ABILENE – Jackie (Bucher) Washington, one of the best players in the history of ACU women's basketball, and former multi-sport athlete Paul Goad are among a group of five alumni to be inducted this fall into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame.
Other inductees include former golf standout Bill Steen and former football all-America Greg Stirman. Also being inducted into the Hall of Fame will be Dub Winkles, the 20th recipient of the LIfetime Achievement Award.
The Class of 2012 will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame during the annual festivities on Friday, Oct. 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the McCaleb Conference Center at the Hunter Welcome Center. Tickets can be purchased by calling 325-674-CATS or 325-674-2353.
With the addition of the five members of this year's class, the ACU Sports Hall of Fame now includes 153 men and women. With Washington's induction, the hall now has 20 former ACU?female student-athletes among its membership, along with two other women as Lifetime Achievement Award recipients.
Washington transferred to ACU from Cal State-Fullerton prior to the 1997-98 season and had an immediate impact, averaging 17.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game before a knee injury 10 games into the season cost her the rest of the campaign. She made up for the lost time over her final two seasons, however, as she led the Wildcat to the Lone Star Conference title and a trip to the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament in 1998-99.
As a senior in 1999-2000, Bucher was first team all-LSC, first team NCAA Division II all-South Central Region, first team academic all-LSC, was named the Texas state winner of the Honda NCAA Woman of the Year award and was named an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship winner. She shot 69.4 percent from the field that season, the top percentage in all of women's college basketball and second only to North Carolina center Brendan Haywood in all of NCAA basketball.
Washington – who is married to current Texas women's basketball assistant coach George Washington – recorded 14 double-doubles as a senior and 29 in her career and finished her three seasons as the 11th-leading scorer in ACU history (1,357 points) and 12th all-time leading rebounder (620 rebounds).
Her junior season might have been her most dominant as she averaged 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds and led the Wildcats to a 24-7 record, the LSC regular-season and post-season tournament titles and a spot in the regional tournament. That year she was named all-tournament at the Disney Division II Tipoff Classic, all-tournament at the ACU Classic, MVP of the LSC South Division, academic all-LSC, MVP of the LSC Post-Season Tournament, Daktronics first team all-region, Daktronics honorable mention all-America, Kodak/WBCA honorable mention all-America and Division II Bulletin honorable mention all-America.
Goad was a three-sport at ACU in the mid-1950s whose name is on the award that is given to the top male and female athletes of the year at ACU. That award has been handed out to ACU student-athletes since Goad's death in November 1978.
Goad lettered in football, baseball and track and field for the Wildcats after transferring to ACU after his freshman campaign at Vanderbilt. He won the Texas Conference title in the shot put in 1954, and he was a member of ACU's NAIA national championship track and field teams in 1954 and 1955.
Goad was ACU's leading rusher and scorer in 1954, and in 1955 he was third team all-America. He went on to play professionally for one season (1956) with the San Francisco 49ers after being selected by the team in the 25th round of the 1956 draft.
The university established an annual award in memory of Goad in April 1979 for the most outstanding male and female athletes each year at ACU. Football player and ACU Hall of Fame member Kelly Kent and former volleyball standout Kathy (Williams) Moore were the first recipients of the award.
Stirman was a four-time all-LSC selection and an academic all-America selection during his Wildcat career. During his career, the tight end was one of the Wildcats' leading receivers, helping carry the Wildcats to the 1973 NAIA Division I national championship alongside running back Wilbert Montgomery and quarterback Clint Longley, among others.
Stirman started 42 straight games for the Wildcats before a knee injury in the eighth game of his senior season in 1975 effectively ended his career. Stirman finished his career as the ninth all-time leading receiver in LSC history. He still ranks 10th in ACU history with 1,934 receiving yards and fifth with 125 career catches.
Stirman was a first team all-LSC selection in 1973 and was a second team pick in 1974, 1975 and 1976. He was an academic all-LSC selection in each of those seasons and served as team captain in 1974. He was a first team academic all-America in 1974 and was a second team academic all-America pick in both 1973 and 1975.
He recorded three 100-yard receiving days in his career, none bigger, however, than on Oct. 23, 1976, when he caught nine passes for 202 yards as his teammate and fellow ACU Hall of Famer, Jim Reese, threw for an ACU record 564 yards in a win over Angelo State.
Steen transferred to ACU from SMU prior to the 1985-86 season. As a freshman in 1984-85, Steen was the No. 2 player for the Mustangs.
Steen was a first team NCAA Division II all-America performer in 1989 after helping the Wildcats to a sixth-place team finish in their third straight appearance in the national tournament. Steen shot rounds of 74-76-77-76 to finish 10th in the individual standings in the tournament, which was played that year at Lake View Country Club in Erie, Pa.
Steen, a two-time all-LSC player, finished third in the LSC Tournament medalist standings as a senior in 1989 to help then-head coach Vince Jarrett's team win its fifth straight league championship. He was also the medalist at the 32nd annual Abilene Intercollegiate tournament in the spring of 1989. Steen was also named the program's Most Outstanding Performer as a senior in 1989.
As a junior in 1988, Steen finished fourth in the individual standings at the LSC Tournament to earn all-conference honors. He was also a first team all-District VI-VII selection that season.
As a sophomore in 1987 he finished sixth at the LSC Tournament to earn second team all-conference honors and helping ACU win the conference championship.
Winkles and his family are long-time supporters of ACU athletics. Winkles worked at ACU for 20 years, joining the staff in 1968 as the director of recreation when ACU's McGlothlin Campus Center first opened.
Over the year he supervised auxiliary enterprises in the Campus Center, including the post office, bookstore, cafeteria and recreation center. He previously taught and coach at the junior high level for seven years before joining the ACU staff. He retired at the end of the 1986-87 school year.
A veteran of the United States Army Air Corps, Winkles was a tail gunner on a B-25 bomber during World War II. He and his crew flew 40 missions against the Nazis over war-torn Europe.
A graduate of Abilene High School, Winkles returned to Abilene after the war's end and was an all-Texas Conference basketball player in 1946 under then-head coach A.B. Morris. He graduated from ACU in 1948. He earned his master's from Hardin-Simmons University in 1953.
All three of Winkles' children – Susan (Winkles) Lindsey, Sara (Winkles) Bass and Shane Winkles – attended ACU. Susan (Winkles) Lindsey was married to former ACU quarterback and Sports Hall of Fame member Jim Lindsey.
Dub Winkles and his wife, Fran – who recently celebrated their 65th anniversary – have been long-time supporters of ACU athletics and its student-athletes. He is the 20th recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
