Butler Inducts Five Into Athletic Hall of Fame

Five former students, including a men’s soccer All-American and a two-time conference Player of the Year, were formally inducted into the Butler University Athletic Hall of Fame on Sunday (June 6).  The Butler Hall of Fame Class of 2010 was honored at a special induction banquet/ceremony held in the Riley Room at Atherton Center on the Butler campus.

Introduced as Butler’s 20th Hall of Fame Induction Class were Steve Mitchell (football, baseball, 1976-79), Steve Weiger (men’s soccer, 1992-95), Justin Beasley (baseball, 1995-98), Dave Ginn (football, 1981-84) and Jean Ann Bowers Walker (basketball, volleyball, softball, badminton, field hockey, 1956-60).  Butler Director of Athletics Barry Collier, a member of the 2006 Butler Hall of Fame class, presided over the formal induction ceremony.

Mitchell was a varsity letterwinner in both football and baseball, but he had a particular impact on the baseball field.  He was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Heartland Collegiate Conference in 1979, and he was Butler’s Most Valuable Player in both 1978 and 1979.  He holds Butler’s record for longest hitting streak (24 consecutive games), and he pitched one of Butler’s 17 all-time one-hitters.

Weiger, a four-year starter in soccer, was named to the NSCAA/adidas All-America Team in 1995.  He was named Horizon League Player of the Year in 1995, and he was a Butler MVP in both 1993 and 1995.  A three-time all-region player, he currently holds five Butler men’s soccer records, including most goals in a season (19).

Beasley, a four-year starting catcher for the Bulldogs, was a two-time Horizon League Player of the Year, 1996 and 1998.  He was named Butler’s Most Valuable Player twice and was selected as the team’s Offensive Player of the Year in both 1996 and 1998.  A three-time, all-league performer, Beasley holds Butler career records for triples, total bases and slugging percentage.

Ginn, a starting linebacker on Butler’s first NCAA Division II playoff team, was a two-time team Most Valuable Defensive Player (1982 & 1984) and a three-time first team All-Heartland Collegiate Conference performer.  He was the second-leading tackler on Butler’s 1983 NCAA Playoff team, and he led the Bulldogs in the playoffs with 13 tackles against UC Davis.  He set a Butler single game record for tackles in 1982 against Ashland (since broken).

Bowers (Walker) competed in multiple sports in the late 1950s.  She played volleyball, basketball and softball for four consecutive years and badminton and field hockey for two years.  She led an unbeaten basketball team (11-0-2) in scoring as a senior, and she was a two-year leading hitter and top pitcher in softball.  Bowers was selected to the first women’s class to be inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

The Butler Hall of Fame was created in 1991 to provide a forum in which those who have brought honor and respect to Butler University and its athletic program could be acknowledged and permanently enshrined in Hinkle Fieldhouse.  Inductees have made exceptional contributions to the prestige of the University in the field of athletics, and continued to demonstrate in their lives the values imparted by athletics.  The Hall of Fame wall is located at the front entrance to Hinkle Fieldhouse.

(Justin Beasley pictured on main page.)