Powe, McArthur, McKeever Highlight Cal Athletics 2018 Hall of Fame Class
Cal has elected a class of ten to the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame, consisting of two of the most prominent basketball and football stars of the 2000s in Berkeley, along with multiple Olympians, longtime women's swimming and diving coach Teri McKeever, and longtime football announcer Joe Starkey, who the radio booth in California Memorial Stadium is named for.
From the release, these are the ten names being inducted:
- Duje Draganja (men's swimming, 2002-05) – three-time Olympian and eight-time NCAA champion who won a silver medal in the 50-meter free for Croatia in 2004
- Ramon Jimenez-Gaona (men's track & field, 1990-93) – three-time Olympian and school-record holder in the discus (210-11) who was a three-time NCAA runner-up in the event
-Geoff McArthur (football, 2000-04) – set five school receiving records and two Big Game marks and earned All-America honors as a junior in 2003
- Valerie McClain (men's and women's rowing, 1978-82) – two-time Olympian and a pioneering coxswain who earned letters for both the men's and women's rowing programs
- Teri McKeever (women's swimming & diving head coach, 1992-present) – the 2012 U.S. Olympic head coach has guided Cal to four NCAA team championships and 10 consecutive top-3 national finishes
- Alysia Montaño (women's track & field, 2004-08) – 2012 Olympian in the 800 meters won NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in the event and is a seven-time USA champion
- Leon Powe (men's basketball, 2004-06) – the 2004 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year was a two-time first-team all-conference pick and a second-team All-American in 2006
- Kristina Thorson (softball, 2003-06) – the first Golden Bear softball player named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year and a three-time second-team All-American
- Elsie Windes (women's water polo, 2004-07) – three-time All-American helped the United States to two Olympic medals, including gold in 2012
- Joe Starkey (voice of Cal football, 1975-present) – the longtime radio voice of Cal football who enters his 44th year behind the microphone this fall
These ten inductees will officially be inducted on October 26th, at the annual Hall of Fame banquet at the Greek Orthodox Church Conference Center in Oakland, and honored during Cal's October 27th matchup with Washington.
McArthur, a standout for the Bears during the first three years of the Jeff Tedford era, is Cal's alltime leader in receiving yardage, with 3188 yards, to go along with 202 receptions (2nd all-time) and 20 TD receptions (7th all-time). His most memorable game came in the 2003 Big Game, where he destroyed the Stanford secondary with 16 receptions for 245 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 28-16 win. McArthur's 1504 receiving yards in 2003 remain an all-time high for a season at Cal.
Powe, from nearby Oakland Tech, came in as the centerpiece of a ballyhooed 2003 recruiting class under Ben Braun, alongside Bay Area standouts Ayinde Ubaka and Marquise Kately. Powe quickly endeared himself, as "the Show" won Pac-12 freshman of the year in 2004, averaging 15.1 points and 9.5 rebounds, notably helping the Bears to an upset of a 12th ranked Arizona team.
Powe missed the 2004-05 season due to a knee injury, but came back with a 20-10 season, with 20.5 ppg and 10.1 rpg in 2005-06. Powe led that incarnation of the Bears to the finals of the Pac-10 tournament and to an NCAA tourney berth, putting up 20 rebounds against USC and 41 points in a double OT thriller against Oregon. Powe was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2006 draft by the Boston Celtics, winning a title with them in 2008 (scoring 21 points in 15 minutes of play during game two of the 2008 finals.)
McKeever might be the most famous on the list, leading the 2012 USA National swim team as the first woman to take the helm of both the men's and women's teams. From the release:
Head coach of the Golden Bear women's swimming & diving program for the past 26 seasons, McKeever has guided Cal to four NCAA championships (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015) and four Pac-12 titles (2009, 2012, 2014, 2015). Perhaps as impressive, the Bears have finished among the top 3 in the country each of the last 10 years. McKeever is a seven-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year and has coached seven Pac-12 Swimmers of the Year and six National Swimmers of the Year. In addition, her swimmers have won 36 Olympic medals. At the 2012 Games in London, McKeever became the first woman to serve as head coach of the U.S. Olympic women's swim team, while she was an assistant U.S. coach in both 2004 and 2008. She has twice been head U.S. coach at the Pan Pacific Championships and is a six-time assistant at the World Championships
