6/27/2017

Salinas Valley Hall of Fame

 Nine new members and one team will be enshrined on Aug. 26 into the Salinas Valley Hall of Fame.
 Headlining the list is former NFL offensive guard Carl Nicks, a two-time pro bowler and Super Bowl champion for the New Orleans Saints.
 The highest paid guard in the NFL in 2014, Nicks prepped at North Salinas and played one year for Hartnell College.
 Bob Burlison, who left Palma as its all-time leading scorer in 1974, and earned all conference honors at Hartnell College and San Diego State, will also be inducted.
 Burlison returned to Palma as a coach and took them to the county's first state divisional basketball title in 1992. He later coached CSU-Monterey Bay to its first conference crown in 2001.
 Recently hired Stanford baseball coach Dave Esquer is also being enshrined. Esquer was a three-sport standout and team MVP in football, basketball and baseball at Palma.
 He was the shortstop on Stanford's national title team in 1987 and spent 18 seasons as Cal's baseball coach, guiding them to the College World Series in 2011.
 Alisal High grad Jose Celaya is being inducted after winning over 100 fights as a boxer, earning the NABO welterweight title in 2002, and being ranked No. 1 in the world at 147 pounds.
 Former Alisal and Alvarez boys basketball coach Jim Rear earned a plaque on the wall of the hall after winning nearly 400 games, earning eight league titles and 17 postseason appearances.
 Ellen Wilson is being inducted, earning spots on two USA Olympic teams in judo. The Notre Dame product was a Pam American gold medalist in 1999 and five-time US National Champion.
 Salinas grad Ernie Reyes was selected to the hall, winning the USA National Tae Kwon Do title, as was Johnny Schneider for winning four world titles in rodeo in 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932.
 Salinas High icon Herbert Smith was recognized as a running back, scoring the winning touchdown in St. Mary's win over Texas Tech in the 1939 Cotton Bowl. He was drafted by the Cleveland Rams.
 Notre Dame's 1978 girls basketball team is going into the Hall of Fame after going 26-2, finishing third in the state finals when there were no divisions.

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