September 16, 1998
The UCLA Hall of Fame will induct 12 new members Oct. 3 in ceremonies commencing at the Brookside Country Club prior to the UCLA-Washington State football game at the Rose Bowl. The list of former UCLA greats includes ten former athletes and two coaches.
The UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame was dedicated in 1984 with 25 charter members. The Class of 1998 brings the total membership to 133. The 1998 inductees are: former men's tennis coach Glenn Bassett, softball gold medalist Sheila Cornell, football All-Americans Randy Cross, Gaston Green, Ken Norton Jr. and Tom Ramsey, track and field gold medalist Florence Griffth-Joyner, swimming gold medalist Tom Jager, Dodgers first-baseman Eric Karros and NBA superstar Reggie Miller. Former baseball coach Art Reichle and Cy Young, the 1956 Olympic javelin champion, will be enshrined as poineers.
Following are biographies on the 1998 UCLA Hall of Fame Inductees:
GLENN BASSETT - UCLA's head tennis coach from 1967-1993, he collected seven NCAA team championships and 13 conference titles. In his 27 years at the helm, he never had a losing season. In addition, he produced three NCAA singles champions, four NCAA doubles team champions and 49 All-Americans. Bassett is the only coach in NCAA history to win NCAA team tennis titles as a player (one), assistant coach (five) and head coach (seven). He finished his UCLA career ranked as the nation's winningest active Division I men's tennis coach by percentage, having compiled a dual match record of 592-92-2 (.864). Bassett was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993.
SHEILA CORNELL - Former All-American first baseman for the UCLA softball team (1981-84), she led the Bruins to two NCAA Championships, twice earned All-America honors and was selected to the NCAA All-Tournament Team at the College World Series three times. An excellent student, she graduated Cum Laude with a 3.51 GPA in Kinesiology and was voted Academic All-American three times. As the USA National Team first baseman, she helped lead the Americans to gold medal victories in the 1987 and '91 Pan American Games and the 1990 and '94 World Championships. In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, she batted clean-up and led the USA gold medal team in game-winning hits. Off the field, she is a physical therapist and is also a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Athlete Advisory Council as well as the USOC Sports Medicine Committee.
RANCY CROSS - An All-American and all-conference center-guard, Cross led the Bruins to a three-year record of 24-7 and played on the 1975 Rose Bowl team. In both 1974 and 1975 he won UCLA's George Dickerson Award as the outstanding offensive player in the USC game. He also played in the Hula Bowl and Japan Bowl games. He had an outstanding 13-year career with the San Francisco 49ers, including three Super Bowl Championships. He has since embarked on a broadcasting career.
GASTON GREEN - UCLA's game breaking tailback from 1984-87, Green was named All-American in 1987. Green ended his career as UCLA's all-time leading rusher with 3,731 yards, most touchdowns (40), most 100-yard games (20) and most points by a non-kicker (248). He set a single season record for most rushing yards with 1,405 and rushing touchdowns with 17 (both since broken) and most 100-yard games (8). He was selected the team's offensive MVP in 1986 and '87. In the 1986 Freedom Bowl against BYU, Green scored three touchdowns, threw for another, and gained 266 yards rushing to set a major bowl record. A first-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Rams in 1988, Green played six years in the NFL with the Rams, Denver Broncos and L.A. Raiders.
FLORENCE GRIFFITH-JOYNER - "Flo-Jo" became famous for her world-record setting performances in the 1988 Olympics. Prior to her Olympic fame, she starred on UCLA's 1982 and '83 NCAA Championship teams, earning All-American acclaim as a sprinter. She won the 1982 NCAA 200 meters and the 1983 NCAA 400 meters. At the 1988 Olympics she set a world record of 21.34 seconds in the 200 meters, and set an Olympic record for the 100 meters. By the end of the '88 Olympic Games, Flo-Jo had won three gold medals and one silver. She still holds 100m world record of 10.49 plus the second and third fastest times ever in that race. Outside of her track accomplishments, Flo-Jo has committed much of her time to community work.
TOM JAGER - UCLA's greatest sprinter and one of the world's best. Jager swam for the Bruins from 1983-86 and was named All-American in six different events. During his Bruin career, he captured six NCAA crowns, setting NCAA & American records in the 50y freestyle and 100y backstroke. Jager holds all-time UCLA records in the 50y and 100y freestyle, 100y backstroke and 100y butterfly. A veteran of three Olympiads, Jager has won a total of five gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Jager, the team captain on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team and the 1991 U.S. World Championship team, is one of only two swimmers to have won gold medals in three different Olympics. Jager remains the current world record holder in the 50 meter freestyle (21.81), a record he has matched five times. Jager continues to be a model spokesman and ambassador for U.S. Swimming.
ERIC KARROS - Karros played a total of three years (1986-87-88) for the Bruin baseball team. A two-time All-Pac-10 first baseman, Karros' .365 career batting average still ranks second on the Bruins all-time list. In 1988 he led the Bruins in batting (.415), hits (100), home runs (17) and RBI's (54) while earning All-American and Pac-10 honors. Karros was drafted in the sixth round by the L.A. Dodgers in 1988. In 1992, Karros won the starting job at first base for the Dodgers and went on to win the National League Rookie of the Year. Through the 1997 season, Karros had career totals of 154 home runs and 535 RBI's, including three consecutive seasons of 30 HR's and 100 RBI's. Karros endowed a UCLA baseball scholarship in 1994.
REGGIE MILLER - One of the most dangerous offensive weapons in college basketball, Miller starred for the Bruins from 1984-87. Miller concluded his career as UCLA's second leading career scorer with 2,095 points. He still ranks near the top in almost every UCLA career statistical category including points, field goal percentage, three-pointers, free throw percentage, steals and games played. As a sophomore, he led the Bruins to the NIT Championship and was named the NIT's Most Outstanding Player. As the senior captain, he led the Bruins to the 1987 Pac-10 crown. That same season, he scored a career high 42 points in a victory against Louisville, including 33 in the second half which remains a Pauley Pavilion record. He was a three-time winner of the Coach John Wooden Award, presented to the team's most valuable player. Selected in the first round by Indiana in 1987, Miller is Pacers' all-time leading scorer with over 17,400 career points while averaging 19.7 ppg. He has twice been a member of the United States Dream Team winning gold medals in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.
KEN NORTON, JR. - An outstanding linebacker for the Bruins from 1984-87, Norton led the Bruins in tackles in 1986 and '87. As a senior in 1987, Norton earned All-American honors, was a finalist for the Butkus Award and was named the team's defensive MVP. Norton still ranks sixth among UCLA's career tackle leaders with 339. Norton was selected in the second round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys and played for the Cowboys from 1988-93 and with the San Francisco 49ers from 1994-present. During his career, Norton has been selected to two Pro Bowl teams and has recorded more than 100 tackles in a season on five occasions. Norton is considered one of the premier run stoppers in the NFL and in 1996, he set a San Francisco team record for most tackles in a season (165). Norton is the only player in NFL history to play on three consecutive Super Bowl champions: 1993 and 1994 with Dallas, 1995 with San Francisco.
TOM RAMSEY - A four-year quarterback letterman (1979-82) who took over the top duties after his first season and went on to carry UCLA to a 31-13-2 record. Ramsey captained the Bruins in 1982, leading the team to a 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl appearance and a victorious 1982 Rose Bowl appearance over Michigan, 24-14, and gaining Player of the Game honors for himself. His 153.5 quarterback rating was tops in the NCAA in 1982 and that same year, he was selected as the Southern California Athlete of the Year. Other honors for Tom included UCLA's 1981 Most Improved Player award and '82 MVP Award. During his UCLA career, Tom broke virtually every single season and career Bruin passing and total offense record. After graduation he played two years in the USFL, and five in the NFL before going into business and becoming a football analyst for Prime Sports and Fox Sports West.
ART REICHLE (Pioneer) - As a Bruin student-athlete, Reichle was a football halfback (1934-35-36), a rugby letterman and an All-Pacific Coast Conference starting pitcher (1935-36-37). Following graduation Art played a year of semi-pro baseball, then served his first stint in the Army Reserve before becoming UCLA's assistant baseball coach 1940. Reichle then served in the Army as a Major before returning to UCLA in 1946 as head baseball coach, a post he held until retirement in 1974. In all, Reichle managed the Bruins to 740 wins over those 29 years. In '63 he coached the United States Pan American team. His 1969 Bruin team, led by major leaguers Chris Chambliss, Bill Bonham and Jim York, became the first in the school's history to make the College World Series. He is a past president of the American Association of College Baseball Coaches and a member of the AACBC Hall of Fame.
CY YOUNG (Pioneer) - The 1952 Olympic javelin champion, Young set an Olympic record and broke the long dominance by Finland in that event. Young, who was the 1956 National TAC javelin champion, was also favored to win the 1956 games but twisted an ankle the day before competition. Incredibly, Young only toyed with the javelin two years in junior college and only took it seriously after entering UCLA in 1948. In 1950, he placed second in the NCAA Championships and in 1952 he set a new U.S. record of 256-44.