Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/22/14
From Press Release
Philadelphia University recently inducted lacrosse standout Nancy Wills among its 18th class of the Athletics Hall of Fame in a sold out Tuttleman Auditorium.
Wills (nee Baksis) played for the women’s lacrosse team from 1990 to 1993. She is the leading scorer in program history with over 300 points, including more than 250 goals. In 1992, she scored 52 goals and finished the season with 63 points. Her 52 goals are ranked 10th on the single season list. Wills took the field for the field hockey team in 1993 and racked up 21 points (eight goals, five assists). She is sixth for assists in a season, eighth in goals in a season, and 10th in points in a season.
The 2014 Athletics Hall of Fame Class also consists of the 1985-86 women’s basketball team, Gary Kraus (baseball), and Brian Lee. Women’s basketball player Tammy Greene became the second Philadelphia University athlete to have their jersey retired–joining Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Herb Magee in the elite club.
The 1985-86 women’s basketball team—the third team to earn induction into the Hall of Fame—is the most successful team in the program’s 40-year history. Under the direction of head coach Julie Soriero, the Rams posted a 24-6 overall record and reached the final four of the 1986 NCAA Division II Tournament. Led by first team All-American Vincene Morris—a 1994 Philadelphia University Hall of Fame inductee—and honorable mention All-American Jill Burkert, Philadelphia defeated Slippery Rock 73-60 in the opening round and knocked off Central Connecticut 84-66 to win the East Region title. In the final four, Textile lost to North Dakota State 77-61. The Rams were named the ECAC Division II Women’s Team of the Year.
The other two teams in the Hall of Fame are the 1969-70 men’s basketball team and the 1957-58 men’s basketball team.
Kraus was an outfielder on the Rams’ baseball team from 1986 to 1989. He is ranked in the school’s top ten in four major offensive categories: career runs (2nd, 150), career hits (4th, 223), career triples (5th, 11), and runs batted in (8th, 111). In 1987, Kraus recorded seven triples, the third-highest single season total in program history. Two seasons later, he posted a .419 average and 65 hits, seventh most in a single season.
Lee—who is receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award—is a 1994 graduate of Philadelphia University and played baseball for two years and basketball for one season. He is currently the head of global basketball operations for Reebok. In 2006, Lee brought the Reebok Breakout Classic, a summer camp where the top 100 high school basketball players from across the United States compete in front of Division I coaches during the NCAA live period, to Philadelphia University’s Gallagher Athletic, Recreation, and Convocation. Philadelphia University has played host to the Classic every year—expect in 2010 when there was no Classic. In the mid-90s, Lee worked at Philadelphia University for six years as an admissions coordinator.
A stand-out guard from 1990 to 1994, Greene–a 1999 Philadelphia University Athletics Hall of Fame inductee–is the school’s all-time leading scorer (men and women) with 2,490 points. She also has a program-best 442 steals at 442 and ranks sixth all-time in assists with 403. As a senior, Greene was tabbed as the 1994 National Player of the Year and the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference MVP. In 1993, she was named Kodak All-America honorable mention. Greene was selected to the American Women in Sports Federation (AWSF) All-American second team, ECAC first team, and the Mid-East Conference MVP as a sophomore. She was named Freshman All-American by the AWSF, All-Conference ECAC first team, and the Mid-East Conference Rookie of the Year as a freshman.
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