Six to be Inducted into UW-Stout Hall of Fame

NEWS RELEASE
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Matt Stanek * Sports Information Director * 780 Regent Street * Madison, WI 53715 * Phone: (608) 265-6406 * www.uwsa.edu/wiac/

RELEASED: Thursday, September 29, 2005

Six to be Inducted into UW-Stout Hall of Fame

Menomonie, Wis.--Six Blue Devil standouts will be inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame, Saturday, November 5. Entering the Hall will be Cindy Hovet (basketball/softball), Alissa Proshek (volleyball), Pete Binelas (basketball), Gary Busch (baseball), Tom McNamara (hockey) and Bob Thomas (coach). Richard Lowery will receive the Athletic Distinguished Service Award.

The induction ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Grand View Terrace of the Memorial Student Center. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. Tickets are $13 and can be obtained by calling the UW-Stout Athletic office at 715-232-2224.

Cindy Hovet
Excelling on the basketball court for the Blue Devils from 1990-94, Cindy Hovet could be described by one word: dominant.

A three-time all-WWIAC selection in basketball and the 1994 WWIAC Player of the Year, Hovet still holds school marks for career 3-pointers (82), single-game points (39) and single-game steals (11), and shares the mark for most career games played (107). Her 1,231 career points rank second on UW-Stout’s all-time list. On Feb. 25, 1998, the Blue Devils retired Hovet’s number, 21.

Hovet earned first-team all-WWIAC softball accolades in 1994 - the only year she played softball at UW-Stout - and ranks 12th on the Blue Devils’ all-time single-season fielding percentage list.

An assistant basketball coach at UW-Stout (1994-95) and UW-River Falls (1995-2000), Hovet has posted a 69-59 record in her five years as head coach at UW-River Falls. During the 2000-01 season, Hovet coached the Falcons to an 11-5 WIAC record and a tie for third place in the league, earning WIAC Coach of the Year honors in the process.

Alissa Proshek
When individuals in the know about UW-Stout volleyball discuss the program’s history, the name Alissa Proshek invariably enters the conversation. How could it not?

A two-year Blue Devil captain and two-time team MVP, Proshek earned first-team all-WWIAC honors in 1992, 1993 and 1994. Proshek holds the following school records: single-season service aces (104), career service aces (343), career attempts (3,966), career digs (1,463) and career kills (1,561). Proshek, who paced UW-Stout in aces three times and kills twice, led the Blue Devils to a 33-6 (7-1 WWIAC) season mark, second-place WWIAC finish and UW-Stout's first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 1994.

Proshek pursued other professional endeavors after a brief coaching career and currently resides in Columbia Heights, Minn.

Tom McNamara
Tom McNamara, statistically, played third fiddle for the Blue Devil hockey program, but it’s safe to say he considers his case one of being at the right place at the right time.

Along with two previous UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, Glenn LaChapelle (1970-73) and Terry Watkins (1970-73), McNamara (1970-73) played on a line recognized by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame as the highest-scoring line in college hockey history at any level for its prowess in 1973. McNamara complemented LaChapelle’s 65 goals and Watkins’ 45 with 39 of his own. McNamara, UW-Stout’s 1973 MVP, tallied 61 points at UW-Stout, scoring 23 goals and 38 assists.

Since graduating from UW-Stout in 1973, McNamara has been employed at one company: ITT Thermotech. McNamara currently resides in Mendota Heights, Minn., along with his wife and three children. McNamara coaches youth hockey, football and baseball.

Pete Binelas
As fervently as he fired 3-pointers on the basketball court, Pete Binelas strived grade points during his career at UW-Stout.

The quintessential student-athlete for the Blue Devils from 1990-94, Binelas is second in UW-Stout men's basketball records for single-season 3-pointers made (67) and holds the single-season 3-point percentage (47.6 percent) mark, while ranking fourth on UW-Stout's career 3-pointers made list with 141. Just as impressively, Binelas - who holds the program's record for most career games played (103) and stands second on the Blue Devils' all-time scoring list with 1,492 points - earned WSUC Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete honors in 1994 and Academic All-American honors that same year. A two-year team captain (1992-93, 1993-94), Binelas three-times earned all-WSUC honors. After graduating from UW-Stout magna cum laude in 1995, Binelas played professional basketball in Greece from 1999-2000.

Binelas, who donates a considerable amount of time to United Way, is employed by the United Parcel Service (UPS), and currently resides in Oak Creek.

Gary Busch
When Gary Busch wasn’t the UW-Stout baseball team’s king of the hill during his four-year Blue Devil career, which spanned from 1987-1990, he was serving as the king’s right-hand-man.

Busch and 1999 UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Dan Larson pitched UW-Stout to an NAIA College World Series appearance in 1989. In 1990, Busch led the Blue Devils to back-to-back NAIA College World Series showings. Busch shares, with Larson, UW-Stout’s record for all-time victories (24). Busch owns the program’s career winning percentage mark (.727) and ranks second on the career innings pitched list, with 206. In 1990, Busch earned all-WSUC, all-District 14, all-Area IV, second-team all-NAIA and second-team Academic All-American honors. That year, Busch was the Area IV Player of the Year. The Blue Devils won three WSUC and three District 14 crowns during Busch’s years.

Busch is presently employed by Potter Farm & Tie, and currently resides in Appleton.

Bob Thomas
Setting an example his son, Mark (Stout's women’s basketball coach and assistant baseball and football coach), has since mirrored, Bob Thomas deeply impacted several Blue Devil athletic programs, developing numerous All-American student-athletes along the way.

The elder Thomas, a 2004 UW-Superior Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, has played an integral role for Blue Devil athletics since 1986. As an offensive and special teams assistant coach for the football team, Thomas helped develop five All-American players.

His UW-Stout wrestling teams compiled the most dual wins in school history and produced three All-American athletes, including the only national wrestling champion in school history. Thomas served as UW-Stout’s equipment manager and was an assistant baseball coach. Thomas was the acting baseball coach during the 1997 season when the team posted a 25-8 record, tied for the Northern Division title, and advanced to the WIAC Tournament. The eight losses have been the program’s fewest since 1990.

Thomas retired in 1997, but has since stayed active as a volunteer coach in both baseball and football at UW-Stout. He has also been an assistant football coach and softball coach at Spring Valley. He has yearly worked the NCAA Division I College World Series in Kansas City, has been an official scorekeeper at UW-Stout basketball games and is a WIAC basketball officials evaluator.

Thomas currently resides in Menomonie with his wife, Helen.

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