1993 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE DEAN PHILPOTT Dean Philpott was the prototype fullback-the kind that John Madden liked to talk about while commentating games. Philpott had a bull-like neck, big shoulders, and a raw-boned build with sharp elbows that hurt any player he ran over. He was highly recruited out of Anaheim High School and almost went…
1993 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE JIM MERLO The community of Sanger has always given great support to the Sanger High Apaches athletic programs, especially in football. The Sanger fans have been rewarded for that support, many times over by the school’s long list of great teams, coaches, and players. Foremost among the coaches who have achieved recognition…
1993 COACHING-BASKETBALL INDUCTEE BOYD GRANT Boyd Grant was almost as excited about the Fresno State baseball team winning the 2008 College World Series as he was when his Bulldog basketball team won the National Invitational Basketball title in 1983. That’s because Grant as a player, graduate, and former assistant coach at Colorado State, cherishes his…
1993 BASKETBALL INDUCTEE MERRITT GILBERT Merrit Gilbert is a prime example of a young man who listened, worked hard at whatever job he had, and became one of the most successful coaches in Central California history. Gilbert was born in Fresno, but lived with his grandparents in Los Angeles for a time while his father…
1992 COACHING-FOOTBALL INDUCTEE JIM SWEENEY He looks like a coach, he talks like a coach, he walks like a coach, he yells like a coach, and he could motivate a team to greatness. Early in his college football coaching career, James Joseph Sweeney led Montana State to a 31-20 record in five seasons. The young…
1992 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE PAT HOWELL When Pat Howell was growing up in Fresno, he was a multi-sport player, but football was his favorite. Taller than most, Pat was unique in the fact that he liked to play on the line and block. In Pop Warner football, Pat’s coach, Russ Pulliam, influenced the young Howell to…
1992 BOWLING INDUCTEE BILL BUNETTA In an over fifty year bowling career that has taken him to the four corners of the globe, picking up many championships, awards, and enough remarkable success to easily get him elected to the American Bowling Congress (ABC) Hall of Fame, Bill Bunetta was grateful for the fame and fortune…
1992 SOFTBALL INDUCTEE HAROLD BRITTON Hal Britton is arguably one of the best fast-pitch softball players in the nation. Britton was the catcher for six national tournament Hoak Packers teams and was chosen All-American in five of these contests where his team won four times. Britton also was an outstanding baseball catcher and infielder with…
1992 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE CHARLES ANTHONY Charles Anthony stood six feet tall and tipped the scales at 217 pounds when he was a senior at Edison High School in 1969. Charles Anthony was a Tiger coming at you at mach speed from the linebacker position. Winning championships for head coach, Jim Fugman, and playing…
1991 BOXING INDUCTEE WAYNE THORNTON Born in Oak Grove, Louisiana, Wayne Thornton was part Irish and part Cherokee. He spent most of his youth growing up in Clovis. By the time he was eighteen, this young man knew what path he wanted to take in the world of athletics: he wanted to be a world…