Over the weekend Xavier announced a new group of members for the school's athletics hall of fame.
The five-member class of J. Kenneth Blackwell (football, class of '70), Ann Marie (Hubbard) Sunderhaus (women's soccer, '99), Alan C. Joseph Jr. (rifle, '80), Timothy R. O'Connell (baseball, '68) and Romain G. Sato (men's basketball, '04) will be inducted in a ceremony held on Feb. 21 in the Duff Banquet Center at Cintas Center prior to the 2 p.m. men's basketball game vs. Butler. The five will also be honored at halftime of the basketball game.
These bios are courtesy of the Musketeers sports information department:
J. Kenneth Blackwell was a standout three-year letterman and lineman in football, who was signed as a free agent and invited to the Dallas Cowboys camp after his football career at XU. Blackwell was a part of teams that won six games both as a sophomore and a junior.
A leader on and off the field, Blackwell became President of the Black Student Association. During his professional career, Blackwell served Xavier as associate Vice President for Community Relations, a faculty member and Trustee. Outside of XU, Blackwell became a well-known political leader in the Cincinnati area and throughout Ohio, including as the Mayor of Cincinnati. In 1994 he became the first African American elected to a statewide executive office when he was elected Ohio Treasurer of State. He was then elected Ohio Secretary of State for two terms.
Blackwell's public service at the national level included presidential appointments to two posts in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. He also served as an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Later, he served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In 1992 Blackwell was presented with the Xavier University Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is the Author of three books, including a national bestseller called "RESURGENT: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America."
Ann Marie Hubbard, who lettered four years in women's soccer, was an outstanding goalkeeper who led Xavier to its first-ever Atlantic 10 Conference Championship and first-ever NCAA Tournament berth as a senior tri-captain. Hubbard came up with a number of key saves in a thrilling penalty-kick overtime shootout win against rival Dayton at UD. Her efforts earned her a spot on the A-10 All-Tournament Team. Hubbard also was selected to the A-10 Conference Second Team, A-10 All- Academic Team and the All-Ohio Academic First Team as a senior.
Xavier won 49 matches during Hubbard's four-year career, including an impressive 29-9-1 record against A-10 teams. She posted 20 career shutouts and ended her XU career with a 1.24 goals against average in 70 matches. Being a Hall of Fame inductee is nothing new for the Hubbard family. Her mother, Kathleen Hubbard, holds the distinction of being the first female athlete inducted into the Xavier Athletic Hall of Fame.
Alan C. Joseph, Jr. competed collegiately at Xavier from 1976-80, and then served as head coach for the Xavier rifle team for 23 seasons. Under his coaching, the Musketeers appeared in 12 NCAA Finals and finished second in 2000 and 2003. Joseph was recently hired as the head rifle coach at Morehead State.
18 of Joseph's student-athletes won a total of 53 All-American honors. Two of his students, Jason Parker and Thrine Kane, competed in the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, Australia. Parker also went on to compete in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Joseph led Xavier from its inception as a NCAA program in 1982 and guided the Musketeers to 14 consecutive top-10 finishes until the affiliation was discontinued in 2005. He continued to lead the program as a club until its finish in 2008. He was named Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association National Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2003 and was the recipient of the National Rifle Association Coach of the Year honors in 1991 and 2001.
Timothy R. O'Connell was a two-sport standout in basketball and baseball and was drafted to play pro ball in both sports. There were many big moments in his hoops career. In 1966 he won Tournament MVP honors at the American Legion Classic in Seattle, Wash. He scored a career-high 34 points vs. Memphis State in the 1965-66 season. As a senior he scored 15 points to lead XU to a 72-71 win over rival Cincinnati. Although not selected in the NBA Draft following graduation, the Indiana Pacers, who then resided in the ABA, drafted O'Connell.
O'Connell earned plenty of praise for his baseball prowess as well. O'Connell had a tremendous junior year on the diamond. He pitched 35 innings and posted a 1.29 ERA. The same season he hit .357 and was among the national leaders in triples. More importantly, O'Connell became a member of the first Xavier team ever to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately due to exam week, Xavier was forced to decline the invitation. O'Connell was drafted by the New York Yankees organization.
Romain G. Sato was one of the most popular players in Xavier history on and off the court and earned a reputation as a winner, something that has continued during his successful pro career. Sato helped Xavier reach the NCAA Tournament four times, including the NCAA Second Round twice and the 2004 NCAA Elite Eight, XU's first-ever trip to the Elite Eight. Xavier won two A-10 Conference Regular Season Championships and two A-10 Conference Tournament Championships during his four-year career.
Sato was named to the five-member All-Regional Team for the 2004 NCAA Tournament Atlanta Regional after scoring 18.3 ppg, and grabbing 7.3 rpg. He also made the 2004 A-10 All-Tournament Team, an honor he also won when XU won the championship in 2002. In addition to these honors, Sato was named 2003-04 Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American and 2003-04 NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) All-District 10 First Team. He earned a long list of other honors during his Xavier career, including First Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference twice, A-10 Conference All-Defensive Team three times and two times on Dick Vitale's "All-Velcro" Defensive Team.
Sato's numbers jump off the page. He is third on Xavier's all-time scoring list with 2,005 points and eighth on the all-time rebounding list with 892 rebounds. Sato still holds a number of school records, including most consecutive starts with 130. He holds the school record for career three-point field goals made (307), including the top two single game displays in XU history, including nine in a win over Rhode Island his junior year.
Sato helped lead Xavier to a historic four-game sweep of the A-10 Championships that included a blowout of then-No.1 and undefeated Saint Joseph's and a win over host Dayton in the title game. He also helped at wins over Louisville, Mississippi State and Texas on the way to the first-ever NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance.
Following his Xavier career, Sato was drafted by San Antonio in the second round of the NBA Draft. He has enjoyed a successful career in pro basketball in Italy, winning a pair of Italian Championships and a Euro Championship. This past year Sato won a Eurocup Championship playing on a team in Spain along with former XU teammate Justin Doellman. Sato was named to the five-member All-Spanish League Team.
The five new members will bring the total number of individuals honored in the P. Douglas O'Keefe Xavier Athletic Hall of Fame at Cintas Center to 118.
