MORGANTOWN — Eleven outstanding contributors to Mountaineer athletics make up the 28th class of honorees in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame, announced today.
The 2018 class includes Kate Bulger (women’s basketball), Jon Capon (men’s soccer), Avon Cobourne (football), Mike Gansey (men’s basketball), Tom Keane (football), Larry Krutko (football), Eleanor Lamb (administration), Steve Slaton (football), Bev Fry Plocki (gymnastics), Pat White (football) and Web Wright (rifle).
Induction ceremonies will take place Saturday, Sept. 22, prior to the West Virginia-Kansas State football game.
This class brings the total number of inductees to 188.
The inductees:
Kate Bulger
A four-year letterwinner from 2001-’04 and senior captain, Bulger became the first Mountaineer drafted by the WNBA as the No. 38 pick of the Minnesota Lynx in the 2004 draft.
Bulger, a Pittsburgh native, was a four-time honoree in the Big East, named to the All-Big East Second Team her senior season, the third team her junior season, the second team as a sophomore and the Big East All-Rookie Team as a freshman.
Starting every game of her career and never missing a game, Bulger led the Mountaineers in scoring in each of her four seasons, finishing with 1,732 points, which rank as the sixth-highest career point total in WVU women’s basketball history. She averaged 15.1 points per game, ranking seventh in WVU’s career record books, while recording 648-of-1,577 attempts from the field.
Known as one of WVU’s top all-time shooters, Bulger continues to hold WVU’s record for 3-point field goals made (302) and 3-point field goal attempts (724) and ranks second for 3-point field goal percentage (.417). In addition to her offense, Bulger also ranks No. 10 in WVU’s record books with 94 career blocked shots. With 115 career games played and started, Bulger ranks No. 3 in WVU’s career record books with 4,008 minutes played.
Bulger joins her brother, Marc (2010 inductee), as the first siblings to be inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.
Bulger graduated from WVU with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She received a master’s degree in education from Duquesne and a second master’s degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona. Bulger currently lives in Chandler, Arizona, where she is in her fourth year as principal of an elementary school.
Jon Capon
A dominating goal keeping force between the posts, Capon was a four-year letterwinner and three-time team captain for men’s soccer from 1978-’81.
Capon, a native of Rockville, Maryland, was a four-year starter for the Mountaineers, leaving WVU holding nearly every goal keeping record at the school.
He compiled a school-record 343 saves in 5,484 minutes played. Capon had a 1.17 goals allowed average (GAA) and 28 shutouts during his career, which were WVU career records for more than 25 years.
As a senior, Capon allowed just 17 goals in 16 games with six shutouts during an 11-5 season and NCAA Quarterfinal appearance for the Mountaineers. Earning NSCAA First Team All-America honors in 1981, Capon posted a 1.13 GAA with 1,350 minutes in net.
Capon earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from WVU.
Avon Cobourne
Considered one of the greatest running backs in WVU football history, Cobourne finished his career as WVU’s and the Big East’s rushing leader from 1999-2002, becoming the only player in school history to post four 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
A four-year starter and four-time All-Big East honoree from 1999-2002, Cobourne set WVU records for rushing yards in a season (1,710) and career (5,164), most 100-yard games in a season (10) and career (28), most carries in a season (335) and career (1,050), and tied the record for most consecutive 100-year games (six) and most touchdowns in a career (42).
A team captain as a junior and senior, the Camden, New Jersey, native holds the Big East record for most carries in a career, most 100-yard games in a career and rushing yards in a career.
Cobourne is tied for 16th in career rushing yards in NCAA history, including bowl games, and 22nd in career rushing without counting bowl games. He is one of 23 players in NCAA history to rush for 5,000 yards or more for his career.
Cobourne was signed by the Detroit Lions, in 2003, after being undrafted.
He played in seven games, recording seven carries for 27 yards, returning seven kickoffs for 123 yards and catching four passes for 30 yards.
Cobourne then embarked on a six-year career in the Canadian Football League, and in 2009, he rushed for 1,214 yards and 13 touchdowns, culminating in CFL All-Star recognition and being named the MVP of the 2009 Grey Cup.
In 2014, he was a running backs coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and was a running backs coach for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2016.
Cobourne has a degree in marketing from WVU.
He and his wife, Rebecca, live in Charleston, with three children, Avon III (Trey), Quion and Nova. Cobourne serves as the director of business development for the Charleston Family YMCA and owns a financial services marketing company, Primerica Financial Services.
Mike Gansey
Gansey, who led WVU to the 2005 NCAA Elite Eight and the 2006 NCAA Sweet 16, is just one of nine Mountaineer basketball players to start every game of his WVU career.
Starting 68 games at WVU after transferring from St. Bonaventure, Gansey reached double figures in 25 games during the 2004-’05 season, averaging 12.0 points per contest and scoring the most points on the team with 421.
He led the Mountaineers in field goals (160), rebounds (180), rebounding average (5.1) and steals (57). Gansey led WVU to the championship game of the Big East Tournament and then to the NCAA Elite Eight, narrowly missing a spot in the NCAA Final Four with an overtime loss to Louisville.
It was WVU’s highest finish in the NCAA Tournament since 1959.
In 2005-’06, the Olmsted Falls, Ohio, native led the Mountaineers in scoring (16.8), rebounding (5.7), steals (62), rebounds (189), field goal percentage (55.0) and 3-point field goal percentage (42.9).
Gansey graduated from WVU in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in criminology. Following his WVU career, he played professionally overseas for three seasons and in the NBA G League for two.
Gansey has served as the assistant general manager for the Cleveland Cavaliers since July 2017. He was previously general manager for the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers’ exclusively-owned NBA G League team, where he earned the 2016-’17 NBA G League Executive of the Year award.
Gansey resides in Avon, Ohio, with his wife, Amy, daughters, Reagan and Emerson, and son, Griffin.
Tom Keane
Keane was a rare lettermen in football at WVU and Ohio State during the 1940s.
After an all-star high school career at Linsly Academy in Wheeling, the Bellaire, Ohio, native enrolled at Ohio State where the two-way back lettered as a freshman in 1944 on Ohio State’s undefeated, co-national championship team before serving 20 months in the United States Navy. Upon discharge, he enrolled at WVU and was a key contributor on the 1946 and 1947 teams.
Keane (pronounced Kane) was a second-round pick and 18th overall by the National Football League’s Los Angeles Rams in 1948. He played nine NFL seasons (87 games) as a defensive back-offensive end including the first four seasons with the Rams. In 1952, he played with the Dallas Texans before two seasons with the Baltimore Colts and ended his playing career in 1955 with the Chicago Cardinals.
He was a two-time All-Pro and played in the 1953 Pro Bowl, ranked second in the NFL in pass interceptions twice, and played in three NFL championship games including the 1951 Rams’ title team.
Keane coached with the Chicago Cardinals from 1957-’59 before becoming a longtime assistant coach with the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers. He retired as an assistant coach with the Dolphins, in 1985, capping a 38-year pro career as a player and coach.
In five trips to the Super Bowl with Miami, Keane saw the Dolphins twice crowned world champions (1972 and 1973). The 1972 Miami team established an all-time NFL record with a 17-0 record and one of Keane’s defensive backs, Jake Scott, was named MVP in the Super Bowl.
Keane, and his wife, Mary, had two daughters, Candi and Mary, and two sons, Tom and Tim.
He died at age 74 in 2001.
Larry Krutko
One of the best fullbacks in Mountaineers football history, Krutko played at WVU from 1955-’57 for coach Art “Pappy” Lewis.
The Carmichaels, Pa. native finished his three-year career with 297 carries for 1,407 yards, leading WVU in rushing yards in 1956 and 1957, while also playing linebacker on defense. Krutko currently ranks sixth in career rushing yards by a WVU fullback.
Krutko, who played in the Blue-Gray Collegiate Bowl Game in 1957, and the Senior Bowl and College All-Star Game in 1958, helped lead the Mountaineers to two Southern Conference championships. He is a member of the WVU All-Time team from 1950-’59.
As a senior in 1957, Krutko helped the Mountaineers to a 7-2-1 record while leading the Mountaineers’ rushing attack with 403 yards on 100 carries with a team-high five touchdowns. The Mountaineers finished the season No. 17 nationally in rushing, averaging 233.9 yards per game.
Krutko was chosen in the second round of the 1957 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played with the Steelers from 1958-’60, appearing in 25 career games. He finished with 331 yards rushing on 96 carries and four touchdowns and 14 receptions for 108 yards.
Krutko now makes his home in Waynesburg, Pa., with his wife, Betty. They own and operate a longtime wholesale grocery business with children Mary, Larry Jr., John and Andy, in Mount Morris, Pa.
Eleanor Lamb
Lamb, a lifelong resident of Morgantown, spent 55 years working in the WVU Department of Athletics from 1958-2013.
Lamb joined the WVU staff on June 9, 1958, as a secretary to then-athletic director Red Brown. She was named as an assistant to Brown in 1965 and was elevated to assistant athletic director on July 1, 1971, where she was involved with the financial details and arrangements of all athletic events. Lamb was the first female to hold a senior administrative role in the department’s history.
Lamb, who also worked with WVU athletic directors Leland Byrd, Dick Martin, Fred Schaus, Ed Pastilong and Oliver Luck, retired from full-time status on July 1, 1984. She then went on to work in the department on a part-time basis as an administrative assistant in the business office. Lamb retired from the department on March 31, 2013.
Lamb is a 1943 graduate of WVU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She has one son, Chris, and one grandson, Kazu.
Bev (Fry) Plocki
One of the nation’s top gymnastics coaches, Bev (Fry) Plocki competed in gymnastics at WVU from 1985-’87, leading the Mountaineers to three appearances in the NCAA regional championships and a 23-win season in 1985.
A native of Butler, Pa., Plocki was a gymnast at Alabama before transferring to WVU and competing for coach Linda Burdette-Good.
In addition to the three NCAA regional appearances, Plocki led WVU to three runner-up finishes in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The 1987 team captain, Plocki earned a spot on the 1987 All-Atlantic 10 bars team and won the 1986 Sally Medrick Award as the team’s most improved gymnast.
Plocki recently wrapped up her 29th season as head coach of the Michigan women’s gymnastics program. She has led the Wolverines to 23 Big Ten championships, tied for the most by any coach in Big Ten history.
She is an 11-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, nine-time NCAA regional Coach of the Year and was the 1994 NCAA national Coach of the Year.
Plocki earned a bachelor’s degree from WVU in physical education in 1987 and a master’s degree in sport management and administration in 1989.
Plocki and her husband, Jim, have two children, Elizabeth and Tyler.
Steve Slaton
Slaton was one of the top play-making running backs in the nation from 2005-07, earning consensus All-America honors in 2006.
The Levittown, Pennsylvania, native rewrote the WVU and Big East record books during his three-year career as a Mountaineer, helping the Mountaineers to bowl wins in the 2005 Sugar Bowl, 2006 Gator Bowl and 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
For his WVU career, he ranks first in rushing touchdowns (50), total touchdowns (55) and total points by a non-kicker (330), and ranks second in total 100-yard rushing games (21), all-purpose yards (4,775), all-time receiving yards by a running back (805) and second in Big East history in total touchdowns with 53. Slaton left WVU third all-time in rushing yards with 3,923 for his career. He and Pat White became the third duo in FBS history to rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons.
Slaton entered the 2008 NFL Draft after his junior season and was selected in the third round by the Houston Texans. He played four years for the Texans (2008-’11), one for the Miami Dolphins (2011) and finished his career in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts (2014).
He finished his NFL career with 1,896 rushing yards, averaging 4.3 yards per carry and scored 13 touchdowns.
Slaton and his wife, Kimberly, have two children, Brennan and Darla. After retiring from football, Slaton enrolled in culinary school in Houston and is a personal chef and kitchen consultant.
Pat White
White was the nation’s most versatile threat at quarterback, becoming the first college quarterback to start and win four consecutive bowl games from 2005-’08.
The Daphne, Ala. native set 19 WVU, Big East and national records during his illustrious career, including finishing as the all-time rushing quarterback in NCAA history with 4,480 yards (now ranks second).
WVU was 35-8 with White as the starting quarterback. He led the Mountaineers to bowl wins in the 2006 Sugar, 2007 Gator, 2008 Fiesta and 2008 Meineke Car Care. White set the Big East records in touchdowns responsible for (103) and total offense (10,529).
White was drafted in the second round of the NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, playing the 2009 season with the Dolphins.
He played on the practice squad for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League in 2011, signed with the Washington Redskins in 2013 and then played one season for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League in 2014. He announced his retirement from professional football in 2015.
White graduated from WVU in 2008 with a Regents Bachelor of Arts degree. He has two daughters, Daphne Ruth White and Clara Vonne Marie White. In April 2018, White was hired as the quarterbacks coach at Alcorn State.
Web Wright
One of the best marksmen in WVU rifle history, Lt. Col. (Retired) Wright III was a seven time All-American and two-time national champion at WVU from 1985-’89.
Wright led the Mountaineers to three national titles in 1986, 1988 and 1989.
He was the only two-time NCAA smallbore national champion (1987 and 1988) in WVU history until 2018.
Wright was a four-time, first-team All-American in smallbore during his career and a first-team air rifle All-American during his senior season.
A native of Annapolis, Maryland, Wright represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
Wright, who competed with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit from 1991 until 1996, served at the tactical, operational and strategic levels throughout his career in the Army.
He served two deployments to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and one deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the famed 10th Mountain Division.
Since 2012, Wright has played an integral role with the Army West Point rifle team. At Army, he began as the team’s Officer Representative before being named the 25th head coach of the program in 2015.
Wright and his wife, Jen, have three kids, Maggie, Drew and Suzy.
