Weber State Cominent, Merlon Stevenson Sherman Couch Raymond Athletic Hall of Fame Freeman Dick Motta Spring 1990 Willie Soujourner inducts five by Brad Larson Sports Information Director Five former Wildcat athletic greats have been inducted into the Wildcat Athletic Hall of Fame. The five, Merlon L. Stevenson, the late Sherman A. (Pete) Couch, Raymond A. Freeman, Dick Motta and Willie Soujourner, are among the second group to be included in Weber State Athletic Hall of Fame. Couch played football and basketball for the Wildcats in the 1920’s. He was voted first team All-Division in 1922 in both sports. After his career at Weber State he went on to play football and basketball at the University of Utah. He coached and taught at that university for 43 years. He was a charter member of the Utah Old Timers Athletic Association. Couch died in 1983 at the age of 78. (Nasa li lati Stevenson is considered by many to be the father of Weber State athletics. He coached football, basketball, track and field and tennis from 1921 to 1933. He was also the head of the math and engineering departments for 40 years and the dean of the school of instruction. The intercollegiate athletic offices located in Wildcat Stadium were named in his honor in 1983. Freeman excelled in multiple sports. A native of Ogden, he was tennis champion as a 17-year-old. He was the region sprint champion in both the 100-yard dash, and he represented Weber in the National Junior College Track and Field Championships in 1941. Freeman also played football for the Wildcats and the University of Nevada as a single-wing quarterback. Freeman is currently president of WSC’s Emeritus Alumni Association. Motta coached at Weber Junior College beginning in 1960 and his team won the ICAC Junior College championships the first two seasons. When Weber State received four-year status in 1962 the Wildcats began competing as an independent. In 1963 they joined the Big Sky and took second place. The next four seasons they won the Big Sky Championship. In Motta’s last season at Weber, the Wildcats received its first ever NCAA tournament bid. Under Motta the “Cats were 120-33. Motta went on to have a great coaching career in the NBA. In 1971 he was named NBA Coach of the Year. He is currently the coach of the Sacramento Kings. Only two other coaches in NBA history have more wins than Dick Motta. Soujourner was another legend in Wildcat basketball. As a sophomore he led the Wildcats to their best record in history, 27-3. During his career at Weber State he . averaged 18.8 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. He is currently the all-time leading scorer with 1,563 points. In the three seasons Soujourner was at Weber State the team won three Big Sky Championships and three NCAA tournament berths. He was elected to the All Big Sky Team three straight seasons, and in Korea, WSC begin work on joint satellite WeberSat, Weber State’s latest satellite, is barely in space, but already officials at the college are negotiating for another. The Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has asked Weber State to consider building a satellite and ground station for them which would eventually end up in Seoul. Robert Twiggs, director of Weber State’s Center for Aerospace Technology, said students in the college’s manufacturing and electrical engineering departments would do the building, help launch the satellite and install the ground station in Korea. “The satellite would be owned and operated by the Koreans. Their students and faculty would come to the Ogden college and be involved with the building. This would be the first partially Korean-built satellite,” Twiggs said. The Korean satellite would emulate in many ways the college’s current WeberSat satellite. WeberSat is a small orbiter equipped with an on-board computer, a color video camera and communications ability, Twiggs said. “We would arrange for the launch and they would pay for it. Once the satellite was in orbit we would go to Korea, install the ground station and turn the operation over to them,” he said. : The Koreans would pay the $400,000 price tag associated with construction of the satellite, and students here would get addi-. tional space technology experience, he said. “There are possibilities for future contracts between Utah and Korea, and if we are able to establish educational ties we will be better able to develop economic ties,” Twiggs said. The recent launch of WeberSat cemented Korean interest in the project, Twiggs said, and while no official contract is yet signed the WSC aerospace engineer said he is hopeful work on the project will begin this summer. 1971 was named third team Associated Press All-American. He also excelled as a high jumper for the Wildcats. In 1970 he placed third at the NCAA outdoor championships with a leap of seven feet. Soujourner played professional basketball for the Virginia Squires in the American Basketball Association and several years in Italy. Robert H. DeBoer will receive the alumni's H. Aldous Dixon Award. DeBoer is the assistant to the president for governmental relations. Alumni honor employee Robert H. DeBoer, assistant to the president for governmental relations at Weber State, will receive the top award given by the WSC Alumni Association. DeBoer will receive the H. Aldous Dixon Award during the annual Founders’ Day luncheon at Weber State on May 4. “Bob has demonstrated himself to be a benefit to the students and the college. He puts in a lot of time, and it all revolves back to the benefit of the students and the institution,” said Bryan Hurst, president of the Alumni Association. DeBoer first started at Weber State in 1953 as assistant purchasing agent. He left the college for four years to work as purchasing agent at Idaho State University, and returned to Weber State in 1965. At Weber State he has been purchasing agent, deputy controller, director of business affairs, and director of administrative services for College Advancement. He also served a two-year post as acting vice president for College Advancement. As assistant to the president for governmental relations DeBoer is the college’s chief lobbyist, and is responsible for the college’s dealings with local, state, and national governments. He also oversees athletics, the Dee Events Center, and campus police.