By Harry Minium

Thomas DeMarco was Old Dominion University’s first quarterback. He’s the guy who threw ODU’s first touchdown pass, led the Monarchs to a 9-2 record in their first season in 2009 and was a major player in helping the University create the most successful startup program in NCAA history.

So, it is fitting that he is the first football player to will be inducted into the ODU Sports Hall of Fame.

DeMarco is part of ODU’s largest Hall of Fame class ever. The induction ceremony is scheduled Saturday morning in the Priority Club at S.B. Ballard Stadium. The event is sold out.

He will be joined by Kent Bazemore, the former ODU basketball star now playing with the Los Angeles Lakers; Olympians Stephanie Roble (sailing) and Arni Arnason (men’s swimming), Jim McGovern (men’s golf), Mark Zagol (sailing) and former sports information director Carol Hudson.

DeMarco said he was stunned, and remains in shock, from the phone call he received saying he had been voted into the Hall of Fame.

“That’s something I’d never really thought about,” he said. “My family and friends have made a bigger deal out of it than I have.

“But it’s pretty special. I’ve gotten a flood of text messages, emails and phone calls.”

A native of Pasadena, California, DeMarco was recruited to ODU out of the College of the Deseret, a California junior college, where he was an outstanding quarterback and punter. At first, then-offensive coordinator Brian Scott recruited him as a punter and offered him only a partial scholarship.

“I remember my coach telling coach Scott that ‘he’s a pretty good quarterback,’ and Bro’s response was ‘we’re good,'” DeMarco said.

But Scott took a video of DeMarco playing quarterback back to Norfolk and soon called back with a full scholarship offer.

Second only to Coach Bobby Wilder, DeMarco was the face of the program in those first two seasons, when ODU played a schedule composed of Division II and FCS schools. He passed for 5,732 career yards and rushed for 1,456 yards and 30 touchdowns. ODU was 21-6 in games DeMarco started.

ODU made a statement in 2010 in losing to William & Mary, 21-17, in a hard-hitting game in which the Monarchs signaled they were ready for high-caliber FCS competition.

He was injured in ODU’s fifth game in 2011, the Monarchs’ first in the CAA, when a UMass player rolled over his ankle. A freshman named Taylor Heinicke came off the bench to replace him, and he would set school passing records that likely will never be broken and is quarterback for the Washington Football Team.

Heinicke and DeMarco remain good friends.

DeMarco said he and his teammates were mesmerized by the sellout crowd at ODU’s first game, a 36-21 victory over Division II Chowan University.

“We all knew what it was like to play in front of mom and dad and 1,000 people,” he said. “We ran the no-huddle offense, and we almost got a delay of game because our center, Jeremy Hensley, was watching the crowd do the wave.

“We were all doing the same thing. This is what we wanted when we came to ODU. For us to hear 20,000 who wanted to be there, to see thousands of people tailgating, it was everything we could ever ask for because people were engaged.”

DeMarco’s ankle never really healed his senior year, but he put together a pretty solid career in the Canadian Football League, playing from 2012 through 2016 in British Columbia, Ottawa and Edmonton. He threw for 1,325 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2013 for the BC Lions.

DeMarco then came back to ODU in 2017 as a fundraiser and helped the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation raise money for key projects, including the Priority Club. He lives in Vancouver, Washington with his wife, Julie, and two-year-old daughter, Ava.

He is a financial adviser for Edward Jones Financial Services and credits his time at ODU, especially his time on the football team, for his professional success. DeMarco earned his MBA while playing at ODU and took enough accounting courses while working for ODAF to sit for the accounting exam.

Once, during a job interview, he was asked if he could memorize five templates to present to potential clients. He responded that he had to memorize more than 100 plays as a quarterback.

He said his induction is a tribute to everyone associated with ODU’s football program in 2009.

“It was a combination of the administration, coaching staff and players,” he said. “This is more than just about sports. Football made me a better person. I hope that’s what will be celebrated.”

Bazemore can’t attend because of his obligations to the Lakers. Bazemore’s family is expected to attend, as are the other six inductees and their families.  

Bazemore was the two-time Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year who is entering his tenth NBA season

Arnason was a two-time Olympian, representing Iceland in 2008 and 2012, and a two-time NCAA qualifier at ODU.

Roble competed for the United States in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and was a three-time All-American at ODU.

McGovern finished third in the 1987 and 1988 Sun Belt championships and was the 1987 Virginia Intercollegiate state champion. As a PGA pro he won the 1993 Houston Open.

Zagol was an All-American in 1998 and 1999 and was a finalist for national sailor of the year in 1999.

Hudson was a student manager on ODU’s 1975 Division II national championship men’s basketball team and served ODU nearly four decades as a sports information intern, sports information director and assistant athletic director for communications.

Hudson Blue, the powder blue color sometimes worn by ODU athletic teams, is named for him.