Past Billiken greats left their mark on Saint Louis University years ago. And their legends live on today.
Last Friday at the Missouri Athletic Club, the faces of old returned for the 2001 Billiken Hall of Fame Dinner.
The Billiken Club, SLU’s athletic booster organization, sponsors the event each year. The glory days were revisited, as nine new members and one team were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Some were honored for their athletic accomplishments, while others were recognized for their lifelong commitment to SLU. All have had a profound impact in promoting the University.
“All these people have done something to further SLU’s national reputation,” said Bill McDermott, the event’s master of ceremonies and the chairman of the Hall of Fame subcommittee. “They have lived out the Jesuit credo of sound mind, sound body.”
Honored first as a Billiken Great Pioneer, Al Serkin epitomized old school basketball. A strong-rebounding center from 1955-57, Serkin helped the Bills reach the NIT and NCAA Tournaments in his career.
Serkin garnered second-team All-Conference honors as a senior, following a stellar junior campaign in which he scored 10.6 points per game and grabbed 14 rebounds per outing.
In the Billiken Great Contemporary category, Erwin Claggett, Dennis Hadican, Scott Highmark and H Waldman were recognized.
Claggett, Highmark and Waldman were standouts in basketball from 1992-95. Claggett, the “Venice Menace,” scored 1,910 points, making him the second-leading scorer in Billiken history and all-time leading scorer in the Great Midwest Conference. He helped the Bills to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 1994 and 1995.
Highmark’s 1,663 career points rank him the fifth highest scorer in Billiken history. He currently is a financial analyst at A.G. Edwards. In his two seasons with the Bills, Waldman appeared on the league’s All-Tournament team and shared team MVP honors with Claggett and Highmark.
Hadican starred for the soccer squad between 1970-73 and appeared in four national championships, winning three. Known as a “big game” player, Hadican is the only player in NCAA Tournament history to notch a point in four national championship games.
Robert Hyland was enshrined as a Distinguished Alum Pioneer. After playing baseball for the Bills from 1938-40, Hyland went on to become one of St. Louis’ most influential people. As a senior vice president of CBS Radio he helped make KMOX into “The Voice of St. Louis.”
Jack Buck, George Hoffmann and John O’Brien were given the Bauman Sportsmanship Award, based on their commitment to SLU athletics. Buck’s accomplishments as a broadcaster are legendary. In 48 years behind the mike, he has covered Billiken basketball, the St. Louis Cardinals, Monday Night Football, the World Series and the Super Bowl.
Known for his witty comments, Buck’s statement Friday after Charlie Spoonhour spoke was classic: “There are three people in the country that can talk: Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson and Charlie Spoonhour.”
Hoffmann has been an avid supporter of Billiken athletics over the years as the president of the Tip-Off Club and as an active member of the Billiken Club. O’Brien served as the women’s basketball coach from 1976-89 and ended with a 177-146 record.
The 1977 women’s swim team was the first Billiken women’s program to compete at the national level. Nora McLaughlin, Anne Stolwyk, Linda Geil, Karen Edgar and Margaret Kinsella played a major role in advancing women’s sports at SLU. After the 1972 inception of Title IX, these women had few amenities, poor pool conditions, and even had to swim against men. Nevertheless, they endured and are pioneers for current women athletes at SLU.
