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EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Athletics Hall of Fame Committee inducted on Saturday the 2017 Athletics Hall of Fame class, which includes the 1980-81 men's basketball team, former men's basketball player Kenneth "Apple" Green, former women's basketball player Becky (Dube) Thomas, former baseball players Jack Ewing and Jim Proctor, and former women's tennis player Ellen Nelissen.
 
1980-81 Men's Basketball Team
Earned program's first and only NCAA Division I postseason berth, reaching the National Invitational Tournament … Finished season with 19-10 record, including victory over then fifth-ranked and eventual national champion Indiana, led by Hall of Famers Bobby Knight and Isaiah Thomas, at the 1980 Maui Classic … Also beat Marquette in Maui, a team led by current Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers … Picked up win over Missouri Valley champion Wichita State, a team that had been riding an unbeaten streak … Led by Kenneth "Apple" Green, who went on to be selected in the NBA Draft … Also featured Mike Carroll, who led the NCAA in assists with 275.
 
Roster
Mike Carroll
Clinton Cobb
Rueben Cole
Kenneth "Apple" Green (Hall of Fame Class of 2017)
Mark Frazier
Paul George
Curtis Glasper
Robert Kirby
Alan Martin
Tim McGrath
Tony McDaniel
Kim Owen
Thad Wilkinson
 
Head Coach: Bill White
Assistant Coach: Kelly Bass
Assistant Coach: John McDowell
 
"The team was a close-knit group of hard workers and winners," Bass said. "Each player accepted his role. That's why we beat Indiana, Marquette and Wichita State. My favorite memory is when Green hit a 19-foot buzzer-beater to beat Wichita State at the PAU Fieldhouse."
 
"I want to thank my teammates. When we all arrived here we were the best players from our junior colleges," Carroll said. "But you can't all be number one on the team, and there was no 'I' in team with these guys. We played together. We came together. We won together. When we came together, we played our best, and we defeated the best."
 
Kenneth "Apple" Green, Men's Basketball, 1979-81
1981 NCAA Division I Honorable Mention All-American after helping team to a win over then fifth-ranked and eventual NCAA champion Indiana, a berth in the NIT, and a 19-10 record … Helped team to a 20-8 record in 1979-80, including a 5-3 mark against the teams that made the postseason … Ranks 17^th in program history with 1,137 points and fifth in career field goal percentage at .483 … Second round pick (34^th overall) of the Denver Nuggets in 1981 NBA Draft … Played in seven games for New York Knicks in 1985-86.
 
Becky (Dube) Thomas, Women's Basketball, 1983-86
Ranks fifth all-time in scoring with 1,159 points from 1984-86 (statistics from 1983-84 are not available) …Program record holder in shooting percentage (.556) and field goals made (514) … Ranks fifth in free throws made (212), seventh in field goal attempts (924) and ninth in free throw attempts (262) … Program single-season record holder in scoring in 1984-85, an average of 28.4 points per game which led the NAIA … Also holds program records in single-season shooting percentage (.560, 1984-85) and field goals made (260, 1985-86) as well as the second-highest shooting (.553, 1985-86) and field goal totals (254, 1984-85) … Ranks third in single-season scoring (535, 1985-86) and free throws made (116, 1984-85) … 1985 Academic All-American … 1986 Ann LaMantia Award Recipient
 
"When I started playing in seventh grade it was half court basketball, which was very different from what I saw in high school and college," Thomas said. "I want to thank Coach McDowell for helping me to reach great heights not just on the court, but in the classroom as well. I didn't play for personal recognition, but this is one award I'm honored to accept."
 
Jack Ewing, Baseball, 1975-76
Pitched 23 complete games, tied for the fifth highest total in program history, while winning 18 games, tied for the 12^th highest total … Pitched seven shutouts, then tied for the sixth-highest total (that statistic is no longer kept) … Won 13 games, then the second-highest total (now tied for fourth) while tossing 12 complete games, then the second-highest total (now tied for sixth) in program history in 1975 … Tossed a one-hitter against Texas A&M and a two-hitter against Indiana in 1975, as well as a two-hitter against Arkansas State in 1976.
 
"My sophomore year at Temple Junior College we came to down to play Coach Ogletree's team in the fall," Ewing said. "Coach Ogletree was at first base hitting fungos to the outfielders, and after watching how he conducted himself, I knew that's who I wanted to play for."
 
Jim Proctor, Baseball, 1974-75
1975 NCAA All-American and AABC All-American … Ranks fourth in program history in ERA (1.26), tied for eighth in complete games (20) and tied for ninth in wins (20) … Won a then program record (now second) 15 games without a loss while tossing a then program record (now tied for second) 15 complete games in a then program record (now third) 116.2 innings with a 1.31 ERA (ranks 11^th) in 1975 … Pitched program record three one-hitters in 1975 against TCU, Dallas Baptist and Lubbock Christian … Won five of six starts (10 total appearances) with a 1.13 ERA, the ninth best mark in program history, in 1974.
 
"My grandfather got me interested in baseball at the age of three," Proctor said. "I couldn't get enough of it. I was an all-consuming event for me. I would sit in class dreaming of pitching for the Yankees with [Mickey] Mantle, [Roger] Marris and [Yogi] Berra. In high school, I took a transistor radio to class so I could listen to the World Series."
 
Ewing and Proctor helped lead the 1975 team to a 63-7 (.900) record, the second most total wins and the highest single-season winning percentage in the NCAA DI history of the program. Ewing and Proctor initially played together in 1973 at Temple Junior College.
 
Ellen Nelissen, Women's Tennis, 1991-95
Program career record holder in singles victories with 67 … Ranks third in program history in singles winning percentage at .684 (67-31) and tied for 14^th in doubles wins (26) … Ranks third and tied for sixth in singles wins in a season with 23 in 1995 and 19 in 1993 … Recorded the second and sixth-highest singles winning percentages in a season at .821 (23-5) in 1995 and .731 (19-7) in 1993 … Earned All-Sun Belt Conference Number One Singles honors in 1992 … Three-time Academic All-Sun Belt Conference Team selection, taking the honor in 1993, 1994 and 1995.
 
"My dream became reality my junior year in high school when I told my mom and dad, 'I'm going to America,'" Nelissen said. "My senior year I got a phone call and I was talking to Coach Cross. I can still remember the day like yesterday. He asked me if I wanted to come to America (from Belgium}. I said, 'really? Yes!'" 
 
For more information about the Athletics Hall of Fame, visit GoUTRGV.com/HallofFame.

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