty members. He gained my at most admiration and respect as a student and an athlete. He was a true scholar who had high expectation of himself and expected others to do as well. He had a great personality that gained him the friendship and respect of all who knew him. He developed an excellent understanding of life complexities which made him a person of good judgment. I frequently relied on his judgment on the investment team. He always researched hidden corporate treasures and shared their values with his team. His judgment had always proved to be profitable to the team. He was a great leader. I will always miss him and have a warm spot for Stephen in my heart.

Mark Surgalski, who was a four-year teammate and roommate of Stephen says that Stephen is in the top three most influential people in his life – “He made me a better friend to my friends, made me a better person in this world and the thing I thank him most for is that he made me a better husband to my wife.”

Stephen Elrod was a professor’s dream student says Nancy Lumpkin, another one of Stephen’s favorite teachers. Professor Lumpkin notes that he never shied away from the tough courses, was game for any new challenges, and was always so pleasant to be around. I very much valued the attitude and spirit this fine young man brought to my classes and to the Georgetown College Investment Team. Stephen was a business major with an emphasis in management…but he kept showing up in my finance courses…this was a little unusual for me to see because normally, if a student gets through Lumpkin’s Managerial class, he does not usually look back again…but Stephen did. Elrod—cause that is what we all called him—appeared in my Investments class…the first day I asked him if he was in the correct room. The other students teased him a bit because he had apparently chosen a Lumpkin class of his own free will! I will never forget it…Steven smiled, pulled his baseball cap a little lower, down over his reddened face, and replied, “yes Ma’am, I really want to learn about investments.”

That statement on day one changed the entire demeanor of the class for the semester. Stephen’s leadership in the classroom—his willingness to express interest and excitement over academic content—helped open everyone to that learning opportunity. We had such a fun semester together and I will never forget it.

Stephen’s jersey will forever hang in the Georgetown locker room and his contributions to Georgetown Basketball and our campus will never be forgotten. Fitting tributes for a special young man…Stephen D. Elrod.

And now our Tiger captains, team and staff proudly present the framed jersey to Rick, Judy and Jon."