2022 BASKETBALL TEAM INDUCTEE 1974-1976 HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL 1974 was an important year for the California Interscholastic Federation as it was the first year that girls’ high school basketball was a sanctioned sport. That meant that section champions were decided for the first time in girls’ high school basketball, and the winner of…
2022 BASEBALL TEAM INDUCTEE 1955 FRESNO CARDINALS BASEBALL In 2001, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues celebrated its 100th year. As part of that celebration, a couple of historians put together a list of the top 100 minor league teams of the previous century. The 1955 Fresno Cardinals were on that list, checking in…
2021 BASEBALL INDUCTEE 1961-1963 FRESNO CITY COLLEGE BASEBALL It is a feat that has only been accomplished twice in the 70-year baseball history of the California Community College Athletic Association: back-to-back-to-back state championships. And the first team to do it was Fresno City College from 1961-1963. Coached by Len Bourdet, who took over the program…
2021 GOLF INDUCTEE KEVIN SUTHERLAND Kevin Sutherland is amazed at what he does for a living. “I tell people I’m still doing what I did when I was ten,” he says. Sutherland, a professional golfer since 1987, started playing the game when he was eight years old. However, it was not until he was 15…
2021 SOFTBALL INDUCTEE KIM MAHER Kim Maher was not born in the United States. A native of Vietnam, she came to this country when she was two months old. Her dad was a contractor, and the family spent time in New York and Louisiana before eventually moving to California. Maher grew up in Ventura. She…
2021 AUTO RACING INDUCTEE PHIL CASEY In 2015, Phil Casey was inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame (now known as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame), but you can trace his love for the sport back to his adolescent years in the central valley. Born in Clovis in 1937, Phil Casey grew…
2021 COMMUNITY LEADER INDUCTEE FLOYD ‘DOC’ BUCHANAN Floyd ‘Doc’ Buchanan is known as a ‘champion of education.’ But, believe it or not, he actually grew up wanting to be a heart surgeon. Born in Arkansas but raised in Colorado, Buchanan attended the University of Denver, enrolling in the pre-med program. During World War II, he…
2019 SOFTBALL INDUCTEE ANDREA DURAN Andrea Duran can describe in one word what it meant to her to be an Olympian: “amazing.” Duran was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic softball team that won a silver medal in Beijing, China. She was chosen for that team after a standout career at UCLA, where she…
2019 BASKETBALL INDUCTEE ADRIAN WILLIAMS Born and raised in Fresno, Adrian Williams had no shortage of options when it came time to decide where she wanted to play basketball in college. Williams says she was recruited by “every top school except for Stanford. They were loaded.” Her top four schools, in no particular order, were…
2019 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE MATT GIORDANO Matt Giordano is a football player. And he’s been fortunate to not only play at the highest level, he’s been successful at the highest level. Matt Giordano is a Super Bowl champion, though he will be quick to tell you that is not necessarily the highlight of his career. Giordano’s…