San Jose----Two of the best football teams in school history, six outstanding athletes, one legendary coach and one dedicated team physician comprise the 2012 San Jose State University Sports Hall of Fame honorees that will be inducted on October 26.

The newest Spartan inductees include former gymnast Dani Albright, fencer Laurel Clark Skillman, football player Bob Ladouceur, men's golfer Arron Oberholser, men's basketball player Wally Rank, men's water polo player Bruce Watson and former team physician Dr. Martin Trieb.  The 1939 and 1986 football teams will be inducted in the Hall of Fame.  Judo coach Yosh Uchida will be honored as a Spartan Legend. 

The 2012 Hall of Fame class joins more than 350 Spartans from 100-plus years of athletics competition who have excelled in their sports at the collegiate and/or professional levels.

Induction ceremonies take place on Friday, October 26, at Villa Ragusa in downtown Campbell.  The honorees will be recognized during the San Jose State-Texas State football game on Saturday, October 27, in Spartan Stadium.  The ceremony and dinner is officially sold out.

HALL OF FAME BIOGRAPHIES

1939 Football Team

The 1939 football team, under Hall of Fame head coach Dudley S. DeGroot, was the first San Jose State football team to complete a perfect season with a 13-0 record.  The team set a school record with eight shutouts and a school record for the largest point differential in a season at 295 points.  Twelve players from that team including future San Jose State head football coaches Bob Bronzan and Bob Titchenal are in the Hall of Fame.

1986 Team

The 1986 football team finished the season with a 10-2 record, was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association champion and won the California Raisin Bowl with a 37-7 win over Miami (Ohio).  The team posted the second-greatest turnaround in school history (+6.5 wins) and had the first double-digit victory total since 1940.  Hall of Fame head coach Claude Gilbert was the Spartans' mastermind, and Spartan Hall of Famer and quarterback Mike Perez led the team on the field.  Eight Spartans were named to the U.P.I. All-Coast team including David Diaz-Infante who went on to have a lengthy pro career and can be found on the ESPN network as an analyst on college football games.  The Spartans' amazing comeback win over Fresno State was named Sports Illustrated's Game of the Year.

Dani Albright (2001-04)

Dani Albright lettered from 2001-04 for the women's gymnastics team.  She was the first San Jose State gymnast to compete at the NCAA Championships as Albright finished 38th in the all-around at the 2001 championships.  Two weeks earlier that season, she became the first San Jose State gymnast to finish in the top-five in the all-around at an NCAA regional.  During her four years, she set the school records on the vault, floor and all-around and was the first Spartan gymnast to score a 39.000 or higher in the all-around.  Albright won the 2003 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation vault and floor championships.

Laurel Clark Skillman, Fencing (1979-82)

Laurel Clark Skillman was a member of the San Jose State women's fencing team from 1979 to 1982. She was a 1981 AIAW All-American.  Skillman finished sixth at the 1982 NCAA Women's Championships and helped San Jose State to a second-place team finish.  After her collegiate career, she was a member of the 1991 USA Pan American Games gold medal winning epee team, was the 1992 World Cup Champion in the epee and was named the 1992 United State Fencing Association Female Athlete of the Year.  Skillman was a six-time member of the U.S. World Fencing team.

Bob Ladouceur, Football (1975-76)

Bob Ladouceur played the 1975 and 1976 seasons in a Spartan uniform after transferring from the University of Utah.  However, he is best known for what his accomplisments at De La Salle High School in Concord after his Spartan days.  Ladouceur began coaching at the school in 1979 when he was just 25-years-old.  He took a team that had never a winning season since 1965 and turned it into a perennial winner.  Ladouceur coached his teams to 12 consecutive undefeated seasons, including a 151-game winning streak from 1992 to 2004.  His team's topped the USA Today rankings five times, and he was three-time coach of the year.  Ladouceur begins the 2012 season with a 384-25-3 record, the all-time winningest coach in California high school football.

Arron Oberholser, Men's Golf (1994-97)

Arron Oberholser was a four-time letterwinner from 1994-97 and a two-time All-America selection.  He was named to the first team in 1996 and the third team in 1997.  A two-time all-conference selection, Oberholser was the 1996 Big West Player of the Year.  Celebrating the 50th Western Intercollegiate Tournament in 1996, the nationally-televised collegiate tournament on ESPN saw Oberholser overtake Tiger Woods of Stanford on the final four holes for the individual title.  In his collegiate career, he won seven individual titles including the 1996 Big West Championship and the 1997 NCAA West Regional. Oberholser was a key figure in the Spartans 10th-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Championships.  Oberholser graduated from San Jose State in 1998 with a degree in broadcast journalist and had a stint as an intern at KNBR radio in San Francisco.

After his collegiate days, Oberholser turned pro in 1998 and played on the Canadian and Nationwide tours before earning his PGA card.  He won the 2006 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and lost in a playoff to Joey Sindelar at the 2004 Wachovia Championship.  Oberholser has two other top-10 finishes at Major Championships- tied for fourth at the 2007 PGA Championship and tied for ninth at the 2005 U.S. Open.  In the Official World Golf Rankings, he was featured in the top-25 in September of 2007.

Wally Rank, Men's Basketball (1977-80)

Wally Rank lettered in men's basketball from 1977 to 1980.  He finished his Spartan career with 1,432 points and ranks fourth all-time currently on the San Jose State scoring list.   Rank is only the third player in school history to lead the team in scoring in three consecutive seasons.  He was named the 1980 PCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player and helped San Jose State earn its second NCAA Tournament berth in school history.  He was a fifth round draft choice by the San Diego Clippers and played one season in the NBA.

Dr. Martin Trieb, Team Physician (1965-2001)

Dr. Martin Trieb served San Jose State student-athletes as the team physician from 1965-2001.  He also served as the team physician for the San Jose Earthquakes from 1975-77, and was the World Cup Ski Team Orthopedic Consultant from 1975-85.  Trieb was the Physician in Charge at the 1980 United States Junior Olympics and served as the Chief Medical Officer at the 1999 Women's World Cup.

Yosh Uchida, Judo, Legend Award (1940-present)

Yosh Uchida, a member of the San Jose State Sports Hall of Fame, is being honored for his service to San Jose State as the judo coach after the Spartans won their 45th championship this past April.  He also coached Marti Malloy to a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.  The 92-year-old judo coach has been coaching at San Jose State for 66 years.  Uchida built San Jose State into a national program and elevated the visibility of judo in the United States.  He was the first U.S.A. Olympic Games judo coach in 1964 and coached other U.S.A. Olympic medal winners Bob Berland, Mike Swain, Kevin Asano, James Bregman and Marti Molloy.  Uchida was the 1992 Tower Award winner and the recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from San Jose State in 2004.

Bruce Watson, Men's Water Polo (1972-73)

 Bruce Watson was a member of the 1972 and 1973 men's water polo teams.  After his collegiate days, Watson was a member of the U.S. National team from 1976-79.  He then moved into the head coaching position at West Valley from 1979-84 and returned in 1990 for good.  Watson was twice named the California State Coach of the Year and has coached six state championships at West Valley.  Approximately 60 of his student-athletes have gone on to play at Division I schools.

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