2024 TEAMS VOLLEYBALL 1984 FRESNO STATE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL Entering the 1984 season little was expected of the Fresno State volleyball squad. The program had finished the previous season with a 12-12 record. Prognosticators pegged the Bulldogs for a fifth-place finish in the NorPac Conference. Leilani Overstreet did not agree with the naysayers. The Fresno State…
2024 TRACK INDUCTEE SID NIKOLAS Saturday, June 14, 1964, was a historic day for Fresno State. On that day the Bulldogs track and field team won the school’s first-ever national championship, the NCAA college division title. The catalyst for that triumph was Sid Nickolas. Born in New Orleans, Nickolas moved as a young child with…
2024 VOLLEYBALL INDUCTEE VICKI SAMARIN Finding a backyard volleyball net after a family move changed the course of Vicki Samarin’s life. Samarin was born in Kerman but at a young age, her family moved to Reedley where volleyball was a popular sport. The Samarin’s new house came with a volleyball net in the backyard. Backyard…
2024 TENNIS INDUCTEE MARILYN HAMILTON One of the greatest and most electrifying running backs in Fresno State history, Ryan Mathews unique combination of power, speed, and elusiveness made him a Bulldog record setter and twice a 1,000-yard rusher in the National Football League. When Mathews arrived at Fresno State from West Bakersfield High, he was…
2024 TRACK INDUCTEE NICOLE CARROLL For Nicole Carroll destiny came down to one throw. She needed to win the javelin competition at the Olympic trials to make the U.S. team and compete in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. To relax she whistled. When her name was called to make her sixth and final throw…
2024 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE RYAN MATHEWS One of the greatest and most electrifying running backs in Fresno State history, Ryan Mathews unique combination of power, speed, and elusiveness made him a Bulldog record setter and twice a 1,000-yard rusher in the National Football League. When Mathews arrived at Fresno State from West Bakersfield High, he was…
2023 TEAMS TENNIS 1968 FRESNO STATE MEN’S TENNIS In May of 2019, the Fresno State men’s tennis team played in the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in program history. It turned out to be 14 times in a span of only 25 years, though, because the Bulldogs’ first NCAA Tournament appearance was in 1994.…
2023 SOCCER INDUCTEE JAIME RAMIREZ On November 7th, 2015, the Fresno Pacific men’s soccer team defeated Dixie State. That win clinched a Pacific West Conference title for the Sunbirds; it also happened to be the 300th win at FPU for head coach Jaime Ramirez. Born in Mexicali, Mexico, just south of the U.S. border, Jaime…
2023 COACHING BASKETBALL ROLLAND TODD On April 21st, 1970, Rolland Todd was just 35 years old when he was hired to be the first-ever head coach of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. The Trail Blazers were one of three expansion teams to enter the NBA in 1970. Todd coached them for their first 138 games,…
2023 COACHING BASEBALL JAMES PATRICK On May 22nd, 2019, the Clovis High School baseball team defeated Frontier, 14-3, to win the Division I Central Section championship. It was the ninth section championship in Cougar history; it was also the last game in the coaching career of James Patrick. The first game in the coaching career of…
