UNM Hall of Honor to induct new members
Coach, athletes of year also to be honored Oct. 14
The University of New Mexico Alumni Lettermen’s Association announced Friday that Ray Birmingham, Joellyn Erdmann Crooks, Hunter Greene, Clarence Robinson and the 2002-2003 UNM women’s basketball team will be inducted into the UNM Athletic Hall of Honor. In addition, Jerry Buckner and George Scott will be inducted as the 2021 Distinguished Service Award winners.
Along with the honorees, the 2020-21 Coach of the Year Heather Dyche (soccer), Female Athlete of the Year Gwen Maly (soccer) and Male Athlete of the Year Sam Choi (golf) will be honored.
The public can attend the awards dinner, which will be held Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. at the Events Center at Sandia Golf Club. Tickets are $60 each or $600 for a table of 10. Call the UNM Alumni Lettermen’s Association at 925-5905 to purchase tickets.
Birmingham retired as Lobos baseball coach following the 2021 season, ending a 43-year coaching career. He led UNM to four Mountain West regular-season and three tournament titles, five NCAA regional appearances, and led the ongoing development and execution of the $3.65 million expansion of Santa Ana Star Field, home of the Lobos. He was inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
Erdmann Crooks won Western Athletic Conference women’s golf titles in 1995 and 1996, was a four-time all-league selection and played on the LPGA and Futures tours.
Basketball player Greene led the 1986-87 team in scoring (21.1 points, 35 games) and is the only Lobo ever to surpass 1,500 points, 600 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals. He is a color commentator for UNM men’s games.
Robinson won NCAA outdoor championships in the long jump and triple-jump. He was a two-event track and field All-American in 1965, ranked nationally from 1963-1967 in both the long jump and triple jump, and was a 1985 inductee into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. He and Buckner are being inducted posthumously.
Buckner was killed in a bus crash Sept. 30 in Texas at age 71. He was a three-time UNM football letterman and drove charter buses for UNM athletics for more than 20 years.
Scott was a junior college men’s basketball AllAmerican at College of Southern Idaho before playing two years with the Lobos. An Albuquerque resident, he is a board member of the UNM Alumni Lettermen’s Association and lead volunteer for Lobo Basketball Alumni group.
The 2002-03 women’s basketball team is the only team in school history to reach the Sweet 16. Led by league assists leader Mandi Moore and league blocked shots leader Jordan Adams, UNM went 24-9, won the Mountain West tournament title and had a win over nationally ranked Texas.