Athletics

Utah State Athletics Hosts Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, Sept. 4

An induction ceremony and dinner honoring Utah State [University] Athletics' 13th Hall of Fame Class is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 4, at 6 p.m., at the Riverwoods Conference Center in Logan.

Reservations for the banquet can be made through the USU Athletics Department by contacting Jimmy Moore, assistant athletic director for special projects, at (435) 797-7101, or by registering on-line at www.utahstateaggies.com/HOF.html. The cost is $37 per seat or $300 for a table of 10. The 2015 class will also be recognized in conjunction with Utah State's home football game against Southern Utah on Thursday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m.

The six inductees include Dr. Stan L. Albrecht, the university’s 15th president; Lucia Chudy, a two-time All-American volleyball player; Ray Corn, the most successful Aggie gymnastics coach ever; Kevin Curtis, the most prolific wide receiver in school history; Spencer Nelson, one of the best Aggie basketball players ever; and Lloydene Searle; the first female athlete to earn a scholarship in school history and the most successful Aggie softball coach ever.

A total of 87 individuals and three teams have now been inducted into the Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was founded in 1993 with 12 initial members, followed by eight members in 1994 and seven in 1995. The addition of any inductees was stopped until 2006 when five more individuals were added, followed by six recipients in 2007 and five in 2008, to go along with the first-ever team inducted. Seven more inductees were added in 2009, followed by six in 2010, five in 2011 plus two more national championship teams, eight in 2012, six inductees in 2013 and six more inductees in both 2014 and 2015.

Located inside the Steve Mothersell Hall of Honor, the Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame gives fans the opportunity to view biographical information and watch videos on each of the inducted members. Both the Hall of Fame and the Hall of Honor are located inside the Jim and Carol Laub Athletics-Academics Complex in the north end of Romney Stadium.

Albrecht was named Utah State University’s 15th president Feb. 1, 2005. At the time of the announcement, Albrecht was serving as executive vice president and provost at Utah State, a position he held since 2001. He previously served as its dean of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences from 1998-2001. Albrecht has had many successes during his tenure as president. Under his leadership, the university launched a comprehensive fundraising campaign that raised $500 million at its completion in October, 2012. Albrecht has also had a significant impact on the Athletics Department at Utah State with the growth of its infrastructure with the construction of the Jim and Carol Laub Athletics-Academics Complex, the ICON Sports Performance Center, the Wayne Estes Center and upcoming renovations to the west side of Romney Stadium. Albrecht was also instrumental in USU’s invitation for membership into the Mountain West Conference in 2012.

Chudy is one of just four volleyball players in school history to earn multiple All-America honors. A two-time Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) All-American (1978, 1979), Chudy helped Utah State volleyball to its only national championship in 1978 followed by a national runner-up finish in 1979 to go along with a 10th-place finish at the AIAW National Tournament in 1977. During the 1977 season, USU set the school-record for wins as it finished the year with a 46-11-2 record, including a 10-1 mark in the Intermountain Athletic Conference (IAC), as it went on to take first-place at the AIAW Regional Tournament. During its national championship run in 1978, USU posted a 42-4-2 record and began the season by winning its first 26 matches. USU also went 10-2 in conference play that season and concluded its national championship run by defeating UCLA in four sets in the AIAW National Championship match in Tuscaloosa, Ala. During the 1979 season, USU went 10-0 in conference play and finished with a 35-5-2 mark as it lost to Hawai'i in five sets in the national championship match. Chudy, who was also a two-time all-IAC selection, helped Utah State to a 123-20-6 (.846) record during her three-year career, including a 30-3 (.909) conference mark. While at Utah State, Chudy also excelled as a track and field athlete and placed third in the high jump at the prestigious Jessie Owens Invitational during her senior season.

Corn was hired as Utah State’s first-ever gymnastics coach, transitioning the program from club level to NCAA status, and served in that capacity for 31 years before retiring in 2008. Corn, who had an overall record of 442-444-2 (.499), with a regular-season mark of 389-284-2 (.578), led the Aggies to the postseason 26 times, including five trips to the national championships. In 1978, Corn took a club-level Utah State gymnastics team and transformed it into an Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) power, finishing 30-4 in his first season. The next year, the Aggies made the first of four consecutive trips to the AIAW National Championships, finishing as high as ninth in 1982. During his USU coaching career, Corn led the Aggies to four Big West Conference Championships (1992, 1996, 1998, 2001) and the 2005 Western Gymnastics Conference Championship. Overall, Corn coached three All-Americans, three Olympians, three World University Game Trials competitors and nine NCAA national qualifiers, and was a six-time conference coach of the year (1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1998, 2001), along with being named the 1991 Midwest Regional Coach of the Year. In 1991, USU finished 12th as a team at the NCAA Championships. Between 1991 and his retirement in 2008, 32 gymnasts earned academic All-America honors a total of 50 times under Corn, while 92 gymnasts received academic all-conference accolades.

Curtis earned Associated Press Third-Team All-American honors and Football News Honorable Mention All-American honors as a junior in 2001 and was a two-time first-team all-independent selection for Utah State during the 2001 and 2002 seasons after transferring from Snow College, where he was a second-team All-American. During his junior year as a walk-on, Curtis led the nation with 9.1 receptions per game and set single-season school records for receptions (100), receiving yards (1,531), most double-digit reception games (6), most 100-yard receiving games (9), and most consecutive 100-yard receiving games (6), while adding 10 touchdowns. As a junior, Curtis also ranked third nationally in receiving yards per game (139.18) and 19th in all-purpose yards per game (141.45), and had 252 receiving yards against Weber State to rank as the second-most in a single-game in school history. Curtis again led the team in receptions (74), receiving yards (1,258) and receiving touchdowns (9) during his senior season as he ranked seventh in the nation in receiving yards per game (114.36) and 12th in the country in receptions per game (6.73). His 1,258 receiving yards as a senior still ranks fourth all-time in school history, while his 74 catches rank fifth all-time. Overall, Curtis had 16 career 100-yard receiving games to rank first all-time in school history to go along with two 200-yard receiving games, and also holds the school record for receiving yards per game for both a season (139.2) and career (126.8). His 7.9 receptions per game during his two-year career also ranks first all-time in school history, and he ranks second all-time in school history in both career receptions (174) and career receiving yards (2,789).

Nelson was named a Mid-Major All-American and the Mid-Major Player of the Year by CollegeInsider.com as a senior in 2005 as he was the only player in the nation to average 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. During his senior season, Nelson was also named a first-team all-Big West selection, a Big West all-tournament team member, the league's Hustle Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, and a member of the United States Basketball Writers All-District VIII team as he averaged 16.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. As a senior, Nelson shot 60.0 percent from the field and 78.7 percent from the free throw line, and finished the year ranked first in the Big West Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92), second in rebounding (7.9) and field goal percentage (.600), third in scoring (16.0) and assists (4.8), and fifth in free throw percentage (.787). Nelson finished his Aggie career with 1,283 points, 800 rebounds and 62 blocked shots, and still ranks 19th all-time in school history in scoring, eighth in rebounding and 10th in blocked shots. He also ranks third all-time in school history in career field goal percentage (.617), seventh in games played (120), ninth in double-figure rebound games (29), 10th in double-doubles (22), 10th in both free throws made (384) and attempted (533), and 12th in assists (302). During his final three years at Utah State, Nelson helped the Aggies to a 73-21 (.777) mark, including a 42-12 (.778) ledger in the Big West as USU shared the regular season championship in 2004, and won Big West tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2003 and 2005. Nelson was also a three-time academic all-Big West honoree and one of 16 Aggie greats named to USU's All-Century basketball team in 2005.

Searle was the first female to earn an athletic scholarship in Utah State history as she competed in volleyball, basketball and softball during her Aggie career and was named the school’s Female Athlete of the Year during her senior season in 1975. A four-year captain in each sport she competed in, Searle earned all-conference honors in both basketball and softball, as well as a Kodak All-American basketball team nomination. Following her collegiate career, Searle played professional softball for one year before entering the coaching fraternity. In 1981, she was named Utah State’s head softball coach and led the Aggies to a national championship, their second-straight, in her first season. In 17 years as the Aggies’ head coach, Searle compiled a record of 467-345-2 (.739) and is the school’s all-time leader in wins and games coached. During her 17 years at Utah State, she averaged 30 wins per season and led USU to the Women’s College World Series five times (1981, 1984, 1989, 1992, 1993). Utah State won a school-record 43 games in 1992, and in 1993, Searle was named the Big West Conference Coach of the Year as the Aggies tied for the league title, their last in school history. Searle was also named the High Country Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1985. Overall, Utah State won five conference championships under Searle (1981, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1993) as she coached 15 All-Americans, 21 all-region selections and 30 all-conference honorees. In 2011, Searle and the rest of the 1981 National Championship softball team were inducted into the USU Athletics Hall of Fame.

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