By EVAN MEYER
CLEVELAND, Oh - Former Kent State star Antonio Gates and Central Michigan standout Dan Majerle were among the former MAC stars inducted to the 2017 Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame class Wednesday night during ceremonies at the Renissance Hotel.
Also inducted were Ball State field hockey player Jen Muscari-Brown, Ohio wrestler Dwight Gardner, Eastern Michigan baseball coach Ron Oestrike, and Western Michigan women’s tennis player and coach Betsy Kuhle.
"It is only . . .
CLEVELAND, Oh - Former Kent State star Antonio Gates and Central Michigan standout Dan Majerle were among the former MAC stars inducted to the 2017 Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame class Wednesday night during ceremonies at the Renissance Hotel.
Also inducted were Ball State field hockey player Jen Muscari-Brown, Ohio wrestler Dwight Gardner, Eastern Michigan baseball coach Ron Oestrike, and Western Michigan women’s tennis player and coach Betsy Kuhle.
"It is only . . .
. . . appropriate for our conference to honor and celebrate the accomplishments of our former students, coaches and administrators -- specifically these six individuals -- and their achievements during their time competing in the Mid-American Conference MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher said. "We are honored to welcome them to the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame.”
Neither Gates nor Majerle were in attendance to receive the award. However through a video linkup, Majerle said he was honored with the induction. “Central Michigan was unbelieveable to me and the Mid-American Conference was a perfect conference for me,” he said.
Gates, a native of Detroit, originally signed a letter of intent to play for Nick Saban at Michigan State, but he then turned his intention to baseball and enrolled at Eastern Michigan. After playing part of a season with the Eagles he then went to the College of the Sequoias in California before settling in at Kent State.
Gates played three seasons with the Golden Flashes, leading them to three MAC Men's Basketball Championship games. KSU won two of them and advanced to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2001 under head coach Gary Waters, the Flashes went 24-10, defeating Miami in the tournament title game. KSU then defeated Indiana in NCAA tourney action before losing in the second round to Cincinnati.
The 2002 Flashes went 30-6, winning their second MAC tournament title by defeating Bowling Green in the finals.
Head coach Stan Heath's crew went on to reach the NCAA Elite Eight, the furthest a MAC school his gone in the tournament since the 1964 Ohio Bobcats. Led by Gates, Trevor Huffman, Demetric Shaw, and Andrew Mitchell, KSU beat Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh before losing to Indiana in the regional final.
In his three seasons with the Blue and Gold,. Gates scored 1,216 points and pulled down 600 rebounds, both among the top 20 in school history. His number 44 was retired by the school, along with Shaw, Huffman and Mitchell.
Gates' athleticism would eventually lead him to a professional career on the gridiron as he decided to go back to football and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers in 2003.
The rest, as they say, was history. He became the Chargers all-time leader in receptions with 897 receptions for 11,192 yards and 111 touchdowns. He has made the AFC Pro Bowl squad eight times and was thrice tabbed an All-Pro. Gates was picked for the NFL’s all-decade team of the 2000’s and named to the Chargers 50th anniversary team.
Majerle, is currently the head men’s basketball coach at Grand Canyon University in suburban Phoenix. This coming season will be his fifth at the helm of the Antelopes, who have moved into Division I and currently play in the Western Athletic Conference.
A native of Traverse City, Michigan, Majerle was a three-time all-MAC First Team selection. He was on the MAC all-tournament team twice and was named MVP in 1987, when CMU defeated Kent State in the championship game, 64-63. CMU lost to UCLA in NCAA tourney first round action.
Majerle is second all-time in CMU scoring with 2,055 points and his 834 rebounds is fifth all-time. He led the Chips in scoring three times and in both scoring and rebounds. Majerle's number 44 was retired by the school and he was named to the CMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. He finished his collegiate career playing for Team USA in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, helping head coach John Thompson's team win a bronze medal.
From there it was onto the Phoenix Suns, where he was their first round selection (14th overall) in the 1988 NBA Draft. The pick was orginally the property of the Cleveland Cavaliers, however the Suns acquired the pick in the Larry Nance-Kevin Johnson deal.
He spent his first seven seasons in The Valley of the Sun, becoming a specialist on defense and displaying deadly three-point shooting while earning the name “Thunder Dan”.
In 1993, Majerle joined Charles Barkley to lead the Suns to the NBA finals for just the second time in franchise history, only to lose in six games to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Majerle spent a year with the Cleveland Cavaliers (1995-1996)
before joining the Miami Heat for four seasons under Pat Riley. He returned to the Suns to complete his career and finished with 10,425 points, along with hauled 4,265 rebounds.
Majerle was a three-time All-NBA selection, twice making the all-defensive team. His number nine was retired by the team and his name is in the Suns Ring of Honor at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
After his playing days, Dan was assistant coach for the Suns from 2009-13 before heading to GCU. He is the second former Suns player to coach at the there. Former guard Paul Westphal was a coach there before heading to the NBA coaching ranks.
Last season the Antelopes finished with a 22-9 record facing teams the likes of Duke, Arizona, and Louisville. They finished the regular season with seven straight wins and had was 11-3 in WAC play.
Along with inducting the Hall of Fame class, the MAC also announced top school sport honors for the 20-17-17 calendar year. Akron won the Reese Award as the top men’s athletics program in the conference, while the Northern Illinois women's program took home Jacoby Award honors.
In addition, Toledo garnered the men’s Faculty Athletics Representative Awards, while Bowling Green took the awards on the women’s side. Central Michigan won the Institutional Sportsmanship Award.
The Bob James scholarship awards went to former Eastern Michigan women’s soccer player Julia Lombardi and former Kent State football player Jordan Italiano; both are in medical school at the University of Ottawa and Wright State University respectively.
Neither Gates nor Majerle were in attendance to receive the award. However through a video linkup, Majerle said he was honored with the induction. “Central Michigan was unbelieveable to me and the Mid-American Conference was a perfect conference for me,” he said.
Gates, a native of Detroit, originally signed a letter of intent to play for Nick Saban at Michigan State, but he then turned his intention to baseball and enrolled at Eastern Michigan. After playing part of a season with the Eagles he then went to the College of the Sequoias in California before settling in at Kent State.
Gates played three seasons with the Golden Flashes, leading them to three MAC Men's Basketball Championship games. KSU won two of them and advanced to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2001 under head coach Gary Waters, the Flashes went 24-10, defeating Miami in the tournament title game. KSU then defeated Indiana in NCAA tourney action before losing in the second round to Cincinnati.
The 2002 Flashes went 30-6, winning their second MAC tournament title by defeating Bowling Green in the finals.
Head coach Stan Heath's crew went on to reach the NCAA Elite Eight, the furthest a MAC school his gone in the tournament since the 1964 Ohio Bobcats. Led by Gates, Trevor Huffman, Demetric Shaw, and Andrew Mitchell, KSU beat Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh before losing to Indiana in the regional final.
In his three seasons with the Blue and Gold,. Gates scored 1,216 points and pulled down 600 rebounds, both among the top 20 in school history. His number 44 was retired by the school, along with Shaw, Huffman and Mitchell.
Gates' athleticism would eventually lead him to a professional career on the gridiron as he decided to go back to football and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers in 2003.
The rest, as they say, was history. He became the Chargers all-time leader in receptions with 897 receptions for 11,192 yards and 111 touchdowns. He has made the AFC Pro Bowl squad eight times and was thrice tabbed an All-Pro. Gates was picked for the NFL’s all-decade team of the 2000’s and named to the Chargers 50th anniversary team.
Majerle, is currently the head men’s basketball coach at Grand Canyon University in suburban Phoenix. This coming season will be his fifth at the helm of the Antelopes, who have moved into Division I and currently play in the Western Athletic Conference.
A native of Traverse City, Michigan, Majerle was a three-time all-MAC First Team selection. He was on the MAC all-tournament team twice and was named MVP in 1987, when CMU defeated Kent State in the championship game, 64-63. CMU lost to UCLA in NCAA tourney first round action.
Majerle is second all-time in CMU scoring with 2,055 points and his 834 rebounds is fifth all-time. He led the Chips in scoring three times and in both scoring and rebounds. Majerle's number 44 was retired by the school and he was named to the CMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. He finished his collegiate career playing for Team USA in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, helping head coach John Thompson's team win a bronze medal.
From there it was onto the Phoenix Suns, where he was their first round selection (14th overall) in the 1988 NBA Draft. The pick was orginally the property of the Cleveland Cavaliers, however the Suns acquired the pick in the Larry Nance-Kevin Johnson deal.
He spent his first seven seasons in The Valley of the Sun, becoming a specialist on defense and displaying deadly three-point shooting while earning the name “Thunder Dan”.
In 1993, Majerle joined Charles Barkley to lead the Suns to the NBA finals for just the second time in franchise history, only to lose in six games to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Majerle spent a year with the Cleveland Cavaliers (1995-1996)
before joining the Miami Heat for four seasons under Pat Riley. He returned to the Suns to complete his career and finished with 10,425 points, along with hauled 4,265 rebounds.
Majerle was a three-time All-NBA selection, twice making the all-defensive team. His number nine was retired by the team and his name is in the Suns Ring of Honor at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
After his playing days, Dan was assistant coach for the Suns from 2009-13 before heading to GCU. He is the second former Suns player to coach at the there. Former guard Paul Westphal was a coach there before heading to the NBA coaching ranks.
Last season the Antelopes finished with a 22-9 record facing teams the likes of Duke, Arizona, and Louisville. They finished the regular season with seven straight wins and had was 11-3 in WAC play.
Along with inducting the Hall of Fame class, the MAC also announced top school sport honors for the 20-17-17 calendar year. Akron won the Reese Award as the top men’s athletics program in the conference, while the Northern Illinois women's program took home Jacoby Award honors.
In addition, Toledo garnered the men’s Faculty Athletics Representative Awards, while Bowling Green took the awards on the women’s side. Central Michigan won the Institutional Sportsmanship Award.
The Bob James scholarship awards went to former Eastern Michigan women’s soccer player Julia Lombardi and former Kent State football player Jordan Italiano; both are in medical school at the University of Ottawa and Wright State University respectively.
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