Jack Sharp (1997) - Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame

Jack Sharp

Induction:
1997

After a stunning win on rings for the University of Illinois at the Big Ten Championship in 1949, Jack Sharp followed his Illini head coach, Dr. Hartley Price, to the newly formed Florida State University Gymnastics team. He would join a number of Olympic and international athletes who flocked to the new FSU program making it one of the nation's best.

As a captain of the FSU team in 1952, Sharp led the Seminoles through a remarkable string of wins that included in succession, the Florida, Georgia, and Alabama AAU's, the Southern Intercollegiate and, ultimately, the 1952 National College Championship. The national championship was the second in a row for the FSU Gymnastics team. Individually, Sharp won a gold medal to become the National Collegiate Association Swing Rings champion in 1952.

A native of Philadelphia, John D. "Jack" Sharp rose to the ranks of Colonel in the U.S. Air Force following his graduation from FSU and was a member of the Military Advisory Committee at the Center of Defense Information in Washington, D.C.