Hall of Fame
Tavares “The Goat” Levarity was an explosive defensive tackle with outstanding quickness. He received the nickname, G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) dominating the line of scrimmage as a de-
fensive player. Tavares is from Miami, Florida where he played football at Hialeah-Miami Lake High School, and was recruited by Coach Maurice Hunt to at-tend KSU.
As a freshman, he was able to secure a starting position as defensive tackle. During his fresh-man season, he excelled by leading the Thorobreds in tackles for loss, and amassing 44 tackles and 5 sacks, playing in only 9 games, due to an injury.
Tavares was the “ROCK” of the defensive line, becoming one of the best defensive lines in the nation. When Coach George Small became the new head coach in 1995, his new system, with Tavares leading the way, helped lead KSU to its first winning season in 16 years. The driving force of the KSU defensive line lead KSU to a 7-4 win-lost record for the season. Tavares was the defensive Captain, as they lead the nation in total defense, holding opposing teams to under 200 total yards per game. Tavares was consistently nominated as Defensive Player of the Week by the State Journal and the Sports View Black-College magazine.
Tavares was a versatile defensive player. During his senior year, 1996, he switched to the posi-tion of defensive end to fill in a void, but this change did not prevent him from being a top de-fensive lineman. He continued to provide non-stop pressure on his opponents and keeping the offense guessing on what he might to do next. Coach Small quoted, “Tavares uses his hands well and has tremendous intensity at the point of contact”. Tavares was able to finish the season with 69 tackles and 5 sacks.
In 1997, the team, along with the strength of Tavares, led the KSU Thorobreds to it first and only Pioneer Bowl victory. His contributions to the game devastated the opposing team. His statistics were recorded as 70 tackles and 6 sacks. KSU ended the season with a 7-5 record de-feating Livingstone College, 30-26 in the Pioneer Bowl Championship. KSU also led the Divi-sion II in Pass Yardage Defensive, largely due to the upfront defensive pressure, by Tavares, to the opposing quarterbacks. Tavares was instrumental in KSU being ranked in the top five, in the nation, on defense for two consecutive years, 1995 and 1996.
Tavares currently resides in Tampa, Florida and is an owner of an Avis/Budget rental franchise in downtown Tampa.
