Women's Volleyball
2
DANIELLE SCOTT
A three-time AVCA All-American, middle blocker Danielle Scott capped her senior campaign by being named the AVCA Player of the Year (1993), leading The Beach to their second NCAA title. Scott led Long Beach State to three straight Final Fours over her four seasons (1990-1993), ranking second all-time in kills (1778). She set four single-season attack percentage marks, highlighted by a record .452 clip in 1992. Her hitting percentage of .421 ended up as the second-highest in NCAA history. In January, 2001, she was named along with former 49ers Tara Cross-Battle and Misty May as three of the six greatest collegiate players of all-time. Scott also excelled in two other sports-- earning first team All-Big West honors in basketball after a 17.4 points per game and league-best 10.4 rebounds per game average in 1993-94; while competing in the high jump, long jump, triple jump and 4x100-meter relay team at the Big West Championships.
5
MISTY MAY
Can you say one of the best women's collegiate volleyball player of all-time? Misty May closed out a fabulous four-year career (1995-1998) by capturing every honor available in leading the 49ers to volleyball's first undefeated season (36-0). and third National Championship. She capped the season by winning the 1998-99 Honda Broderick Cup. A two-time AVCA Player of the Year at setter, and three-time Big West Player of the Year, May quarterbacked back-to-back Final Four squads in 1997 and 1998. May etched her named second all-time in assists (5045) and aces (160), and third in digs (1277). In her final collegiate game,she notched nine kills, 70 assists and 11 digs. In January, 2001, she was named along with former 49ers Tara Cross-Battle and Danielle Scott as three of the six greatest collegiate players of all-time by the NCAA.
7
ANTOINNETTE WHITE
Antoinnette White aced her way into 49er history by capping off her senior season, in 1991, with AVCA Player of the Year honors, as The Beach played in the NCAA title match. A two-time first team All-Big West selection and the 1991 Big West Player of the Year, White was named a second team All-American in 1991. In just three seasons (1989-1991), White tallied the third-most kills in 49er history (1717) and the second-best ace total (208). Her 1052 digs ranked sixth-best in 49er history. Her 91 aces in 1990 are still a school-record. White was a member of the 49ers' first national championship team in 1989.
14
TARA CROSS
A four-time All-American (1986-1989) and two-time AVCA Player of the Year (1988, 1989), Cross put 49er volleyball on the map in the late 1980's. She broke nearly every Long Beach State record in her career in leading LBSU to its first title in 1989.Cross concluded her career with the LBSU record and the third-most kills in NCAA history (2767),and the most digs in LBSU history (1578). She set the top three single-season kill marks, highlighted by a remarkable 779 during her senior season. Her career hitting percentage of .344 was the seventh-best in LBSU history. Cross set an NCAA Tournament record with 126 kills during the 1989 NCAA title run. In January, 2001, she was named along with former 49ers Misty May and Danielle Scott as three of the six greatest collegiate players of all-time.
Women's Basketball
4
PENNY TOLER
Toler played on both Final Four teams in 1987 and 1988, also earning All-America honors during each of those seasons. Toler is one of just three players to score over 2000 points (2193) while averaging 21.7 points per game from 1986 to 1989. Toler also racked up a school-record 513 assists, tallying a school-record 237 in 1986-87. Toler was a two-time conference player of the year, earning the honor following the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Toler, the general manager of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks playd three seasons in the WNBA from 1997 to 1999. Long Beacch State retired her number on January 27, 2007.
15
LaTAUNYA POLLARD
A 1983 Wade Trophy award winner, Pollard set the standard for others to follow at The Beach. Pollard set the school-record for scoring, field goals and free throws made, and was second in rebounds and field goals shooting. Pollard was a two-time Kodak All-American, and the only Long Beach State to eclipse 3,000 points scored in her career. A two-time conference Player of the Year, her #15 jersey hangs in the rafters of the Walter Pyramid. Pollard was a member of the 1980 U.S. National team which boycotted the games. She played on three Regional Final teams.
53
CINDY BROWN
Brown played from 1983 to 1987 and was instrumental on the program's first Final Four team in 1987, earning All-America honors two times. The Pacific Coast Athletic Association Player of the Year in 1987 finished her career second all-time in career points (2696) and first in total rebounds (1184), blocks (318) and steals (400). Posting a career average of 21.0 points per game, she set the single-season scoring record with 974 points, second-highest in NCAA history, in 1986-87. Brown went on to earn a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics. Her number, along with Toler's, was retired on January 27, 2007.
Men's Basketball
20
GLENN MCDONALD
McDonald was a standout during his playing days at Long Beach State from 1971-74, and was a first-round pick in the 1974 NBA Draft. He spent his career with the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks, winning the 1976 NBA Championship as a member of the Celtics.After his playing days, McDonald transitioned into a career in coaching, and would eventually return to Long Beach State in December of 1986 as an assistant coach with the women’s basketball program. McDonald took over as head coach of the women’s team in 1991, replacing longtime coach Joan Bonvicini. He spent four seasons as head coach and would later became an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. McDonald recently retired from Long Beach State after serving as the Director of Intramural Sports at the Student Recreation & Wellness Center on campus. McDonald's number was retired on November 10, 2018.
30
LUCIOUS HARRIS
In the past 25 years of basketball, Lucious Harris has been the most visible player connected to the program. Harris is the 49ers career scoring leader at 2,312 points and he is also the career scoring leader in the Big West Conference. He was a two-time first team All-Big West selection and led the team in scoring four consecutive years. As a senior in the 1992-93 season, he averaged 23.1 points per game and scored a school-record 739 points. Harris was a second team all-league pick in 1990, was the Big West Freshman of the Year in 1990 and he was named MVP of the 1993 Big West Tournament, leading the Beach to the championship.Drafted in the second round (28th pick overall) of the 1993 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, Harris 12 years in the NBA for Dallas, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. He finished his career in 2004-05 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played in a total of 800 career NBA games, scoring 5,784 career points, 1,864 rebounds, 1,130 assists and 556 steals. His jersey was retired February 3, 2007.
32
BYRON RUSSELL
Bryon Russell played three seasons at The Beach and finished his career with 1,003 points, one of just 17 players in school history to score 1,000 career points. Russell, who played for the 49ers from 1990-1993, ranks among the school's all-time leaders in four separate career statistical categories. Even more impressively, he was a two-time All-Big West Tournament selection and led The Beach to the NIT in 1992 and the NCAA Tournament in 1993. He was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. After leaving Long Beach State, Russell was selected in the second round of the 1993 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. He spent the next 12 seasons in the NBA, the first nine of those with the Jazz. He finished his professional career averaging 7.9 points and 3.5 rebounds, while improving those numbers to 9.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 105 career playoff games. Russell helped the Jazz to the Western Conference championship twice, in 1997 and 1998, and a spot in the NBA Finals. He is listed as one of the 20 all-time greatest Jazz players by nbahoopsonline.com.
42
ED RATLEFF
A two-time consensus All-American at a time when only 12 players in NCAA history had been so honored, Ratleff led the 49ers to PCAA titles and NCAA playoff appearances in 1971, 1972, and 1973. Long Beach State went 74-12 during the Ratleff era. He finished his three-year career as the school's all-time scoring, rebounding and assist leader. All of those records have since been broken, each by a different player, each playing four seasons. Ratleff was a co-captain on the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team, which lost a controversial title game to Russia, before playing six seasons with Houston of the NBA.
Men's Volleyball
7
BRENT HILLIARD
A 1992 National Player of the Year, a three-time first team All-American and a member the program's first national championship team in 1991, Hilliard re-wrote the record book. From 1990 to 1993, Hilliard pounded out 3,034 kills (1200 more than record holder Brett Winslow), averaged 7.1 kills per game in his career and tallied a record 132 aces. He also left the school in the top-five in career digs with 73. He also had a record 39 games with 30 or more kills and had double digit kills a record 110 times. When it was all said and done, each of his four seasons, had a kill total ranked in the top-four including a single-season record 821 in 1991. He is also the only player to top 50 kills in a match twice (both times a record 53).
15
BRETT WINSLOW
Winslow was a two-time first-team All-American. He was also a four-time All-WIVA selection, earning first-team honors in 1990 and 1991. He established school records with 111 solo blocks and 529 total blocks, which still stand as all-era career records at Long Beach State. In addition, Winslow ranks third in kills (1,813) and hitting percentage (.442), fifth in block assists (418) and sixth in digs (708). Winslow went on to play professionally overseas, while he was also a member of the U.S. Men's National Team. He played in several World Leagues, World Cups and Olympic qualification tournaments, and ultimately represented the United States at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Baseball
2
JOHN McCONNELL
John McConnell coached the first Long Beach State baseball team in 1954, and spent six seasons as the head coach trhough 1959. After going 3-13 in the program's first season, McConnell improved the team's record to 17-4 in his second season and went 18-6 the next year, never winning fewer than 16 games in every year after his first season. He finished his career with an 86-65 (.570) career record.
18
DAVE SNOW
The man who coined the term, "Dirtbags", for the style of play the Long Beach State baseball team played from 1989 to 2001, went 511-290-4 (.637), reaching four College World Series, and winning six Big West titles. LBSU reached the NCAA Regionals in 11 of his 13 seasons, as he was a five-time Big West Coach of the Year and the 1989 NCAA Coach of the Year. In 1989, his first year, the Dirtbags went from 14 wins in the year prior to his arrival, to 18-straight to open 1989 and a school-record 50-15 record. The Beach made the first of four College World Series (1989, 1991, 1993, 1998). He coached 102 professional players including four first round picks as 13 players reached the Majors under his tutelage. He was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
21
MIKE WEATHERS
Coached the Dirtbags for nine seasons and posted a 311-213 overall record. The skipper won a pair of Big West titles with the Dirtbags in 2003 and 2008, and didn't finish lower than second in each of his first seven seasons while leading the program to six NCAA Regional Appearances. A two-time Big West Coach of the Year, Weathers coached over 20 future major leagues during his time at Long Beach State, including All-Stars Jered Weaver, Troy Tulowitzki, Evan Longoria and Jason Vargas. He managed the USA Collegiate National team in 2008 and had his number retired in 2017.
25
JOHN GONSALVES
Gonsalves spent 19 seasons as the head coach for the 49ers, going 462-634-16, winning the Pacific Coast Athletic Association title in 1970. He left the school as the all-time winingest coach in Long Beach State history. His best season came in 1979, when the team went 40-22-3 (.638) and 17-6-1 in conference play. Three other times, The Beach topped 30 wins, going 30-22-1 in 1971 and 1976 and 32-34-4 in 1984. His teams won at least 20 games in 13 of his 19 seasons.
36
JERED WEAVER
Jered Weaver dominating college competition at Blair Field is one of the enduring memories for most Dirtbags fans. During the 2004 season that saw Long Beach State advance to the NCAA Super Regionals, Weaver on two occasions struck out the first 10 batters he faced, and his 213 strikeouts that season still rank sixth in NCAA history for the most in one year. He started that season 14-0 and struck out 17 batters against Pacific, another Long Beach State record that still stands. At the conclusion of that spectacular campaign, Weaver was named the Golden Spikes Award winner as the National Player of the Year, and also won two other major awards, the 2004 Dick Howser Award and the 2004 Roger Clemens Award. Weaver was named the National Player of the Year in 2004 by the ABCA, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, and the NCBWA. The “Friday Knight” was more than just a one-year wonder. Weaver concluded his three-year Long Beach State career with eight first-team All-American selections, and his 55 games started, 37 games won, 370 innings pitched and 431 strikeouts are all still Long Beach State career records. He averaged over 10 strikeouts per nine innings and closed his career with a 2.43 ERA.
Women's Tennis
Court #1
HANNAH GRADY
The No. 1 court at Rhodes Tennis Center was renamed the Hannah Grady Court in honor of her outstanding career, recognizing her in a manner similar to a jersey retirement. Grady is the only Big West athlete in any sport to have been named the Big West Player of the Year for all four years of competition. She ended her career with 172 wins and reached highs in the rankings of No. 38 in singles and No. 31 in doubles. She was the first women's tennis player at LBSU to qualify for the NCAA Individual Tournament multiple times, being invited in 2006 and 2008 in singles and in 2006 for doubles. Playing No. 1 singles for all four years of her collegiate career, Grady posted a 42-1 career record in Big West singles. Long Beach State won the Big West championship all four years during Grady's career and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of those seasons. She led Long Beach State to its two highest rankings (No. 18 in 2006 and No. 25 in 2009) and the first postseason win for a Big West program, when the Beach defeated New Mexico in 2006.
