Correction appended
The Department of Athletics and Recreation announced yesterday eight inductees to the GW Athletic Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will take place on Feb. 18, when the men’s basketball team hosts A-10 rival Saint Joseph’s. The eight new hall of fame members are Mike Bassett, Tina Brown, Jack Kvancz, Ingrid Wicker-McCree, Joe McKeown, Chris Monroe, Shawnta Rogers and the late Jim Tarr.
Bassett, a 2002 graduate, concluded his career as a member of the Colonials baseball team holding five records: games played (231), at bats (846), RBIs (254), home runs (62) and total bases (535). His senior season, he helped GW to its fourth A-10 title and the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years. Bassett was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 11th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Amateur Player Draft.
Brown, a 1990 graduate, was one of the most accomplished women’s rowers in the history of GW’s program. She helped bring the Varsity 4 to a victory at the 1990 Dad Vail Regatta and consecutive second-place finishes at Collegiate Nationals. The 1990 Lynn George Outstanding Female Athlete Award recipient, Brown competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in rowing before returning to GW in 1993 as an assistant coach. She currently serves as the head rowing coach at Orcas Island Rowing Association in Olga, Wash.
Kvancz served as GW’s Director of Athletics for 17 years before retiring last summer. He oversaw the department grow to include 22 intercollegiate sports teams, and was involved in revamping many athletics department facilities, including the renovation of the Smith Center, the construction of the Lerner Health and Wellness Center and the upgrades to the Mount Vernon Field. Kvancz was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, and was a member of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Selectio Committee from 1998-2003. Kvancz currently serves as a special advisor to the athletics department.
Wicker-McCree was a member of the Colonials volleyball team from 1985 to 1989, and currently serves as North Caroline Central University’s Director of Athletics. She began her career at NCCU as the head coach of both women’s volleyball and softball, and became the first coach in NCCU history to win conference championships in multiple sports. She is a three-time Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Volleyball Coach of the Year and was inducted into the NCCU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.
McKeown is a record five-time winner of the Atlantic 10’s Coach of the Year Award, known as one of the top women’s basketball coaches in the game. He was a two-time National Coach of the Year nominee in 1995 and 1997 and is GW’s winningest coach in terms of wins (442) and winning percentage (.741). During the 1991-92 season, he led the Colonials to be ranked sixth nationally, the highest ranking for any women’s program in the history of GW athletics. From 1991 to 1998, the Colonials posted eight consecutive 20-win seasons, earning five A-10 titles. The 1996-97 team, which advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, won 22 consecutive games during the season, finishing Atlantic 10 competition with a 16-0 record. In 2007, he led the team to a 28-4 record, with a perfect 14-0 conference mark, breaking the school record with an .875 winning percentage. McKeown is now the head coach at Northwestern University.
Monroe, a 2003 graduate, scored 2,249 points during his four-year career with the men’s basketball program from 1999 to 2003, the most in program history. His career point total is also the third-most of any player in Atlantic 10 Conference history. He also ranks 10th all-time in rebounding at GW, him one of just four players to be inside the program’s career Top 10 in both scoring and rebounding. Monroe was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team as a freshman in 2000, earning A-10 All-Conference honors each of the following three seasons: Third Team All-Conference in 2001, Second Team All-Conference in 2002 and First Team All-Conference in 2003. A three-time team MVP, Monroe also holds GW career records in free throws made (720) and attempted (1,096), and he now plays professionally in the Ukraine.
Rogers competed for the men’s basketball program from 1995 to 1999, guiding the Colonials to four postseason appearances, including trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1996, 1998 and 1999. His senior season in 1999 is recognized as one of the best single-season performances in program and Atlantic 10 history. He was named A-10 Player of the Year and the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award winner, as the nation’s top senior men’s basketball player under 6-foot tall that season. Rogers led the A-10 with 20.7 points per game and 6.8 assists per game, pacing the nation with 103 steals while guiding the Colonials to a 20-9 overall record and a NCAA Tournament appearance. He currently holds GW program records in assists (634) and steals (310) and ranks sixth all-time with 1,701 points. Rogers earned A-10 All-Conference honors all four seasons, including All-Defensive Team awards from 1997-99. He was on the A-10 All-Rookie Team in 1996, the A-10 Third Team in 1997, the A-10 Second Team in 1998, and the A-10 First Team honors in 1999, and is still the only GW player ever chosen as A-10 Men’s Basketball Player of the Year.
Tarr, who graduated from the University in 1960, was a four-year member of the men’s tennis team, competing at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles spots. GW was a member of the Southern Athletic Conference while Tarr competed, and he guided the Colonials to three straight Southern Conference championships. Tarr won both singles and doubles conference championships three straight years from 1958-60, earning two doubles crowns with his brother and teammate, Jack Tarr, in 1958 and 1959. Though his career concluded 51 years ago, Tarr still holds a spot in the Southern Conference record books. He sits atop the list for most individual double titles won, tied with four others, with three conference doubles titles and is also tied for first for most combined conference titles, with six. Tarr, who lived in Atlanta, Ga., and was a longtime pilot for Delta Airlines, passed away in March 1995 after battling cancer.
This article was updated on Dec. 3, 2011 to reflect the following:
Due to incorrect information from a source, The Hatchet reported that it has been 61 years since Jim Tarr graduated. It has been 51 years.
