The latest additions to the Husky Hall of Fame include two athletes who have already had their numbers retired and raised at Hec Ed. One is basketball star Brandon Roy, who took the Huskies to three NCAA tournaments and was the sixth pick in the NBA draft (he now coaches at Garfield High School). The other is volleyball star Courtney Thompson, who led Washington to the 2005 national title and medaled at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
“It’s an incredible honor to be a part of this Hall of Fame Class,” Thompson said. “The relationships I made at UW with my teammates, my coaches, and the rest of the University staff has made me want to be a better person since the first day I stepped on campus.”
The list is full of other well-deserving inductees. Chris Gobrecht coached the women’s basketball team to nine NCAA tournaments. Mark Brunell helped quarterback the Huskies to three consecutive Rose Bowls. Chad Ward won the Pac-10 2000 Morris Trophy. Brock Mackenzie was a three-time All-American golfer. The 1984-85 women’s eight-oar crews each won national titles, with stroke Chris Campbell making the 1988 Olympics. Finally, Danielle Lawrie pitched the UW to the national softball championship in 2009. “It means that I’m one lucky lady,” she said.
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Danielle Lawrie pitched the UW to the national softball championship in 2009, a year after competing in the Olympics. She went 42-8 with 521 strikeouts in that season, winning a total of 136 games at the UW including four perfect games—three in one season!
She still visits the UW softball team often and helps the players. “She gives us encouraging words of what it’s like to be in that environment and ultimately winning a national championship,” first baseman Kirstyn Thomas said.
So no wonder Lawrie is being inducted into the 2018 Husky Hall of Fame.
“It means that I’m one lucky lady,” Lawrie said. “Obviously this is a personal accolade but there are so many people who have influenced me and allowed for this to even happen to me. This one’s for them. Without family, teammates and my coaches this isn’t possible.”
Two of Lawrie’s fellow inductees are so notable that they have already had their jersey numbers retired and raised to the rafters at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. One is basketball star Brandon Roy, who led the Huskies to three NCAA tournaments, was a consensus All-America in 2006 and scored 1,477 career points at the UW. He was the sixth pick in the 2006 NBA draft and the rookie of the year his first season with the Portland Trail Blazers, though his pro career ended five years later due to bad knees. But he didn’t give up basketball. He went on to coach Nathan Hale to the state championship in his first year there and earned the Naismith National High School Coach of the Year award. He now coaches at Garfield.
Courtney Thompson’s number also hangs at Hec Ed. The volleyball star is part of the 2018 Hall of Fame Class as well, in large part to being the key player who took the Huskies to the 2005 national title as well as the 2004 and 2006 semi-finals. She also went on to win silver and bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, as well as a gold at the 2014 world championships.
“It’s an incredible honor to be a part of this Hall of Fame Class,” Thompson said. “The relationships I made at UW with my teammates, my coaches, and the rest of the University staff has made me want to be a better person since the first day I stepped on campus. There is no doubt that without all the lessons I learned in my time there, and without the support from these relationships that I wouldn’t have been able to live out my dream since graduating.
“There is no place like the UW, and it’s hard to articulate what it feels like for me to get to be a part of this University indefinitely. I am honored, and so grateful.”
There are several other 2018 inductees as well, including Chris Gobrecht, who coached the women’s basketball team to nine NCAA tournaments during her 11-year career at the UW. There are also are two football greats: Mark Brunell, who helped quarterback the Huskies to three consecutive Rose Bowls, and Chad Ward, who won the Pac-10 2000 Morris Trophy and also was the team co-captain when the UW reached its last Rose Bowl after the 2000 season.
Also entering is Brock Mackenzie, a three-time All-American golfer who played at Washington from 2001-04 and still a leader in many UW records. The 1984-85 women’s eight-oar crews also are joining because each one won the national title – the 1984 team never lost a race – with eight of the rowers making the national team and stroke Chris Campbell competing in the 1988 Olympics. They join the 1981, 1982 and 1983 eight-oar women crews as well.
The Hall of Fame is inside Hec Ed, where around 200 individual athletes have been honored, along with certain teams, including that 2009 softball team. As Lawrie added about her personal induction: “This means more now than ever since my two little girls are present in my life and I can express to them how hard I had to work to even get a sniff to play at Washington. I’m forever thankful to coach Heather Tarr for giving me the opportunity to wear Washington across my chest and represent this university.”