UAlbany Announces Athletic Hall Of Fame Class

ALBANY, N.Y. – Two standout student-athletes and an undefeated team will represent the 2013 University at Albany Athletic Hall of Fame induction class this fall. Volleyball’s Alissa Gibbs, men’s basketball’s Todd Cetnar, and the 1974 football squad will be formally inducted at the 30th Annual Hall of Fame Dinner on Friday, Sept. 20th at 6:00 p.m.
“The Architect of UAlbany Football,” head coach Bob Ford will be the keynote speaker at the event. Ford, who enters his 44th and final season at the helm, is the longest active tenured coach in all of college football and ranks first among NCAA Division I active coaches with 264 career victories.

Online ticket packages for the Hall of Fame Dinner go on sale Tuesday, Aug. 27^th. Gold Table Sponsors receive eight dinner tickets and a quarter page advertisement in the dinner program for a price of $800. Purple level sponsors also receive a quarter page ad and receive two dinner tickets with a payment of $350. Individual dinner tickets are available for $75 per person. Kids tickets, ages 12 and under, are $40.


In addition to Friday’s event, the class will be introduced at halftime of the UAlbany football game versus Central Connecticut State on Saturday, Sept. 21st. The game begins at 7:00 p.m. with a fireworks display to follow.

Gibbs, Cetnar, and the 1974 squad will join 136 other former elite athletes, coaches, and administrators in the University at Albany's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Alissa Gibbs (Volleyball, 1999-2002) – A two-time first-team All-America East Conference honoree, Alissa Gibbs marked the first dominant player in the Great Danes’ Division I volleyball era. Gibbs led UAlbany to its first winning Division I season in 2002 with a 16-15 overall record, while being named the 2002-03 America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She also ranked fourth among the conference leaders in kills (3.76 pg) and second in aces (0.57 pg) during her senior campaign.

As a junior, Gibbs ranked 10th among NCAA leaders in kills, averaging 5.01 per game. She was also named to the first team All-Independent Conference as a sophomore.
Despite the adversity of being both a diabetic and a college athlete, the outside hitter finished her career ranked second on the school’s all-time list in kills with 1,376, as well as fourth in digs with 992. A decade later, she still ranks among the top-10, sitting in third for all-time kills and 10th for digs.

The Ballston Lake, N.Y. native earned the ECAC Merit Medal in 2003, given to the University’s top senior female student-athlete.

Todd Cetnar (Basketball, 1996-2000) – The 1999-2000 UAlbany Male Athlete of the Year, Todd Cetnar played in 109 games in four seasons with the Great Danes. With 1,345 points, Cetnar finished his career ninth on the all-time scoring list and marked one of two players in school history at the time to combine for 1,000 points, 350 assists, and 150 steals.
At the time of his graduation, the 6-foot guard ranked second in steals (188), fifth in assists (367), and third in both three-point field goals (215) and free throw percentage (.816) in UAlbany’s record book, and still ranks among the Great Danes’ top-10 over a decade later.
Scoring a career-high 30 points against Elon in the program’s first Division I victory, Cetnar was named first-team All-Independent Conference in the program’s inaugural DI campaign in 2000. That season, he averaged 16.1 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.1 steals per game.
Cetnar was also named to the 1999 All-New England Collegiate Conference team, averaging 16.2 points and 3.8 assists as a junior. As a sophomore, Cetnar started on the 1997-98 team that went 19-8 and made an ECAC Division II appearance.
After graduation, Cetnar went on to play professionally, participating in a number of NBA camps, and played in the CBA, NBDL and USBL. Cetnar is also a former assistant coach at Plymouth State and Union College.

1974 Football Team – The 1974 football squad will become the second team to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining the 1993-94 men’s basketball team. In just the second season as a varsity program, the ’74 squad, headed by coaching legend Bob Ford, made history with a perfect 9-0 record. In 40 varsity seasons, the team is the only football team to go undefeated.
Not only did the team triumph every game, they did so in dominating fashion, winning by an average margin of 31.2 points.
Offensively, sophomore fullback Tom DeBlois became the first UAlbany player to gain more than 1,000 rushing yards in one season, totaling 1,009. In addition, Orin Griffin, Marvin Perry, and Glenn Sowalskie rushed for a combined total of 1,596 yards, as the team totaled 3,254 yards on the ground. Mike Basla, Tom Cleary, Ty Curran, Andy Lee, Bruce Court, and Dom Roncone cleared the way and opened holes on the offensive line.
In the pocket, quarterbacks John Bertuzzi and Dave Ahonen completed a combined total of 22 passes, including 11 for touchdowns. Bob Baxter led the squad with 10 catches and six scores, while Don Whitley had three receptions and two touchdowns.
Defensively, the starters consisting of Rudy Vido, Frank Villanova, Tim Myers, Dom Pagano, Don Mion, Skip Scurry, Bill Brown, Arnie Will, Ken Schoen, Ralph Naples, and Bruce Cummings held opponents to a miniscule average of 2.4 yards on the ground and three total rushing touchdowns. They also logged 28 interceptions, averaging 3.2 per game.
The UAlbany 1974 football team was one of just five NCAA Division III programs in the nation to go undefeated that season.