Gene Corrigan, Bryant Stith Inducted to State Hall

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Dec. 12, 2006

Portsmouth, Va. – Former UVa athletics administrator Gene Corrigan and basketball player Bryant Stith are among seven individuals to be inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

In addition to Corrigan and Stith, the Class of 2007 includes former James Madison University and Washington Redskin wide receiver Gary Clark, NASCAR’s “Ironman” Ricky Rudd, VMI’s football coaching legend John McKenna, NFL player and coach Charlie Sumner, and Roanoke sports radio icon Jim “Carroll” Colston.

Corrigan graduated from Duke University in 1952 and was a four-year starter on the school’s lacrosse team. But it was as a coach and administrator that he made his mark. He served as UVa’s lacrosse and soccer coach, and sports information director from 1958-67 before moving to the ACC office as the conference’s third full-time employee from 1967-69. After two years as athletic director at Washington & Lee, he returned to Charlottesville in 1971 to begin a 10-year stint as director of athletics. In 1981, he accepted the position of athletic director at Notre Dame, where he remained until being named the third commissioner in ACC history in 1987. He also served as President of the NCAA, 1995-97.

Stith, a native of Lawrenceville first made a name for himself as a three-time all-state basketball star at Brunswick High School. He then matriculated at UVa where he finished as the Cavaliers’ all-time leader in scoring (2,516 points), minutes (4,391) and free throws made (690). Remarkable for a 6-5 player, he also finished second on UVa’s all-time rebounding list with 859 boards. He left school ranked fourth on the all-time Atlantic Coast Conference scoring list. In 1992, Stith became a first-round pick of the Denver Nuggets 1992 (13th pick overall) and averaged 10 points per game over a 10-year NBA career (1992-2002) with Denver, Boston and Cleveland.