March 9, 2006
NORFOLK, VA--In celebration of the 75th anniversary of Old Dominion University, Mark West ('83) and Kenny Gattison ('86) headline the 15-member all-time ODU men's basketball squad as voted on by fans on the ODU athletic website,announced today by the athletic department. In all, the squad includes 12 members of the ODU Sports Hall of Fame, 15 All-Americans, and four conference players of the year.
West, who will be inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame on April 22ndappeared on 65 of the 104 ballots, while Gattison, currently an assistant with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets was on 61 of the ballots. Rounding out the first team are:Odell Hodge ('97), Alex Loughton ('06), Petey Sessoms ('95), Dave Twardzik ('72), Ronnie McAdoo ('83), Leo Anthony ('61), Chris Gatling ('91), Oliver Purnell (`75), Frank Smith ('88), Wilson Washington ('77), Joel Copeland ('74), Ronnie Valentine ('80), and Joey Caruthers ('77).
A native of Petersburg, VA., Mark West earned honorable mention All-Americanhonors by the SPORTING NEWS in 1981 and the ASSOCIATED PRESS in 1982 and1983. As a freshman, he was named by BASKETBALL WEEKLY to its Freshman All-American squad in 1980. West led the nation in blocked shots twice and was a first teamAll-Sun Belt conference selection as a senior. West is ODU's all-time shot blocker with 446, second in career rebounds with 1,113 and in field goal percentage at .559. West enjoyed a 17-year NBA career and is now assistant general manager with the PhoenixSuns. He was inducted into the ODU Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.
Kenny Gattison, a two-time Sun Belt Conference All-Star and 1986 leaguePlayer of the Year, still holds the conference record with 963 career rebounds. Gattisonearned honorable mention All-American honors by the Associated Press in 1985 and1986. The 6-8 power forward is 10th on the ODU all-time scoring list with 1,623 pointsand fifth all-time in rebounding.
During his four years at ODU, the Monarchs advanced to two NIT and two NCAA tournaments and helped win the school's first NCAA Division tournament game in 1986, beating West Virginia. Gattison was inducted into the ODU sports Hall of Fame in 1991. He enjoyed a nine year NBA career, and was selected this year as part ofthe Sun Belt Conference All-Time basketball team.
Odell Hodge is only the fifth player in Virginia Division I basketball historyto earn over 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Hodge is ODU's third all-time scorer with 2,117 career points and third all-time rebounder with 1,086. The 6-10center was a two-time CAA Player of the Year and two-time CAA Tournament MVP. He was selected an ASSOCIATED PRESS Honorable Mention All-American in 1994 and 1997. Hodge, the former all-time scorer in Virginia Boys high school history, was inducted into the ODU Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Alex Loughton helped lead the revival of the ODU program the past four seasons.Loughton was the CAA's Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in 2005 as well asan AP honorable mention All-American, after ODU's memorable 28-6 season. He also got it done in the classroom earning ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American honors this year. He currently has 1,610 career points and 919 career rebounds.
Petey Sessoms, a native of Portsmouth, VA., helped lead the Monarchs to theCAA title in 1995 and the triple overtime upset win over third seed Villanova in theNCAA tournament in Albany, NY. Sessoms is ODU's fourth all-time scorer with1985 career points and 779 career rebounds. He was the CAA Player of the Year andtournament MVP in 1995 and is ODU's sixth all-time free throw shooter at .819.
Dave Twardzik helped put ODU on the map, leading the Monarchs to the 1971NCAA Division II title game. ODU's second all-time assist leader with 880, and eighthall-time scorer with 1660, Twardzik was a two-time College Division All-American,including a first team selection in 1972. He played four years in the ABA and four yearsin the NBA, leading the Portland Trailblazers to the 1977 world title. Twardzik iscurrently the assistant general manager with the Orlando Magic, and is an inductee in both the Virginia and ODU Sports Hall of Fames.
Chris Gatling played three seasons with the Monarchs and amassed 1,811 careerpoints and 859 career rebounds. He was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Yearin 1990 and 1991 and tournament MVP in 1991 after leading the Monarchs to the leaguefinal. He was ODU's first player ever selected in the NBA first round as the 16th overall selection by the Golden State Warriors, Gatling played 11 years in the NBA and was selected to the 1997 NBA All-Star game.
Ronnie McAdoo is ODU's seventh all-time scorer with 1,776 career pointsand fifth all-time rebounder at 953. As a freshman McAdoo scored 16 points and hauled in 16 rebounds In the Monarchs double-overtime NIT second round win at Clemson in 1979. He was inducted into the ODU Sporrts Hall of Fame in 1989.
Leo Anthony became the school's first little All-American in 1959. His career scoring average was 26.6 (2,181) which included 12, 30-point games. As a senior in 1961, he averaged 31.0 points per game. Anthony scored 60 points in a game against Lynchburg in 1961 and 48 against Elon in 1959. The 60 points is second all-time to Bob Pritchett's 67 against Richmond Professional Institute in 1968.
Joel Copeland still owns the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Region singlegame scoring mark of 44 points. The 6-7, two-time Division II All-American led ODU inrebounding three straight years and completed his career with 1657 career points and939 career rebounds.
Wilson Washington came on the scene in 1975 and helped lead ODU to theNCAA Division II national championship and in 1977 helped lead the Monarchs to25 wins and a berth in the NIT in its first NCAA Division I season. The 6-9 Washingtonhauled in 1,011 career rebounds and 1,366 career points. He had the highest careerrebounding average at 12.5 and is second in blocked shots with 364. He has the distinction as the only Monarch to earn All-American honors in Division II andDivision I. Washington played two years in the NBA.
Joey Caruthers was a major part of the Monarchs 1975 NCAA Division IIchampionship team, as well as helping to lead the school into the Division I rankstwo years later. The West Virginia native scored 1202 career points and dished out619 career assists as well as 188 career steals. Caruthers is currently a basketball referee.
Ronnie Valentine was simply a scoring machine. He was the first player in NCAAhistory to score in double figures for 101 straight during his career. The 6-7 Norfolk, Va.,native remains ODU's all-time scorer with 2,204 points and is sixth all-time in rebounding at 949. He earned honorable mention All-American honors by the ASSOCIATED PRESS in 1979 and 1980. As a senior, he helped lead ODU to its first NCAA Division I tournament.
Oliver Purnell led ODU to post season both as a player and a coach. Hewas the team captain for the 1975 NCAA Division II national championship team andsecond leading scorer. The Converse All-American then returned to lead his alma materto the 1992 CAA title and a berth in the NCAA tournament. Now the head coach atClemson, Purnell 1,090 career points and dished out 476 career assists. He still ownsthe schools single game steals mark of eight against Washington and Lee.
Frank Smith finished his career with 883 which at the time was third best inNCAA history. Smith was selected honorable mention All-American in 1988 by THESPORTING NEWS. In 120 career games, Smith averaged 7.4 assists and 2.5 stealsper game, ranking him in the nation's top ten three straight years. He also averaged38.5 minutes played per game, including 13 times playing 40 minutes.
Receiving honorable mention votes were: Ricardo Marsh ('03), Billy Mann ('83), Isaiah Hunter('06), Skip Noble ('71), Harry Knickerbocker ('57), Mike Jones ('95), Marion Carroll (`63), Keith Jackson ('93), Mark Poag ('99), Cal Bowdler ('99), Dick St. Clair ('70), Mark Davis ('85), Anthony Carver (`90), and Jeff Furhmann ('77).
The next all-time team to be selected will be women's basketball.