Greg Hansen's top 10 athletes missing from the UA Sports Hall of Fame
- Updated
1988 Pac-10 defensive player of the year Dana Wells tops the list.
Editor's note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything in Tucson sports.
Today's list: The top 10 athletes missing from the UA Sports Hall of Fame.
In his final game as a high school pitcher, Rich Hinton struck out 15 batters in the first-ever North-South All-Star Game in Phoenix.
Here’s the catch: the lefty from Marana High School did so in just six innings.
Two days later, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
So when Hinton arrived on Arizona’s campus in the fall of 1965, the Wildcats suspected they were on to something special. How special?
In Hinton’s final appearance as a Wildcat, on May 16, 1969, he pitched a complete-game to beat UTEP to win his 14th game of the season, setting a school record. Not only that, Hinton hit a home run and triple and had five RBI against UTEP; when not pitching, Hinton hit .287 in 86 at-bats as a right-fielder.
A few weeks later, Hinton signed a bonus contract with the Chicago White Sox and began a MLB career that would cover 116 games over six seasons. But it’s what Hinton did at Arizona, not in MLB, that seemed to secure his place in the UA Sports Hall of Fame.
He went 14-2 as a senior, 1969, with a school-record 1.07 ERA.
His career numbers are equally remarkable: 32-8, which all these years later remains the fourth-highest win total by an Arizona pitcher. His senior year ERA of 1.07 has never been topped.
"I know I can make the majors as a pitcher," Hinton said in June 1969. "But if my arm goes out, I know I can play the outfield. I’ve got speed and I know I can hit."
Not only did Hinton have all the baseball tools, but on the way to the Tucson airport for a 1969 baseball series, the team bus stalled on the roadside. Hinton, who grew up on his father’s farm in Marana and learned how to fix farm machinery, got off the bus, under the hood and got the bus running again.
Hinton is one of 10 people who seem overdue for selection into the UA Sports Hall of Fame. Here’s our Top 10 list:
The hard-nosed defensive lineman was the 1988 Pac-10 defensive player of the year, winning the league’s Morris Trophy emblematic of the top lineman in the league. He was a two-time All-Pac-10 first-team selection.
After the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Hinton was part of Team USA that played a series of international All-Star games in Mexico.
It now seems difficult to imagine, but from 1996-2005, Bonvicini coached the UA women’s basketball team to seven NCAA appearances and one Pac-10 championship.
As a freshman from Rincon High, Schneider, a lefty, went 13-1 in 1962, leading Arizona to the school’s first No. 1 ranking in any sport. A first-team All-American, Schneider also set a school season strikeout record of 186 that still stands.
Not only did Lewis, a cornerback, become a unanimous first-team All-American in 1990, he won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back, intercepted seven passes, and personally won two games, with an 80-yard interception return at UCLA and an enduring goal-line stop of Oregon QB Bill Musgrave on the game’s final play.
A first-team All-American outfielder in 1970, chosen by the college baseball coaches association, Mikulic set a UA record with 92 hits that season, batting .393.
So far, the UA Sports Hall of Fame has not inducted assistant coaches unless they were part of an NCAA championship team. But Akina, who from 1987-2001 was one of the leading coaches in college football, was both the defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator of UA Desert Swarm-era teams.
No-brainer here: Harris, of Tucson High, was a first-team All-Pac-10 linebacker on Desert Swarm teams of 1993 and 1994, and a third-team Associated Press All-American who played seven years for the Chicago Bears.
Remember all of those faraway 4- and 5-star basketball prospects who signed to help Fred Snowden build a basketball power at new McKale Center? Holmes, who was probably the most significant assistant coach in UA basketball history, did the heavy lifting.
The Santa Rita High School two-time state champion won the 1984 Pac-10 cross country title, was twice an All-American (1983 and 1984) in the 10,000 meter NCAA finals, and the top finisher for Team USA as an Arizona sophomore in the World Championships in Italy. During his junior season, he was eighth at the U.S. Olympic Trials at 10,000 meters.
Editor's note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything in Tucson sports.
Today's list: The top 10 athletes missing from the UA Sports Hall of Fame.
In his final game as a high school pitcher, Rich Hinton struck out 15 batters in the first-ever North-South All-Star Game in Phoenix.
Here’s the catch: the lefty from Marana High School did so in just six innings.
Two days later, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
So when Hinton arrived on Arizona’s campus in the fall of 1965, the Wildcats suspected they were on to something special. How special?
In Hinton’s final appearance as a Wildcat, on May 16, 1969, he pitched a complete-game to beat UTEP to win his 14th game of the season, setting a school record. Not only that, Hinton hit a home run and triple and had five RBI against UTEP; when not pitching, Hinton hit .287 in 86 at-bats as a right-fielder.
A few weeks later, Hinton signed a bonus contract with the Chicago White Sox and began a MLB career that would cover 116 games over six seasons. But it’s what Hinton did at Arizona, not in MLB, that seemed to secure his place in the UA Sports Hall of Fame.
He went 14-2 as a senior, 1969, with a school-record 1.07 ERA.
His career numbers are equally remarkable: 32-8, which all these years later remains the fourth-highest win total by an Arizona pitcher. His senior year ERA of 1.07 has never been topped.
"I know I can make the majors as a pitcher," Hinton said in June 1969. "But if my arm goes out, I know I can play the outfield. I’ve got speed and I know I can hit."
Not only did Hinton have all the baseball tools, but on the way to the Tucson airport for a 1969 baseball series, the team bus stalled on the roadside. Hinton, who grew up on his father’s farm in Marana and learned how to fix farm machinery, got off the bus, under the hood and got the bus running again.
Hinton is one of 10 people who seem overdue for selection into the UA Sports Hall of Fame. Here’s our Top 10 list:
The hard-nosed defensive lineman was the 1988 Pac-10 defensive player of the year, winning the league’s Morris Trophy emblematic of the top lineman in the league. He was a two-time All-Pac-10 first-team selection.
After the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Hinton was part of Team USA that played a series of international All-Star games in Mexico.
It now seems difficult to imagine, but from 1996-2005, Bonvicini coached the UA women’s basketball team to seven NCAA appearances and one Pac-10 championship.
As a freshman from Rincon High, Schneider, a lefty, went 13-1 in 1962, leading Arizona to the school’s first No. 1 ranking in any sport. A first-team All-American, Schneider also set a school season strikeout record of 186 that still stands.
Not only did Lewis, a cornerback, become a unanimous first-team All-American in 1990, he won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back, intercepted seven passes, and personally won two games, with an 80-yard interception return at UCLA and an enduring goal-line stop of Oregon QB Bill Musgrave on the game’s final play.
A first-team All-American outfielder in 1970, chosen by the college baseball coaches association, Mikulic set a UA record with 92 hits that season, batting .393.
So far, the UA Sports Hall of Fame has not inducted assistant coaches unless they were part of an NCAA championship team. But Akina, who from 1987-2001 was one of the leading coaches in college football, was both the defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator of UA Desert Swarm-era teams.
No-brainer here: Harris, of Tucson High, was a first-team All-Pac-10 linebacker on Desert Swarm teams of 1993 and 1994, and a third-team Associated Press All-American who played seven years for the Chicago Bears.
Remember all of those faraway 4- and 5-star basketball prospects who signed to help Fred Snowden build a basketball power at new McKale Center? Holmes, who was probably the most significant assistant coach in UA basketball history, did the heavy lifting.
The Santa Rita High School two-time state champion won the 1984 Pac-10 cross country title, was twice an All-American (1983 and 1984) in the 10,000 meter NCAA finals, and the top finisher for Team USA as an Arizona sophomore in the World Championships in Italy. During his junior season, he was eighth at the U.S. Olympic Trials at 10,000 meters.
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