(Editor's note: University of Montana media release)
MISSOULA -- Two legendary players and one iconic coach from Montana’s storied athletics history will be part of the inaugural 14-member class of the new Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame (presented by Jimmy Johns).
Getting voted in with the first class were Shannon (Cate) Schweyen, Dave Dickenson and Robin Selvig, giving Montana the maximum number of inductees in the Hall of Fame’s debut group.
Schools were limited to one Hall of Famer from their history of female and male athletes, and their list of former coaches and administrators.
Idaho State and Northern Arizona also have three members in the inaugural class.
The official induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 14, in Boise on the final day of the Big Sky Conference basketball tournaments.
Cate and Dickenson were named the No. 1 athletes in Big Sky Conference history in 2014 when the league celebrated 50 years of men’s athletics and 25 years of women’s.
Cate, now the Lady Griz head coach, was on the 10-player Kodak All-America team following her senior year, 1991-92. She was a member of teams that went 103-18 and competed in four NCAA tournaments.
She was the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year in 1988-89, the MVP as a junior and senior. She was four times voted All-Big Sky Conference, three times named the conference tournament MVP
Cate finished her career with 2,172 points, at the time the most points ever scored by a men’s or women’s player in Big Sky history.
Dickenson, now the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last December.
The quarterback was a three-time All-American and three-time Academic All-American. He led Montana to the 1995 national championship and is one of two Griz football players to have their number retired.
He was voted the Walter Payton Award winner and a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete as a senior. He was three times voted first-team All-Big Sky, twice the Big Sky Offensive MVP.
Selvig, a former Griz basketball player, was hired to be Montana’s women’s basketball coach in the summer of 1978 at the age of 25. He retired in July 2016 with a career record of 865-286.
Over 38 years, his teams had 36 winning seasons and 31 20-win campaigns. The Lady Griz won 24 conference championships and 21 times advanced to the NCAA tournament, where they won six games.
Twenty-one times Selvig was voted by his peers as his conference’s coach of the year for putting Missoula on the women’s college basketball map. His teams went 511-61 (.893) at Dahlberg Arena.
The purpose of the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame is to perpetuate the memory of those who have brought distinction, honor and excellence to both the league and its institutional athletic programs.
2020 Big Sky Hall of Fame Class (Alphabetical Order)
Jared Allen – Idaho State, Football, 1993-96
Shannon (Cate) Schweyen – Montana, Women’s Basketball, 1988-92
Angela Chalmers – Northern Arizona, Women’s Track & Field, 1982-87
Dave Dickenson – Montana, Football, 1992-95
Stacy Dragila – Idaho State, Women’s Track & Field, 1993-96
Jack Friel – Big Sky Conference, Commissioner, 1963-71
John Friesz – Idaho, Football, 1986-89
Milton “Dubby” Holt – Idaho State, Track & Field/Administrator, 1963-79
Damian Lillard – Weber State, Men’s Basketball, 2008-12
Lopez Lomong – Northern Arizona, Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field, 2005-07
Ron Mann – Northern Arizona, Cross Country/Track & Field Coach, 1980-04
Ellie Rudy – Montana State, Women’s Track & Field, 2004-08
Robin Selvig – Montana, Women’s Basketball, 1978-2016
Jan Stenerud – Montana State, Football, 1964-66/Skiing, 1962-64
