Greg Selber was an athlete with a gift for storytelling.
Growing up in Austin, he competed in multiple sports, including football, baseball, basketball, track and even soccer (one varsity game played, one goal scored). Athletics was always more than just a fun, healthy activity for him though; it provided a bottomless well of fascination.
“When I was a kid, I always studied the newspaper, box scores, etc.,” Selber wrote in an email. “I kept score of games on television and practiced broadcasting in the mirror. I even made up my own football and baseball games with dice and playing cards, making rosters of imaginary teams.”
Selber started covering sports as a journalist in the Rio Grande Valley in 1989 and, since then, has written for several newspapers, including the Valley Morning Star and Edinburg Review. He has showcased the achievements of Valley athletes for more than 30 years and written and published four books on Valley sports history.
He will be inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame as a sports journalist Saturday at the Mission Event Center.
The 33rd annual induction ceremony will enshrine seven inductees, bringing the hall’s membership to 272. Other inductees include former college and pro football player Paul Alsbury, former McAllen High volleyball coach Paula Dodge, former San Isidro basketball coach Rolando Garza, former McAllen Memorial High football coach Bill Littleton, multi-sport official Mario Reyna and longtime track & field coach Larry Howell.
They are the class of 2020, but their enshrinement was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hall’s Board of Directors decided not to select a 2021 class so this class could get its moment in the spotlight.
“I was always going to be a sports journalist,” Selber said. “From age 12, I kept notebooks of stats for the NFL, MLB, NBA, sometimes NHL, NASL, every player, every game. I still do that to this very day, along with keeping notebooks on the high school sports of the Valley.”
He began refining his writing prowess as a teenager.
“I was the editor of the yearbook and newspaper in junior high and high school, and into TCU (Texas Christian University), where I wrote sports for the newspaper and yearbook,” he wrote.
Selber earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degree in media studies, both from TCU. He earned a Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
He has authored four books: Border Ball: The History of High School Football in the Rio Grande Valley (2009), Bronc Ball: The History of College Basketball at Pan American University (2013), and Hardwood Heroes: The History of High School Basketball in the Rio Grande Valley, Volume I & II (2020).
“I always wanted to stay in the shadows as an observer, trying to reach the ultimate goal to make Valley sports as special and memorable as possible,” he said. “I wanted to collate the collective efforts that have been made in the Valley over time.”
Selber was named the 2011 Putt Powell Sports Writer of the Year by the Texas High School Coaches Association. Now a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, he teaches in the Department of Communications. He covers Edinburg sports for SelberSports.com.
“My career as an educator allows me to triangulate the experience as a player, coach, and journalist with the students at UTRGV,” he said. “Teaching is great because I get to read, think, speak and write about all sorts of topics, learning with my kids every day.”
Founded in 1985, the RGV Sports Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing recognition to people who have brought positive exposure to the Rio Grande Valley throughout the state or nation through their participation in sports as an athlete, coach, official, trainer, journalist or other sports-related position.
For more information, visit rgvshof.net.