1973 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE JIM JURKOVICH Jim Jurkovich was a big, fast, triple threat back in an era where that combination was rare. The stocky 187-pounder was an All-San Joaquin Valley choice in 1937 and 1938 for the Fresno High School Warriors. He also won the State CIF long jump championship in 1939 at 24’1/2″ that…
1973 SOFTBALL INDUCTEE “GINNY” BUSICK Virginia “Ginny” Busick was a Fresno Rockets pitching missile. The slender 5’10” Busick was throwing around 65 miles an hour when the pitching distance was around thirty-eight feet as compared to forty-three feet for collegiate hurlers today. Busick was inducted into the Amateur Softball Association National Hall of Fame in…
1973 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE JIM BLEWITT Jim Blewett was a graduate of the Manual Arts School in Los Angeles. He played soccer until the school added football. After playing football at the University of California, he became head coach at Fresno High School in 1921. He coached the Warriors football, baseball, and basketball teams and his…
1973 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE STEVE BANCROFT Bancroft was a three-sport star at Fresno High School and enrolled at the University of California in 1925. He played on the Cal Freshmen team in his first year as a tight end. He also filled that position on the varsity in 1926 and 1927, but was moved to tackle…
1972 FLY CASTING INDUCTEE JIM PRICE Jim Price, who was handsome enough to play a role in A River Runs Through It, parlayed a boyhood love for fishing into a championship casting ability on a national competitive level. The Fresno-born and Fresno High School alum, Price developed his rod, reel, and fly casting abilities at…
1972 BASEBALL INDUCTEE LARRY POWELL Some baseball players can last twenty years in the game and never play for a championship team. Larry Powell was on the roster of seven pennant winners in a five-year span. “Makes for a good trivia question and I actually heard one radio announcer in the Bay Area ask, ‘What…
1972 COMMUNITY LEADER INDUCTEE M. D., HY M. GINSBURG H.M. “Hy” Ginsburg was one tough customer. In his days at Tulare High School before graduating in 1922, he racked up All-Conference honors in football, basketball, and track. He was always known for his work ethic and his “all for the team” attitude. At Fresno State…
1972 COACHING-FOOTBALL INDUCTEE J. R. BOONE If was asked to describe former high school and collegiate level football coach J.R. Boone in five words, no phrase would fit him better than a “man of action, not words.” He was not a passive kind of guy. Boone was not a tightly-wound man. He worked hard at…
1972 DIVING INDUCTEE BARBARA MCALISTER In 1958, a Roosevelt High School junior girl hit the national headlines when she won the National Junior Women’s Three Meter Diving Championship in an AAU meet held in Fresno. Barbara McAllister Andrews went on from this auspicious beginning to a very notable world class career in diving, spring board,…
1971 BASKETBALL INDUCTEE “POLLY” WILHELMSEN Coaching in junior college ranks for 24 years, P.F. “Polly” Wilhelmsen led College of the Sequoias teams, from 1941 to 1965, to a record 355 wins against 194 losses. During this span of mentorship, Wilhelmsen coached COS squads captured nine Conference Championships, one California JC (1953) title and competed in…