Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame to Welcome 9 New Members
WEST
LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Nine former student-athletes, coaches and
administrators, who were part of the Purdue University athletic scene
during eight different decades, stretching from 1892 to 2008, will be
inducted into the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame this
fall. The new members, set for induction Sept. 28, are …
~ Tony Butkovich, football, 1943
~ Alpha Jamison, football, baseball and track and field athlete, football and basketball coach, 1892-1901
~ Matt Light, football, 1996-2000
~ Stacey Lovelace, basketball, 1993-96
~ Willie Merriweather, basketball, 1957-59
~ Carol Mertler, field hockey coach and administrator, 1975-1988
~ Serene Ross, track and field, 1999-2002
~ Joe Tiller, football coach, 1982-85, and 1997-2008
~ Dick Walbaum, administrator, 1984-2001
These
Boilermaker greats will join the 126 former Boilermakers who have been
inducted into the Hall of Fame since 1994, when the selection process
was initiated.
The latest honorees will be
recognized during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at 6 p.m.,
Saturday, Sept. 28, in Mackey Arena on the Purdue campus, following the
Boilermakers’ Homecoming football game against Northern Illinois.
Tickets will be available through the John Purdue Club and at the
Athletics Ticket Office, 900 John R. Wooden Drive, beginning in August. Six
of the nine inductees are expected to attend. Butovich, Jamison and
Walbaum are being honored posthumously and will be represented by
family members.
The 2013 class was chosen by a
committee of Hall of Fame members, former student-athletes and current
university administrators. Biographical sketches on the honorees follow.
Tony
Butkovich was a one-year sensation at Purdue as a 1943 letterwinner at
running back, earning first team All-America and first team All-Big Ten
status as a World War II transfer from the University of Illinois. The
Lewistown, Ill., native was a member of Purdue’s undefeated Big Ten
championship team that year, which was highlighted by his four
touchdowns and 17.2 yards per carry against his former team, the
Fighting Illini. Butkovich broke a 21-year-old Big Ten scoring
record (78 points on 13 touchdowns) in nine games and rushed for 833
yards on 142 attempts, averaging 119 yards per game and 5.9 yards per
carry for the season. A member of the U.S. Marine Corps, he was killed
in action in Okinawa, Japan, in 1945. Alpha P. Jamison was
one of Purdue’s early greats, excelling as both an athlete and coach.
As a student-athlete, he was a star halfback and fullback for the
football team, which was declared national champions in 1894 with its
9-1 record, running the famed flying wedge offense. Jamison played
football for five seasons, the last while a graduate student, with his
teams winning 30 of 40 games. He also played baseball and was a
record-setting track performer before graduating in 1895. Jamison
coached the football team from 1898 to 1900, posting an 11-11-1 record
in his three years at the helm. He switched over to basketball and
became the second head coach in Boilermaker history in 1900 and 1901.
After losing the team’s lone game of 1900, Jamison led Purdue to its
first undefeated season (12-0) the next year, advancing his record to
12-1 for a .923 winning percentage, which is the second-best all-time
in Purdue’s coaching annals. From 1895 through 1914, Jamison was an
instructor and professor in engineering as well as an author of several
textbooks. In 1915, Jamison was popularly acclaimed as Purdue’s
all-time greatest athlete to that point in history. He remained in the
Lafayette area throughout his lifetime, serving as a bank director,
school board member and as a trustee for his church. He also was a Big
Ten official for football and track and field for many years. Jamison
was born in Chauncey (prior to the village being renamed West
Lafayette) in 1875, one year after Purdue opened its doors. He died in
1962. Matt Light was a four-year football letterwinner as
a tight end and left tackle from 1996 to 2000. A two-time All-Big Ten
selection, he earned second team honors in 1999 and was a first team
pick in 2000. The Greenville, Ohio, native was named Gannett News
All-American and Football News third team All-American his final
season. Light started 37 consecutive games from 1998 to 2000 as the
leader of an offensive line that gave up only 15 sacks in 568 pass
attempts (one per 37.9 pass attempts) in 1999 and only seven sacks in
528 attempts (one per 75.4 attempts) in 2000. Light was drafted by the
New England Patriots in 2001 and was a starter from his rookie year
until his retirement in 2012. He was selected for the Pro Bowl in 2007
and 2008, helped the Patriots win three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVII and
XXXIX) and created the non-profit Light Foundation that assists youth.
In July of 2012, he joined ESPN as an NFL analyst. Stacey
Lovelace was a four-year starter on the women’s basketball team from
1993 to 1996. She holds school records with 13 double-doubles in a
season and 27 for her careeer. Lovelace was a member of the 1994
Women’s Final Four team before being named honorable mention Associated
Press All-American in 1995 and 1996, first team WBCA All-American in
1995, Big Ten Player of the Year in 1995 and first team All-Big Ten in
1995 and 1996. Lovelace was selected as team co-Most Valuable Player in
1995 and earned the award outright a year later after averaging 15.5
points and 8.8 rebounds per game. On the school’s all-time lists, she
currently ranks second with 220 blocked shots, third with 876 rebounds,
10th in field goal percentage at .500, 11th with 208 steals and 13th
with 1,527 points. Lovelace played in the WNBA from 2000 to 2008 and
presently serves as an assistant coach with the league’s Tulsa Shock. Willie
Merriweather was a three-year basketball letterwinner from 1957 to
1959. He was an All-American and the the team’s Most Valuable Player in
1959, averaging 20.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game before being
selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1959 NBA Draft. He averaged 14.4
points and 6.4 rebounds per game for his career. Merriweather was one
of two members of the 1959 Boilermakers to be named to the 1980 Indiana
Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary team and was inducted into
the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989. Following his basketball
career, Merriweather spent the remainder of his career as an educator
in the Detroit public schools. He was honored as a “Teacher of the
Year” in Michigan in 1988 and retired as a principal. He now resides in
Converse, Texas. Carol Mertler began her career at Purdue
in 1975 as an assistant athletics director assigned to supervise the
development of the women’s varsity athletic program in its vital
beginning stages. She also served as field hockey coach for the 1975
season and was promoted to associate athletics director in 1982,
working largely to promote awareness and competition in female
student-athletics. She helped Purdue stage several Big Ten championship
events as well as the 1987 NCAA Volleyball Division I Championship at
Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Mertler left Purdue in 1988 to
take a position as director of therapeutic activity services at
Richland Hospital in her hometown of Mansfield, Ohio. She then returned
to Ashland University, where she had coached volleyball, basketball and
softball earlier in her career. During her second stint there, she was
a full-time professor and received the Taylor Excellence in University
Teaching Award in 2000. She retired in 2001 and returned to Mansfield,
where she currently resides. Dr. Mertler graduated from Mansfield
Senior High School in 1955 and earned three collegiate degrees,
receiving her bachelors from Kent State University in 1959, her masters
from the University of Oregon in 1962 and her doctorate from Ohio State
University in 1974. She was inducted into the Ashland University Sports
Hall of Fame in 1989. Serene Ross was a four-year
letterwinner in track and field from 1999 to 2002. She won an NCAA
Championship in javelin in 2002, while also setting an American
record (195-feet, 8-inches). She also was the 2002 USA National
champion in the javelin, bettering her own American record by throwing
197-0. Ross finished fifth in the World Cup javelin competition in
Madrid, Spain, in 2002. Her collegiate accolades included javelin
All-American in 1999, 2001 and 2002; Big Ten javelin champion in 2002;
hammer throw All-American in 2000; and hammer throw Big Ten champion in
2000. She was voted team Most Outstanding Performer in 2001 and 2002.
Ross currently makes her home in Louisville, Ky. Joe
Tiller spent 15 years of his coaching career at Purdue, three as an
assistant coach (1982-85) and 12 as head coach (1997-2008). As head
coach, he set the school record with 87 victories. In Tiller’s final
game, the Boilermakers dominated intrastate rival Indiana 62-10 on Nov.
22, 2008, before a sellout-plus crowd of 63,107 fans at Ross-Ade
Stadium, to recapture the Old Oaken Bucket. He wound up his career with
an 87-62 record, including 53-43 in Big Ten Conference games and a 10-2
mark against the Hoosiers. Tiller’s 149 games coached are the most in
Purdue football annals. Prior to his hiring, Purdue football had played
in a total of five bowl games and had managed a record of 54-107-5 in
the preceding 15 years. Tiller introduced Purdue to the spread offense,
featuring multiple wide receivers and forcing defenses to cover the
field from sideline to sideline. It was a radical change from the
smash-mouth Big Ten and, in the basketball-crazed state of Indiana, was
dubbed affectionately “basketball on grass.” The result was 10 bowl
games, including the 2001 Rose Bowl, an average of more than seven wins
per season and a Big Ten Championship in 2000. Tiller coached 64
players who went on to the National Football League, six All-Americans
and two Academic All-Americans. In 2008, Tiller was awarded the Order
of the Griffin, one of Purdue’s highest honors, which is given to
individuals whose commitment to the University goes well beyond the
call of duty, and whose strength and vision have greatly benefitted the
institution. Tiller was appointed head coach emeritus by the Board of
Trustees on Nov. 21, 2008. Tiller’s 18-year head coaching record,
including six seasons at the University of Wyoming, was 126-92-1, a
.578 winning percentage. Tiller presently makes his home in Buffalo,
Wyo. Dick Walbaum worked in the athletics department at Purdue from
1984 to 2001, as assistant athletics director and director of the John
Purdue Club (1984-91), associate athletics director for marketing and
development (1991-97) and senior associate athletics director
(1997-2001). His last work included a leadership role in identifying
and securing resources necessary for the Ross-Ade Stadium renovation.
In 2000, he was honored with the Diamond P Award, presented annually by
the John Purdue Club to individuals who have shown extraordinary
support for Boilermaker athletics. Walbaum spent a total of 35 years at
Purdue, serving as assistant intramural director at the Recreational
Gymnasium (1964-67) and spending 17 years in the Krannert School of
Management as director of undergraduate counseling services (1967-72),
assistant dean for undergraduate administration (1972-76) and assistant
dean for administration (1976-84) before joining the athletics
department. Walbaum received his master's degree from Purdue in 1967
after earning his bachelor's degree from Illinois. The Springfield,
Ill., native competed in varsity track and field for the Illini and was
president of his fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega. He died in 2009.
|