USF Athletics Announces Hall of Fame Inductions For Its 50th Anniversary Class

Feb. 10, 2009

(San Francisco) - The University of San Francisco and the USF Athletic Department is pleased to announce the 50th Anniversary Class of the Father Hubert "Hub" Flynn Hall of Fame. This year USF honors 12 legendary championship teams with induction. The Hall of Fame dinner is set for Friday, February 20 at the McLaren Complex on the USF campus and is a showcase event during 2009 Homecoming festivities.

2009 USF Hall of Fame Inductees
1949 NIT Basketball
1949 NCAA Tennis
1949 ISFA Soccer (Co-Champions/Penn State)
1949 Rifle
1955 NCAA Basketball 1956 NCAA Basketball 1966 NCAA Soccer
1975 NCAA Soccer
1976 NCAA Soccer
1978 NCAA Soccer
1980 NCAA Soccer
1951 Football

These will be the first teams inducted into USF's Athletic Hall of Fame, a practice which will continue for years to come. Many student-athletes on these celebrated teams have already been inducted, and championship teams have been recognized in past years.

BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
USF owns an illustrious tradition in basketball, highlighted by no fewer than three national championships. The Dons won their inaugural national title in 1949, capturing the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) under the direction of future Naismith Hall-of-Famer, the late Pete Newell. USF was the first West Coast team offered a berth in the field. San Francisco returned to the top of the college basketball world six years later, winning back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 1955-56 under the direction of another Naismith Hall-of-Famer and former Newell aide Phil Woolpert. With future Naismith Hall-of-Famers Bill Russell and K.C. Jones leading the charge for the Dons, USF became just the third team to win back-to-back national titles.

FOOTBALL - SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
USF's storied 1951 squad owns an unchallenged position as one of the finest college teams ever assembled. The Dons featured three players who would be enshrined at Canton in the Pro Football Hall of Fame - Gino Marchetti, Ollie Matson and Bob St. Clair - still the only team in NCAA history to feature a trio. Pete Rozelle, the publicity director for the 1951 team was also was inducted into the Hall of Fame after serving as the NFL Commissioner where he elevated the league to unprecedented heights. But for all the on-field exploits, it was a decision made off the field which makes the team legendary. The Dons rolled to a 9-0 record under head coach Joe Kuharich and were offered a bowl bid if they would leave their African-American players behind. The team refused and the era of major college football ended on the Hilltop.

RIFLE SIXTH ARMY CHAMPIONSHIP
Another dominant team during the golden era of USF Athletics, the rifle program compiled a remarkable record of 158-27 from 1949-52. With All-Americans Al Crowe and Anthony Sherman at the forefront, the Dons rolled to victory at the 1949 Sixth Army Intercollegiate Championship and the Hearst Sixth Army Rifle Championship, qualifying for the national title in the process. USF posted a score of 931 in the Hearst, in a competition featuring more than 160 colleges and universities.

SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS
One of the most celebrated programs in collegiate soccer, USF claimed a share of the first recognized national title in 1949 setting the stage for a dynasty on the Hilltop. Under the direction of two NSCAA Hall of Fame coaches - Gus Donoghue and Steve Negoesco - the Dons captured six total national championships, beginning with the 1949 IFSA Soccer Bowl. Donoghue won 121 career matches at USF, including an unmatched 89 game unbeaten streak and coached 16 All-Americans from 1941-60, one of them Negoesco, who took the reigns in 1962. San Francisco won its first NCAA soccer title in 1966 and then dominated the 1970's. USF won back-to-back titles in 1975-76 and then captured the hardware again in 1978. The Dons made it six with another championship triumph in 1980.

TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
Despite the drawback of not having home courts, USF tennis was one of the nation's dominant teams in the late 1940's and the 1949 squad featured what many consider one of the finest collections of talent ever assembled. After Harry Likas captured USF's first ever national title in singles in 1948 the Dons rolled to a 12-0 record in 1949, sparked by Conway Catton, Bill Green, future U.S. Open winner Art Larsen, Sam Match, Harry Roche and Frank Sample.

The Father Hubert "Hub" Flynn Athletic hall of Fame Dinner will begin with no-host cocktails at 6:00 pm at the McLaren Complex on the USF Campus. Dinner and the induction ceremony will begin at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $50.00 per person. For more information or to register by phone, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 415.422.6431 or alumni@usfca.edu.