Olerud earns Pac-12 HOF honours
Blue Jays 1B John Olerud won the American League batting title in 1993, hitting .400 until late August.
2019 Pac-12 Hall of Honor class
2019 class featuring NCAA champions as well as champions across the Super Bowl plus World Series, Olympic medalists and legendary coaches
18th class to be honored on March 15 during special halftime ceremony of the day’s first semifinal game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 Conference today announced the 2019 class to be inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor. Formal induction will take place on Friday, March 15 during a ceremony prior to the semifinals of the 2019 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament, presented by New York Life. Following induction, the class will be honored during a special halftime ceremony of the day’s first semifinal matchup at T-Mobile Arena on Friday, March 15 with tickets available at Pac-12.com/tickets.
The 2019 Hall of Honor class will be the 18th since its creation in 2002, and the second to feature legendary figures from an array of sports after the Pac-12 last season expanded the field to be inclusive of the broad-based athletics success across the Conference of Champions. From NCAA champions, Super Bowl champions and World Series champions to Olympic medalists to legendary coaches, the 2019 class features a star-studded list of inductees with:
Among the many combined accolades of this year’s inductee class includes: 14 Olympic medals, nine bowl victories, eight members named to a Pac-12 All-Century Team, seven All-Americans, five Olympic athletes, five NCAA team or individual national championships as collegians, four Super Bowl victories, two members of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, two members of the College Football Hall of Fame, two members of their country’s Olympic Hall of Fame, one member of the Naismith Hall of Fame and one back-to-back World Series winner.
Celebrating the broad-based example of excellence, the 2019 Pac-12 Hall of Honor class is part of a rich history of champions for the Conference. The Pac-12 leads the list for the most NCAA titles by any league with 516 across 29 different sports, including nation-leading totals for men’s (301), women’s (185) and combined (30).
The 2019 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament will take place Wednesday – Saturday, March 13-16 with an action-packed 11 games over four intense days in the event’s third year at Las Vegas’ hottest new sports and entertainment venue, T-Mobile Arena. Since moving to T-Mobile Arena, the event has enjoyed back-to-back years of total attendance over 80,000, just the second time in Tournament history that total attendance surpassed 80,000 in successive years, including an event-record 86,910 in 2017’s debut at the venue. All-Tournament Passes for this year’s event, which provide fans the best locations for the best price, and single-session tickets are available at Pac-12.com/tickets.
Meg Ritchie-Stone, Arizona (1979-83)
Few student-athletes at any institution have accomplished in their careers what Meg Ritchie-Stone has as an Arizona Wildcat. From singlehandedly dominating the Arizona track and field record books to competing at the highest levels internationally to becoming a pioneer in collegiate athletics, Meg Ritchie-Stone has earned honors and recognitions in just about every way possible. The four-year letter winner and All-American in the shot put and discus was the 1980 AIAW champion in both, the 1981 AIAW champion in shot put and runner-up in discus, the 1981 indoor shot put champion, the 1982 NCAA champion in shot put and discus and the 1983 NCAA champion in the indoor shot put. A member of the University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, following her collegiate career became the first female strength coach to head both men’s and women’s strength programs at a major American university.
Frank Kush, Arizona State (1955-79)
Arizona State football’s all-time winningest coach, the late Frank Kush led the Sun Devils to 176 wins over parts of 22 seasons. Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995, Kush began his Arizona State career in 1955, serving as an assistant under former head coach Dan Devine before being promoted to head coach three seasons later. Kush led the program to seven Western Athletic Conference Championships and guided the Sun Devils to winning seasons in 19 of his 22 years, also amassing the most postseason victories in ASU football history. His 1975 team finished second in the national rankings as he was named the National Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association and the Walter Camp Foundation. Aside from producing winning teams, Kush helped guide 38 student-athletes to All-America honors and 128 into the National Football League, including 10 first-round draft picks and 17 pro-bowlers. After his coaching career ended in 1979, he went back to ASU 21 years later and served as a special assistant to the athletics director and then as an ambassador for Sun Devil Athletics. A recipient of many honors including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lott Impact Trophy, Kush also served the Arizona community in many entities.
Natalie Coughlin, California (2001-04)
One of the all-time greats in Cal history, Natalie Coughlin starred for the Golden Bears from 2001-04 with her records in the pool earning her the Pac-12 Women’s Swimmer of the Century honor in 2016. The 11-time NCAA individual champion was a three-time NCAA Swimmer of the Year and Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year from 2001-03 and a four-time team MVP, going undefeated in dual meets during her career with a 61-0 record in individual races. By the time she graduated, Coughlin held school records in nine races before going on to compete in three Olympics (2004, 2008, 2012) and earning 12 medals, a total unsurpassed by any woman in U.S. Olympic history. Among her numerous awards including the 2002 USA Swimming Athlete of the Year, the 2002 Swimming World Female World Swimmer of the Year and the 2003 Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year.
Lisa Van Goor, Colorado (1981-85)
The first and only player in Colorado history to score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds in a career, men’s or women’s, Lisa Van Goor finished her collegiate career nearly averaging a double-double (18.0 points and 9.8 rebounds). The Buffs’ first true star in women’s basketball and one of the first in all women’s sports, Van Goor helped build the foundation for a program that would perennially become one of the nation’s best. She helped lead CU into the Big Eight Conference in the early 1980’s as the AIAW was absorbed by the NCAA, paving the way for major conferences to sponsor championships in women’s basketball. A finalist for the NCAA Player of the Year Award in each of her last three seasons, she earned All-Big Eight honors in the inaugural 1983 season. A three-time U.S. National Team Member (1981-83), she exited CU as its all-time leader in scoring, rebounds and blocked shots and was inducted into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999, just the second class to be enshrined and the first female athlete to be honored. Since then, she has remained active with her alma mater with Buffs4Life, an organization of CU letter winners who provide a support system to former CU athletes in need.
Bev Smith, Oregon (1978-82)
One of the greatest players in Oregon women’s basketball history, Bev Smith helped lead the Ducks to a 93-19 record over her four seasons, including two AIAW tournament trips and one NCAA tournament appearance. A member of the University of Oregon’s inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame class in 1992, she established school records for points scored in a single game (38), season (632) and career (2,063) rebounds in one game (26), season (376) and career (1,362); career assists (443); as well as steals in a single game (11), season (95) and career (349) and still holds several school records. Following her legendary collegiate career she continued to play internationally as a member of the Canadian national team for 10 years, highlighted by a fourth-place finish at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. After playing professionally in Italy for 15 years she returned to take over as the head coach in Eugene in 2001 with the Ducks winning a WNIT title in her first of eight seasons coaching her alma mater.
Dick Fosbury, Oregon State (1965-69)
During his time at Oregon State, Fosbury, an OSU civil engineering graduate, revolutionized the intercollegiate sport of high jumping with the “Fosbury Flop.” The signature move replaced the traditional approach with his midair rotation consisting of a curved running approach, landing on his lower neck and shoulders, which led to another innovation, the introduction of padded landing mats to replace the traditional sand landing pit. The former All-American and NCAA champion earned a gold medal for the U.S. during the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City. Fosbury is a member of several halls of fame, including the Oregon State University Athletics Hall of Fame, the State of Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the U.S. Track & Field Hall of Fame and the World Humanitarian Hall of Fame. Following a 40-year engineering career, Fosbury has been involved in numerous charitable organizations as well as in leadership roles with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Association, the Idaho Chapter of Olympians, the World Olympians Association (past president) and Idaho’s Simplot Games. Honored nearly 50 years to the date of his famous Mexico City Fosbury Flop, Oregon State unveiled a bronze sculpture on the site of the school’s former track and field stadium.
Dick Gould, Stanford (1967-2004)
The winningest coach in NCAA men’s tennis history, legendary Stanford head coach Dick Gould guided the Cardinal to 17 NCAA championships in his 38 seasons. After playing collegiately for Stanford he took over as head coach of the men’s program from 1967-2004, and continued to work in the athletic department until his official retirement on Jan. 15, 2018 as the John L. Hinds Director of Tennis, wrapping up a Stanford career that spanned 57 years. Over his 38 seasons as head coach, he led Stanford to a 776-148 overall record, produced 50 All-Americans, 10 NCAA singles champions and seven NCAA doubles titlists. Over a four-year stretch from 1995-98, Stanford won four straight NCAA crowns, going 28-0 in 1998 while losing only three dual-match points the entire season. For a 34-year period, every four-year letter winner earned at least one NCAA championship ring. An innovator both on and off the court, Gould spearheaded fundraising efforts, including one of the first personal seat license programs and raised funds to create endowments that went towards building the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, coaching and assistant coaching positions, athletics scholarships, operations and facility maintenance and repair. Gould was also the visionary for events such as indoor tennis in Maples Pavilion and the first combined men’s and women’s NCAA Tennis Championships, hosted at Taube Family Tennis Stadium in 2006.
Ann Meyers Drysdale, UCLA (1974-78)
Considered the pioneer of collegiate women’s basketball, Ann Meyers Drysdale was the first female athlete ever to earn a four-year scholarship to UCLA, finishing her collegiate career as the first four-time All-American in her sport. She is also the only woman to sign a contract with an NBA team, the Indiana Pacers (1979). In her senior season at UCLA (1978), she led the Bruins to an AIAW National Championship, won the Broderick Award as the women’s basketball player of the year and went on to win the prestigious Broderick Cup as the Collegiate Female Athlete of the Year in any sport. For almost two decades, Meyers Drysdale held the school record for assists in a game (15), was the school leader in career assists (544) until the marks were broken in 1999 and is still the Bruins’ all-time leader in steals (403). As an Olympian, Meyers Drysdale won a silver medal for the U.S. in 1976 and has since been inducted into the Naismith, FIBA and Women’s Basketball Halls of Fame. In 1988, her first year of eligibility, she was the first woman inducted into UCLA’s Hall of Fame, and two years later, she had her uniform number (No. 15) retired. Following her playing career, for nearly 30 years, she served as a network television sports analyst for ESPN, CBS, FOX Sports and NBC. She was once the president and general manager for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, and she currently serves as the vice president for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury. She is also a color analyst for the Phoenix Suns television broadcasts.
Ronnie Lott, USC (1977-81)
One of the greatest safeties in USC and NFL football history, Ronnie Lott was known for his ferocious hits and heady, aggressive play. At USC, he was a 1980 All-American and team captain and a four-year letterman (1977-78-79-80), playing on Troy’s 1978 national championship team as well as three bowl-winning teams (including two Rose Bowls). The eighth overall selection in the 1981 NFL Draft, Lott starred for 15 years (1981-95) in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders, New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, playing on four winning Super Bowl teams with the 49ers and in 10 Pro Bowls. An eight-time All-Pro, he led the NFL in interceptions twice, recording 63 interceptions total in his professional career. Lott was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002, as well as the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. He was named the Defensive Player of the Century on the Pac-12 All-Century Team in 2015 and was selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters to the NFL’s All-Time Team in 2000 and to the Super Bowl 50 Golden Team in 2016. After his football days, Lott became a venture capitalist, a television football analyst, an automobile dealership owner and a restaurateur. The Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is given to the college football defensive player who exhibits the traits of integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity, is named in his honor.
Steve Smith., Utah (1999-2000)
One of the most electrifying athletes to ever play at Utah, wide receiver Steve Smith continued to amaze during a 16-year career in the National Football League, making five Pro Bowl appearances. After earning All-CIF honors at University High School in Los Angeles and becoming an All-American at Santa Monica Junior College, Smith joined the Utes in 1999. In his first season, he earned all-league honors as both a wide receiver and punt returner, leading the team with 860 receiving yards and eight touchdown catches and eclipsing the Utah single-season record with 495 punt return yards and three TDs. That year he ranked first in the Mountain West Conference with 140.5 all-purpose yards per game. As a senior, Smith earned All-MWC honors for a second time, rolling up over 1,100 all-purpose yards with a team-high 743 in receiving and 365 more in punt returns. Smith left Utah as the program’s all-time leader by averaging 20.55 yards per catch. After being selected in the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers, he spent the next 13 seasons with the Panthers before ending his career with three years in Baltimore. In 2003, he played a critical role in leading Carolina to the Super Bowl. Two years later, he led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and TD catches. A three-time first or second team All-Pro selection, Smith is the 14th player in NFL history to amass 1,000 career receptions. He ranks eighth in league history with 14,731 receiving yards.
Trish Bostrom, Washington (1969-72)
One of the first standout players in Washington’s tennis program, Trish Bostrom was also an early pioneer in women’s sports. While at Washington, she established herself as one of the region’s best, winning the Pac-8 singles title in 1972 and earning a spot on the Junior Wightman Cup team. Following her collegiate career, Bostrom would rank as high as No. 5 in the world rankings in doubles in 1975 and No. 37 in singles in 1977. She was inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame in 1987. Bostrom was an instrumental advocate for gender equity in collegiate sports before the implementation of Title IX in 1975, growing up playing tennis and earning a spot on the boys’ team at Chief Sealth High School in Seattle. However, a ruling by the Metro League denied her a chance to compete. When she enrolled at UW in 1969, she dominated play on the women’s side, but wanted a chance to play against the highest level of competition. In 1972, Bostrom met with UW administrators and requested equal opportunities for women at Washington to compete in sports and—while that was being implemented—to be afforded a chance to try out for the men’s team. Weeks later, she would earn that chance, taking on Bill Carlyon—Washington’s No. 8 player on the men’s team. Unfortunately, Bostrom would not prevail as Carlyon won 6-4, 6-2. Despite being denied a spot on the team, she continued to fight for equal rights at the University with her actions opening the administration’s eyes to the discrepancies in the programs. After her professional career was over, Bostrom served on the UW board and as a president of the UW Alumni Association and continues to lecture on Title IX rights and opportunities.
John Olerud returns to the dugout after a Game 1 home run in the 1993 World Series.
John Olerud, Washington State (1987-89)
During his three seasons in a Cougar uniform, John Olerud had one of the finest careers of any Cougar student-athlete, in any sport, in Washington State history, rewriting the WSU record books and becoming the only Cougar baseball athlete ever to be named College Athlete of the Year. In 1988, Olerud became the only player in NCAA history to win 15 games on the mound and hit 20 home runs in the same season, going 15-0 with 23 home runs that year. Still holding numerous WSU records, Olerud went 26-4 overall with a 3.17 ERA over 241.1 innings during his three seasons, hitting .434 for Washington State. He set two Pac-10 records and 10 Pac-10 North marks, highlighted by his sophomore season when he was named Athlete of the Year by Baseball America. In January prior to his junior year at WSU, Olerud suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of brain seizure. He missed the first 28 games of the spring season, but returned to hit .359 for WSU over the final 27 games. Prior to his senior season, Olerud signed a contract with Toronto and went directly to the Major Leagues. In 1993, he became the first Blue Jay to win a batting title, hitting .363. Olerud played for Toronto, the New York Mets and Yankees, Seattle and Boston during his 17-year career, winning back-to-back world series titles with Toronto in 1992 and 1993. In 2001 he joined his father, John Sr., in the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame, and is a member of the College Baseball, State of Washington and Inland Northwest Sports Halls of Fame. The John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, given annually by the College Baseball Hall of Fame, was named in his honor and in 2016, he was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Century, selected by a 36-member blue ribbon panel of experts selected by the conference.