By Chuck Pool
RiceOwls.com
The Rice Athletics Hall of Fame will welcome its largest class of inductees since 1973 when 11 are inducted Oct. 1 at The Westin Houston Medical Center.
The class is comprised of 10 athletes — Ivory Angello, Steve Campbell, Chase Clement, Larry Izzo, Jessica Kuster, Tracey Lam, Brad Lardon, Mario Ramos, Krystal Robinson and Cory Teague — and former women's tennis coach Paul Blankenship. The "R" Association will also honor former student athletes John Coles and Elle Lewis-Anderson with the Distinguished "R" Award, while Roger Tower, a tireless supporter of the Owls, will be presented the Honorary "R "Award.
Induction activities will continue the following afternoon with a pregame tailgate prior the Rice-University of Southern Mississippi football game, and the class will be honored on the field during the game.
For additional information regarding the 2021 Rice Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, contact the Owl Club at 713-348-8425 or riceowlclub@rice.edu.
Ivory Angello '96
Angello was one of the best jumpers in Rice history, as evidenced by his five conference titles and three All-American performances. After winning the Southwest Conference (SWC) indoor triple jump title in 1993, Angello swept both the indoor and outdoor triple jump competitions in 1994 and 1995.
Angello placed second at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 1994 and was fifth in 1995. He would later add All-American honors for the first time in his outdoor career in the spring of 1995 with a fourth-place result at nationals.
Angello still holds school records in the triple jump — both indoors (16.67 meters/54 feet, 8.25 inches) and outdoors (17.10/56-1.25), which were established in 1995 — and was given the Emmett Brunson Award his senior year. He also qualified for the 1996 Olympic Trials.
Paul Blankenship
Blankenship's impact on Rice women's tennis was immediate and legendary. He came to Rice in the fall of 1981 to take over the fledgling program and over 20 seasons compiled the most dual victories for any tennis coach (men's or women's) in school history, compiling a 279-169 record. In his initial season, he immediately vaulted Rice into the national conversation, leading the Owls to a school-record 25 wins and guiding Tracie Blumentritt and Susan Rudd to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national doubles title. In 1983, the Owls were 20-3, setting a school record for winning percentage (.869) and rising to as high as 19th in the national poll.
Blankenship led Rice to the NCAA championships in four consecutive seasons (1996-1999) and saw the Owls host the NCAA Southwest Regional at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium in 1997. Blumentritt and Rudd were joined by Wendy Wood in 1985 and '86 as All-Americans under Blankenship. In addition, he produced three SWC doubles champions and two singles champs and was the SWC Coach of the Year in 1994 after the Owls finished second in the conference.
His record of sustained excellence was not limited to the courts. Over his career, he saw 92% of his players complete their careers on South Main with a 100% graduation rate.
Steve Campbell '92
Campbell came to Rice as a high school All-American tennis player and left Rice as the 15th Owl to earn All-American status at the collegiate level. He compiled a 110-38 record in singles over four seasons, led the Owls to a top 25 national ranking each year and was a three-time All-SWC selection. He made an immediate impact as a freshman, winning the SWC No. 4 singles title by winning six of seven matches. As a senior, he rose to as high as No. 4 in the national singles rankings before ending the year ranked 18th, which allowed him to become the Owls' first All-American in singles in more than two decades.
After completing his collegiate career, he played for 10 years on the ATP Tour, reaching a high of No. 78 in the rankings.
Chase Clement '08
While Clement came to Rice as a lightly recruited quarterback prospect out of San Antonio to play in Ken Hatfield's triple option offense, he would end his career as one of the most productive passing quarterbacks in college football history. Clement smashed 21 school records, six conference records and two NCAA records while leading the Owls to a pair bowl games and the second 10-win season in school history. Clement amassed 11,526 yards of total offense and produced 125 touchdowns, throwing for 9,785 yards and 99 touchdowns, rushing for 1,741 yards and 25 touchdowns and catching a pair of passes for 22 yards and one touchdown.
As a senior, he became the first Owl since Trevor Cobb to be named conference MVP after throwing for 4,119 yards and 44 touchdowns and rushing for 693 yards and 12 scores as the Owls finished second in Conference USA's Western Division with a win over Houston for the Bayou Bucket to close the regular season. He capped his career by earning MVP honors in the Texas Bowl, throwing for 307 yards and three touchdowns, rushing for 72 yards and a score and catching his first career TD pass, a 13-yard toss from Jarett Dillard. Clement threw Dillard 51 of his NCAA-record 60 career touchdown receptions, setting an NCAA mark for most career touchdowns by the same duo. He was the first player in NCAA history to post consecutive games in which he rushed for at least 100 yards and threw for at least 300.
John Coles
A driving force behind the Hall of Fame dinners for many years, Coles was a basketball letterman who later served as a student assistant coach under Don Knodel during the Owls' run to the SWC title in 1970. He helped reshape the format of the dinner in 2009, producing keepsake videos for each inductee, and has produced over 50 for the past six ceremonies. He became a director of the "R" Association in 2007 and served as president in 2010.
His involvement with video began after graduation when he opened Champions Village Cinema in the mid 1970s. He served as vice president and director for the National Association of Independent Theater Owners before moving to a career in banking, first with Citizens National Bank in Bellaire and then 13 years at Hancock Whitney Bank.
His love for basketball never waned. He has been a member of four national senior championship teams with the "Ball Hawgs," as well as three others who reached the championship game. The team was inducted into the Texas Senior Games Hall of Fame in 2020.
Larry Izzo '96
Izzo's passion for football made him a standout both at Rice and later over 14 seasons in the NFL where he became one of top special teams players in league history. A two-time All-SWC selection at linebacker, Izzo remains Rice's career leader with 46 career tackles for loss and ranks fourth in school history with 301 tackles. As a senior captain, he had 121 tackles as the Owls earned a share of the 1994 SWC title in a season in which they defeated Texas on a memorable Sunday night at Rice Stadium.
Originally selected for induction into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005, Izzo delayed his induction while continuing his NFL career. As an undrafted free agent with the Miami Dolphins in 1996, he made such an impact during training camp that head coach Jimmy Johnson said only two players were guaranteed to make the team — future Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino and Izzo. He never played on a team with a losing record and his teams participated in the playoffs nine times, reaching five AFC championship games and four Super Bowls. His teammates selected him as a special teams captain nine times, including eight with the New England Patriots, and he was named to the Patriots All-Decade team for the 2000s. He concluded his career with 275 special teams tackles in 200 regular season games, and 23 more in 21 postseason games.
His 200 career games in the NFL are the most for any Rice player, as are his four Super Bowls. He won three Super Bowl rings as a player for the Patriots and added a fourth as a coach with the New York Giants. He is one of 22 people in NFL history to win a Super Bowl as both a player and coach.
Jessica Kuster '14
The all-time leading scorer (2,081 points) in Rice basketball history (women's or men's), Kuster will go down as one of the most talented players in school history. At the time of graduation, she was one of just 145 players in Division I history to eclipse 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Kuster set both Rice and Conference USA career records in double-doubles (67) and rebounds (1,376) and was the only player in league history to be named first-team All C-USA and C-USA All-Defensive Team in four consecutive seasons.
Kuster also holds the Rice career records in field goals (745) and free throws (550). She ranks third in career blocks (201) and is 10th in steals (167). An Associated Press All-America honorable mention selection her senior year, she was the first player in program history to earn C-USA Defensive Player of the Year honors (2013). In her first season at Rice, Kuster garnered C-USA Freshman of the Year, All-Freshman and All-Defensive honors.
Kuster is the only four-time recipient of the Hackerman Award (team MVP) in Rice history.
Tracy Lam '11
Lam established herself as one of the most dominant defensive players in the Owls volleyball program's history and still holds the Rice record for most career digs (2,399) and digs per set (5.24). The former walk-on played a key role in helping the Owls earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and was an integral part of the 2009 team that won the C-USA Tournament and advanced to the NCAAs for a second straight year.
The 2010 Joyce Pounds Hardy Award recipient was a two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American honorable mention honoree and twice earned a spot on the AVCA All-Region Team. She was named the C-USA Libero of the Year from 2008-10 and was a two-time All-C-USA first team selection. She led the Owls in digs in each of her four seasons and set the single-season school record of 698 in 2009. Lam also still holds the single-match school record with 39 digs.
In addition to her on-court accolades, Lam was a three-time College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District awardee as well as a three-time C-USA All-Academic Team selection.
Brad Lardon '88
After graduating from Rice in 1988, Lardon became the first and only Rice golfer to earn his PGA Tour card, participating on the tour for six years. Additionally, he was a member of the Ben Hogan/Korn Ferry Tour for six years. Lardon has qualified for 14 major championships in his career, most recently last year's Senior PGA Championship.
Lardon is one of just four golfers in Texas history to win the Texas State Open in consecutive years, joining the likes of Lee Trevino and Ben Crenshaw. For over 15 years, he has served as a PGA Tour Professional, the last five as the director of golf at the Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the 2011 PGA Cup, Lardon secured the winning point for the United States against Great Britain and Ireland.
Lardon has served as a board member for the Southern Texas and Sun Country PGA and is currently on the PGA of America National Tournament Committee. Lardon was named the Southern Texas PGA Player of the Year multiple times and won the Sun Country Senior Player of the Year award four consecutive years. In 2016, he was honored as the PGA National Senior Player of the Year.
Elle Anderson
Anderson has proven to be the model for all Rice letterwinners to emulate. On the tennis court, she was ranked in the top 50 in the nation three times. She was a three-time All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and All-WAC academic selection and qualified for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association regionals four times. Twice in her career she helped lead the Owls to the NCAA Tournament, and her 87 wins ranked fifth on the Rice singles list when she finished her career.
An O-Week coordinator while at Rice, Anderson has remained involved with campus activities since graduation. She has chaired her class's 10th, 15th and 20th reunions, served on the Rice Engineering Advisory Board and was recently appointed to a term on the Rice Board of Trustees. She also founded her own engineering firm and has been highly involved in the Houston community through volunteering at her children's school and with Tropical Storm Allison recovery, among other efforts.
Mario Ramos '00
While college baseball hitters of the late 1990s enjoyed blasting compacted baseballs with lively bats to light up scoreboards with record home runs and sky-high batting averages, they had a different fate when facing Rice All-American and national pitcher of the year Ramos. The Owl left-hander posted three consecutive record-setting seasons on the mound from 1997-1999, arguably the best three-year stretch the Rice baseball program had enjoyed to that time.
Ramos completed his most successful season on the mound in 1999 with a superb 13-2 record and 2.47 ERA. He went 6-0 in conference games with a microscopic 1.99 ERA. The Pflugerville, Texas, native set Rice single-season records of 153 1/3 innings and 146 strikeouts. For his career he posted a 34-7 record while pitching the most innings in Rice history (376). In 1999 Ramos was the heart and soul of the Owls' pitching staff that sparked the team to an eye-opening 59 wins and return to the College World Series. He was selected in the sixth round of the Major League Baseball Draft and won a game in the majors while pitching for the Texas Rangers.
Krystal Robinson '06
Robinson established herself as one of Rice's all-time greats in the discus, twice earning All-American honors. Robinson placed fourth at the NCAA Championships in 2005 and backed that up with a third-place performance in 2006.
Robinson also won the WAC discus championship in both 2005 and 2006, and in her senior season she established a school record in the event with a mark of 55.94 meters (183 feet, 6 inches) that still holds today. In addition to the discus, Robinson ranks eighth all-time in the hammer throw (48.80/160-1).
Robinson was awarded the Eva Jean Lee Award, given to the most outstanding women's track & field athlete, in both 2005 and 2006.
Cory Teague '98
Two-time All-American Teague scored for the Rice swim team at both the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Championships. She set a school record in the 100 butterfly (54.30 seconds) in finishing seventh overall at the 1997 NCAAs in Indianapolis, and set the Rice record in the 50 freestyle (22.91) in the national prelims that same year.
Originally from Foster City, California, Teague became the first Rice woman to win an individual conference championship, registering first-place finishes in both the 50 free and 100 fly at the 1997 WAC Championships. The versatile star also set school records in the 100 free (50.89) and 100 backstroke (55.95) at the WAC meet, and each of her four individual Rice records remained in the ledgers as some of the program's best marks for more than a decade.
The two-time Catherine Hannah Award recipient as the Rice swimmer of the year (1997-1998) joined her Owl teammates as a record-holder on all five relays. In her impressive collegiate career, Teague represented Rice in no less than nine NCAA events.
Roger Tower
Born in Denver to a military father, Tower lived all over the country and world before settling down in Houston in the 1970s, where he worked in environmental compliance in the Texas Gulf Coast area for over 25 years prior to his retirement in 2000. Not long after coming to Houston, he became an ardent supporter of Rice Athletics.
Since his retirement, he has attended almost every Rice Athletics event and holds season tickets for nearly every sport possible. For years, Tower has been recapping baseball preseason scrimmages, printing stat sheets to give to fans as well as posting the lineups on the lineup board at Reckling Park prior to first pitch. He was presented the R Association's Spirit Award at the 2009-2010 Night of the Owl event.