The Pierce College athletic department has put Pierce back in touch with its sports past.
Late last month at the Woodland Hills Country Club Athletic Director (AD) Bob Lofrano hosted the inaugural Hall of Fame class to a golf tournament and dinner.
This may not seem like that big of a deal, but with the names that were in attendance and that are now forever enshrined in Pierce athletic lore have great importance to our present and future.
People like Denny Crum, Marv Dunphy, Geri Fiorello, Mark Harmon, Erik Kramer, Bob Lyons, Ken “Big Daddy” Stanley and Barry Zito were among those inducted.
Most students today may not know who these people are, let alone their connection to Pierce.
Before Crum moved on to play guard on the UCLA basketball team under John Wooden and again to coach at UCLA then win two national titles while at Louisville, Crum was a star player and coach at Pierce.
After he served our country in Vietnam and studied for a year in Japan, Dunphy was a key person in the inception of the men’s volleyball program.
Harmon before he became an actor most recently on NCIS was the starting quarterback at Pierce.
Years before Kramer was playing for the Chicago Bears, he played here at Pierce.
Bob Lyons, the godfather of Pierce athletics, reinstated the men’s basketball program and started the women’s soccer program. That was after being the men’s baseball coach and coaching current AD Bob Lofrano. Lyons is still at Pierce today, as an instructor in the Business department.
The reason why the Hall of Fame is so significant is because of the link Pierce has now established to its illustrious sports past.
According to Sports Information Director Ralph Wesson, “Pierce was the place to be.”
And now people can see that by the names you can relate to Pierce.
You may not have known that Denny Crum got his start here, or that former major leaguers once sat in the same room as you.
But, Thanks to the efforts of Lofrano and the athletic department, students can now relate and be proud of our past here while we strive to improve our future.
(Cartoon by Anthony Gonzales-Clark / Roundup)