UNLV's Athletics Hall of Fame will welcome a class consisting of five former Rebel student-athletes, one distinguished contributor and a record-breaking team tonight during ceremonies at the South Coast Hotel.
The Class of 2006 is made up of former college teammates Chris Riley and Chad Campbell (golf), Cyndi Parus (softball), Roger Pettersson (tennis), Trevaia Williams (track & field), the 1989-90 Lady Rebel basketball team and distinguished contributor Mel Wolzinger.
THE CLASS OF 2006
MEL WOLZINGER - DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTOR
The lone non-athlete honoree among this year's class is longtime Rebel supporter Mel Wolzinger. The Dallas, Texas, native and Air Force veteran eventually headed out West with wife Ruth and made his fortune in the gaming business along with longtime partner, the late Earl E. Wilson. His successes included partnering with Steve Wynn in the now-legendary turnaround of the Golden Nugget and the eventual development of Strip palaces such as the Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio. In fact, Wolzinger continues to serve on the board for MGM Mirage. Over the last three-plus decades, he has made various significant financial contributions to UNLV and its athletics department. In the early 1990s, Mel and Jay Brown, who were co-trustees of the Earl and Hazel Mae Wilson Estate, presented UNLV its largest gift in history at the time at $6.5 million. The gift benefited several areas on the UNLV campus and $1.2 million was used for the construction of the Earl E. Wilson Baseball Stadium. Groundbreaking for the state-of-the-art facility was held on May 27, 1993, and opening ceremonies took place just eight months later in front of a record crowd. Still very much active in his community, Wolzinger was presented with the Silver Rebel Award at 2000's Hall of Fame Ceremonies and now enters the Hall as a Distinguished Contributor.
CHAD CAMPBELL - MEN'S GOLF (1994-96)
The top transfer in UNLV golf history, Chad Campbell joined head coach Dwaine Knight's squad out of Midland (Texas) Junior College in time for the 1994-95 campaign. A sturdy veteran, Campbell played every round of every tournament during his two seasons and led the Rebels with 16 rounds par-or-under as a senior. His 15 career top-20 finishes included helping UNLV charge back from 11 strokes down on the final day to take the 1996 Golf Digest Collegiate Invitational as Campbell won individual medalist honors. A Third Team All-American in 1996, he and teammate Chris Riley helped that year's Rebels win a Big West title, come in second at the NCAA regional and finish three strokes behind Arizona State at the 1996 NCAA Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn. After earning his bachelor's degree, he went on to become the most successful professional golfer ever produced by UNLV. Campbell steadily emerged on the Hooters and Buy.com tours before elevating to the PGA Tour where he was won three tournaments, including 2003's Tour Championship. He has already posted 26 career top-10 showings and ranks as one of the top-50 all-time money winners with more than $12 million to his credit. Just this year he has won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, tied for a career-best third at The Masters Tournament and qualified for and played on his second U.S. Ryder Cup Team.
CYNDI PARUS - SOFTBALL (1992-95)
A former two-sport standout at Charter Oaks High School in Covina, Calif., Cyndi Parus chose to play her college ball for UNLV head coach Shan McDonald instead of some other western heavyweights. Now she stands as the top first baseman in school history. The leader of four NCAA-qualifying teams, including arguably the best club in program history in 1995, Parus helped the 1994 and '95 squads to the school's only two conference titles. UNLV's one and only softball player to earn First Team All-America honors more than once in a career, she did it three consecutive seasons (1993 and '94 as a first baseman and 1995 as an at-large player). The 1994 Big West Conference Player of the Year holds the school record for runs batted in for a game with seven and career game-winning runs batted in with 33. She still ranks second all-time in RBI, third in doubles, fourth in hits, eighth in runs and eighth in batting average with a .325 clip. During her senior season, the Rebels won their first outright Big West Championship with a 27-5 record and broke or tied 30 school records along the way. The team, which finished ranked seventh in the nation, advanced to Women's College World Series and came within one game of playing for the national championship. Parus was also voted UNLV Sportswoman of the Year and was the 2005 NCAA Woman of the Year winner for the entire state of Nevada. She is the second UNLV softball player to enter the Hall, following pitching legend Lori Harrigan.
ROGER PETTERSSON - MEN'S TENNIS (1993-96)
The most decorated player in UNLV men's tennis history, Roger Pettersson came to Las Vegas all the way from Nykoping, Sweden, and immediately joined the lineup in the spring of 1993 for head coach Larry Easley. More than a decade later, he remains the only three-time conference player of the year in UNLV men's athletics history, regardless of sport. Pettersson was a six-time First Team All-Big West Conference (singles and doubles combined) honoree and won the 1996 Rafael Osuna Sportsman Award, which is a national honor from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. He was one-half of the first duo in school history to earn a spot in the NCAA Doubles Championship in 1995 and then returned to the NCAAs in 1996 and earned a school-record national ranking of No. 2. He also holds the record for highest singles ranking for a Rebel, reaching as high as fourth in 1994 and '96. The unflappable court star led UNLV to three conference championships from 1994-96 and helped the Rebels to a program-high team ranking of 16th during his senior season, which included an 18-match individual winning streak. A two-time singles All-American and `96 doubles All-American, Pettersson was a tremendous student and became his program's only CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American in 1996. A graduate of UNLV's world-renowned hotel college, he becomes only the second Hall-of-Famer in program history, following 1998 inductee Scott Warner.
CHRIS RILEY - MEN'S GOLF (1992-96) Chris Riley came to play for head coach Dwaine Knight out of Patrick Henry High School in San Diego and became a big building block in what is now one of the nation's top programs. The 1994 and '95 Big West Conference Player of the Year, Riley started his impressive career as the 1993 National Freshman of the Year. He eventually won four collegiate tournaments and his 72.65 career scoring average was a school record at the time. Amazingly consistent, he placed in the top 20 in 45 of his 59 career tournaments (76 percent), finishing in the top five a stunning 21 times. Riley led the Rebels to three conference titles, one NCAA Regional crown and three top-10 NCAA finishes during his career, including a then-best runner-up finish at the 1996 finals in Chattanooga, Tenn., with teammate Chad Campbell. Riley remains the one and only UNLV male student-athlete to be named All-America all four seasons in college. Also a member of the 1995 Walker Cup Team, he earned his degree and then moved to the Buy.com Tour for one year before earning his PGA Tour card where he has been playing ever since. A member of the 2004 U.S. Ryder Cup team, Riley has so far posted 27 top-10 finishes on Tour. He picked up his first PGA win at the 2002 Reno-Tahoe Open and currently ranks 80th all-time in career tour earnings with more than $8 million. He and Campbell join former NCAA individual champion Warren Schutte as UNLV Hall-of-Famers from the golf program.
TREVAIA WILLIAMS - TRACK & FIELD (1989-92) A native of Houston, versatile athlete Trevaia Williams came out West to do her running under head coach Al McDaniel and went on to become UNLV's second-ever four-year All-American in any sport (following fellow runner and UNLV Hall-of-Famer Lisa Thompson). She ended her career as a five-time All-American, earning her honors in 1989 (4th place 4x100-meter relay team), 1990 (6th place in the heptathlon), 1991 (3rd place heptathlon) and 1992 (3rd place 400-meter hurdles and 6th place 4x100-meter relay team). Named the 1992 Big West Conference Track & Field Athlete of the Year, Williams was a four-time Big West outdoor individual event champion: 100 hurdles, 400 hurdles (twice) and the high jump. Having helped the Sprintin' Rebels to a best-ever sixth-place finish at the 1992 NCAA Outdoor Championships, she still holds UNLV records in the indoor pentathlon, outdoor 400 hurdles, high jump and heptathlon. Voted the 1992 UNLV Sportswoman of the Year, Williams earned her bachelor's degree before spending another decade as a world-class runner. Her career highlights include a third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1993 World University Games, a seventh-place semifinal finish at the 1995 World Championships and a fourth-place ending at the 1996 Olympic Trials. She becomes the fourth UNLV women's track and field competitor to be voted into the school's hall of fame.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 1989-90 The 1989-90 Lady Rebels, coached by Jim Bolla, continue to stand as the winningest women's basketball team in UNLV history with a 28-3 record. The squad set school records for rankings, rising as high as No. 2 in the nation during the season and finishing fifth nationally in the final Associated Press poll. UNLV, which went a sparkling 7-1 vs. ranked opponents, won the regular-season Big West Conference championship with a school-record 17 league victories and went on to dethrone four-time defending champion Long Beach State in taking the league's postseason tournament. The campaign included a school-record 22-game winning streak and a record-tying 13 road victories. Although armed with a supremely deep bench, Bolla's squad had a predominantly set lineup as four players averaged in double figures, led by senior center and Big West Conference Player of the Year Pauline Jordan. The other side of the feared Twin Towers -- Geannine Jordan -- was at forward along with Mandy Hannah. UNLV's top guards were Vicki Lander and Linda Staley. The defensive-minded group allowed just 59 points per game while scoring a robust 83 on the other end of the court. The Lady Rebels would go on to the NCAA tournament before losing in the second round to Ole Miss at the Thomas & Mack Center. The group now becomes the first women's team in any sport to enter the UNLV Athletics Hall of Fame.
LADY REBEL TEAM ROSTERNO PLAYER POS24 Tasha Bradley F-C34 Melissa Gillum G10 Mandy Hannah G-F14 Janice Holliday G40 Teresa Jackson G42 Geannine Jordan F-C50 Pauline Jordan F-C44 Andrea Knapp F23 Vicki Lander G15 Merlelynn Lange C31 Tammy Moore G22 Linda Staley G
Head Coach: Jim BollaAsst. Coaches:Rick Glenn, Rochelle Oliver, Howie Landa
