Summit League Honors Three Former Panthers

Friday, August 19 2011

Eastern Illinois was a founding member of the league

SUMMIT LEAGUE 30TH ANNIVERSARY PAGE

ELMHURST, Ill. - In celebration of The Summit League's 30th Anniversary Season, the league officially announced its list of Top 30 Distinguished Contributors from the Division I era. Four individual NCAA champions and three Olympic medalists along with four NBA players and two World Series Champions headline The Summit League's list of top student-athletes, coaches and administrators.

"The 30 individuals recognized on this list represent those who have been instrumental in developing the history of The Summit League over its first 30 seasons at the Division I level," said Summit League commissioner Tom Douple. "From the administrators who helped develop the league since its inception as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities, to the coaches who have built some of our most successful programs, and the student-athletes who have performed at a high level within our league, in professional sports, and on the International stage, each one of these individuals have played a unique role in making our league what it is today. These outstanding contributors, along with several more who are worthy of acclaim, deserve recognition as iconic figures in our history."

The Summit League's Top 30 Distinguished Contributors were determined by voting by a panel of representatives from each current Summit League member institution and each former league member of at least five years along with members of the media who regularly cover the league. Nearly 100 total candidates were originally chosen for consideration based on nominations and individual achievements.

Each honoree will be profiled on The Summit League's Web site throughout the 2011-12 academic year as part of The Summit League's 30th Anniversary Season celebration.

The Summit League's Top 30 Distinguished Contributors

Name	Sport	Affiliation	Years
Brian Anderson	Baseball	Wright State	1992-93
Andretti Bain	Men's Track & Field	Oral Roberts	2004-08
Tony Bennett	Men's Basketball	Green Bay	1988-92
Keith Benson	Men's Basketball	Oakland	2006-11
Dennis Bigley	Baseball	Oral Roberts	2002-05
Liza Brown	Softball	DePaul	1997-99
Whitney Carlson	Women's Track & Field	North Dakota State	2008-11
Bryce Drew	Men's Basketball	Valparaiso	1994-98
Dr. Homer Drew	Men's Basketball (Coach)	Valparaiso	1988-2002, 2003-07
Kevin Duckworth	Men's Basketball	Eastern Illinois	1983-86
F.L. "Frosty" Ferzacca	Commissioner	Summit League	1982-88
Caleb Green	Men's Basketball	Oral Roberts	2003-07
E.C. Hill	Women's Basketball	Northern Illinois	1992-94
George Hill	Men's Basketball	IUPUI	2004-08
Pete Hovland	Men's/Women's Swimming & Diving (Coach)	Oakland	2001-pres.
Myndee Kay Larsen	Women's Basketball	Southern Utah	1997-98
Eugene Lenti	Softball (Coach)	DePaul	1995-99
Aubrey Martin	Women's Track & Field	Western Illinois	2003-06
Jim Maton	Men's Track & Field	Eastern Illinois	1985-88
Bill Mueller	Baseball	Missouri State	1990
Prince Mumba	Men's Track & Field	Oral Roberts	2002-06
Chen Ni	Women's Swimming & Diving	IUPUI	2008-pres.
Krista Ragan	Women's Basketball	Oral Roberts	1997-2002
Anita Rapp	Women's Soccer	Oakland	1997-2001
Tony Sanneh	Men's Soccer	Milwaukee	1993
Dr. Helen Smiley	Administrator	Western Illinois	1985-2001
Dan Steele	Men's Track & Field	Eastern Illinois	1989-92
Dr. Bill Steinbrecher	Administrator	Valparaiso	1982-2004
Zane Teilane	Women's Basketball	Western Illinois	2003-06
Jack Whitt	Men's Track & Field	Oral Roberts	2010-pres.

Additional Honored Contributors

Amy Anderson	Women's Golf	North Dakota State	2009-pres.
Jess Baumgartner	Men's Cross Country/Track & Field	Southern Utah	2003-06
Dick Bennett	Men's Basketball (Coach)	Green Bay	1985-94
Marcia Daniel	Women's Track & Field	UMKC	2000-01
Amy Recht	Women's Tennis	IPFW	2008-11
Charlie Spoonhour	Men's Basketball (Coach)	Missouri State	1983-90
Nicole Terpstra	Softball	DePaul	1996-98
Rob Walton	Baseball (Coach)	Oral Roberts	2004-pres.
Marcin Unold	Men's Swimming & Diving	Oakland	2006-09, 2010-11
Ori Zuzic	Volleyball	Oral Roberts	2003-06

Top 30 Distinguished Contributors Facts & Figures
-15 earned first, second or third team All-America honors during their college careers (Anderson, Bain, Bigley, Brown, Carlson, B. Drew, E.C. Hill, Martin, Maton, Mumba, Ni, Rapp, Sanneh, Steele, Whitt).

-Nine played in their sport's top professional league in the United States (Anderson and Mueller in MLB; Sanneh in MLS; Bennett, B. Drew, Duckworth and G. Hill in the NBA; E.C. Hill and Teilane in the WNBA).

-Five competed in the Olympics (Bain for Bahamas in 2008; Mumba for Zambia in 2004; Rapp for Norway in 2000; Steele for the United States in 1998 and 2002; Teilane for Latvia in 2008).

-Four won individual NCAA Championships (Bain, 2008 400m Indoors and 2008 400m Outdoors; Maton, 1988 800m Indoors; Ni, 2010 Platform Dive; Steele, 1992 in 400m hurdles).

-Four played nine-plus seasons in top U.S. pro sports leagues (Anderson 10 years; Duckworth 11 years; Mueller 11 years; Sanneh nine years).

-Three are presently active in The Summit League (Hovland as coach; Ni and Whitt as student-athletes).

-Three have won Olympic medals (Bain, silver in 4x400m Relay for Bahamas in 2008; Rapp, gold in soccer for Norway in 2000; Steele, bronze in bobsled for the United States in 2002).

-Three former student-athletes are now current Division I head coaches (Bennett, Virginia men's basketball; B. Drew, Valparaiso men's basketball; Steele, Northern Iowa track & field).

-Three earned Academic All-America honors during their college careers (Bennett, Carlson, Larsen).

-Two were World Series Champions (Anderson with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001; Mueller with the Boston Red Sox in 2004).

-Two were members of World Cup teams (Rapp for Norway in 1999 and 2003; Sanneh for the United States in 2002).

-Two were first round draft choices (Anderson in MLB in 1993; G. Hill in the NBA in 2008)

-Two were involved with the league's inaugural Division I season in 1982 (Ferzacca and Steinbrecher).

-Two competed as a member of the U.S. National Team (Sanneh, Steele).

-One father and son tandem (Bryce and Homer Drew).

-Schools represented in the Top 30 Distinguished Contributors: DePaul (Brown, Lenti), Eastern Illinois (Duckworth, Maton, Steele), Green Bay (Bennett), IUPUI (G. Hill, Ni), Milwaukee (Sanneh), Missouri State (Mueller), North Dakota State (Carlson), Northern Illinois (E.C. Hill), Oakland (Benson, Hovland, Rapp), Oral Roberts (Bain, Bigley, Green, Mumba, Ragan, Whitt), Southern Utah (Larsen), Valparaiso (B. Drew, H. Drew, Steinbrecher), Western Illinois (Martin, Smiley, Teilane), Wright State (Anderson).

The Summit League
Celebrating its 30th anniversary season at the Division I Ievel in 2011-12, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of over 135,000 at 11 universities, five of which are located in the top 76 U.S. media markets (Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Tulsa and Omaha). Member institutions include: IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), UMKC (University of Missouri-Kansas City), the University of Nebraska Omaha (which begins league competition in 2012-13), North Dakota State University, Oakland University, Oral Roberts University, the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University, Southern Utah University and Western Illinois University. Eastern Illinois University is an associate member in swimming and diving and men's soccer.