University of Richmond Athletics
Five individuals were inducted in the Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame Friday night in Greg Lilly, Ken Hart, Becca Wann Taylor, Tom Bondurant and Kevin Anderson. The 1999 men's golf team was honored as Team of Distinction (pictured below).
Photo by: Scott Brown
Richmond Athletics Inducts 2018 Hall of Fame Class
11/02/2018 | General
RICHMOND, Va. – Five individuals and a one-of-a-kind Team of Distinction were inducted into the University of Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame on campus Friday night, comprising the 2018 class of inductees. The class will be introduced during the Homecoming football game Saturday 3pm against Villanova.
The Class of 2018, which spans six decades of Spider Athletics, consists of Kevin Anderson (Men's Basketball 2007-11), Tom Bondurant (Baseball 1968-71), Ken Hart (Athletic Equipment Manager 1981-2015), Greg Lilly (Football 1990-1993), Becca Wann Taylor (Women's Soccer & Basketball 2010-14) and the 1999 Men's Golf Team enshrined as the Team of Distinction.
Team of Distinction – Men's Golf 1999
It is an accomplishment that has withstood the test of time. The 1998-99 Spider Men's Golf Team capped a record-breaking season of firsts by earning the program's first and only appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Golf National Championship.
Coach Nat Withers' team also made its first of three consecutive appearances in the NCAA East Regional at the Rhode Island Country Club, finishing eighth, ahead of Clemson, North Carolina State, Maryland, Penn State, Mississippi and Mississippi State, and just one stroke behind Duke and North Carolina. The eighth place standing qualified the Spiders for the national tournament, and it completed an unprecedented streak of compiling a Top-10 finish in all 12 tournaments in 1998-99, including eight Top-5 finishes.
The five-man squad that participated in the NCAA Tournament at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, consisted of Joe Horowitz, co-captain Ryan McClain, co-captain Ken Macdonald, Chad Moseley, and Andy Peden. The group shot 27 rounds of even or under par that season, compiling 25 Top-20 finishes as individuals.
Macdonald earned All-CAA First Team honors, while Moseley and Horowitz were selected to the All-CAA Second Team. Peden and AJ Ploszay were named to the CAA All-Academic Team. The Spiders were the first-ever CAA team to appear in the NCAA Division I Men's Golf National Championship.
Kevin Anderson – Men's Basketball – 2007-2011
No Spider men's basketball player won more games than Kevin Anderson, whose legendary heroics led Richmond to 91 victories in a four-year career that included four post season appearances. In the process, "KA" became one of the most recognizable and decorated student-athletes in school history.
He made an immediate impact, earning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie Team honors. As a sophomore, he made Second Team All-Atlantic 10, leading the Spiders in scoring (16.6) and assists (101). His 598 points made him the second UR sophomore to etch his name in the Top Ten 10 single-season scoring list, joining Hall of Famer and all-time leading scorer John Newman.
But Anderson saved his best for his last two seasons. As a junior, he averaged 17.8 ppg and was named A-10 Player of the Year, First Team A-10, Honorable Mention All-American and State Player of the Year, leading the Spiders back to the NCAA Tournament with a Top 25 national ranking. His top scoring performances came against a college basketball's who's who – 22 vs. Dayton, 27 vs. No. 24 Xavier, 29 vs. No. 17 Temple and a career-high 31 vs. Wake Forest.
As a senior captain, Anderson capped his collegiate career with another appearance in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Sweet 16 with a school record 29 wins and another Top 25 national ranking. Again, his top performances came against the nation's top teams – 22 vs. No. 24 Temple, 28 vs. No. 8 Purdue, 26 vs. Dayton and a memorable 25 point effort against No. 25 Vanderbilt in an NCAA Tournament first round game that included an iconic fade away jumper in the final seconds clinching the Spider victory.
For his efforts, Anderson was again named First Team All-Atlantic 10, as well as MVP of the A-10 Tournament. He was one of 20 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard.
He ended his career with the nation's longest active games started streak at 131. He is second on Richmond's all-time scoring list with 2,165 career points and finished his career third in steals (217), third in field goals made (768), fourth in assists (410) and sixth in three-pointers (175).
Anderson played professionally overseas for six seasons before joining former Richmond assistant Kevin McGeehan's staff at Campbell. He was named an assistant coach at Liberty University in August 2018.
In 2011, Anderson became just the sixth Spider, and only the third men's basketball player, to have a banner hoisted to the rafters of the Robins Center.
Tom Bondurant – Baseball – 1968-1971
Tom Bondurant rose to the rank of captain on the baseball field during his playing days, and later rose to the position of judge in the court room.
Statistically, he excelled in his junior year for the Spiders, batting .367, the top mark in the Southern Conference. For his career, he was a two-time All-Southern Conference and All-Big Five selection. A first baseman, Bondurant was a career .300 hitter who batted cleanup his junior and senior seasons. By all accounts, his crowning achievement was being named Captain as a senior for Hall of Fame Coach Mac Pitt's last team in 1971, a squad that finished with a winning record. In 1974, Tom served as an assistant on Hall of Fame coach Chuck Boone's winningest Spider team.
Once his athletic career was behind him, Bondurant focused on, and succeeded at, his chosen profession of law, graduating from the University of Richmond's T.C. Williams School of Law in 1974. He went on to be a lawyer, teacher – including at the UR Law School – and judge. He is a past President of the Henrico County Bar Association and a member of Lawyers Helping Lawyers and Chairman on the Virginia State Bar Substance Abuse Committee.
Ken Hart – Athletic Equipment Manager – 1981-2015
For 34 years, Ken Hart oversaw the Spiders' athletic equipment room, primarily for football, but for as many as 19 varsity sports. While he may not have been the face of the program, he was a familiar face who was the conduit that connected generations of Richmond student-athletes, coaches, staff and alumni.
In addition to the traditional duties of purchasing, distributing, repairing and inventorying athletic equipment, Ken's Robins Center door was always open as he embraced the role of "psychologist, teacher, good guy, bad guy, father and friend."
A longtime advocate for equipment advancement and safety of his student-athletes, Hart was honored as the Athletic Equipment Managers Association Manager of the Year in 1993. He served five years as President of the organization.
Hart traveled extensively with football, transporting essential team equipment and personnel from as far away as London, England, Missoula, Montana and Fargo, North Dakota to the short but challenging trip downtown to the Spiders' former off-campus home at University of Richmond Stadium. He helped guide the football transition to the new, on-campus Robins Stadium in 2010. During his tenure, Spider Football made 10 post season appearances, highlighted by a national championship in 2008.
Following his official retirement in 2015, Hart, a 1975 Bowling Green grad, has remained involved in Richmond Athletics as a volunteer assistant coach with men's golf. The team won its first-ever Atlantic 10 Championship in 2017.
Greg Lilly – Football – 1990-1993
Greg Lilly arrived at Richmond as a walk-on freshman on the football team. He left as a record-setting, award-winning scholarship quarterback, whose contributions to his country and to his sport were only just beginning.
His junior season in 1992 etched his name in the Richmond record book, when he led the Spiders to a 7-4 mark. He threw for a then-UR record 2704 yards, 19 touchdowns and four 300-yard games. He led the Yankee Conference in passing yards, TD passes and total offense, earning him Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year, ECAC Player of the Year, First Team All-State, and Honorable Mention All-American.
In a 49-40 victory over rival James Madison, Lilly accounted for all seven Spider touchdowns, with five TD passes and two rushing scores. Against Delaware, he threw for a career-high 374 yards, then the 3rd highest total in school history.
For his career, Lilly was 485-855, with 37 TDs, 6703 yards and a 57% completion mark. He finished his career 2nd in passing yards and completions, and 4th in TD passes.
Lilly temporarily moved to the sidelines as a Spider assistant coach from 1995-1997. He then joined the United States Marine Corps, serving as an infantry platoon commander from 1998-2005. His platoons conducted six overseas deployments including two combat tours in Baghdad, Iraq.
He returned to football as an assistant coach at Benedictine College Prep in Richmond. He has been the Cadets' head coach since 2009. Lilly's teams won back-to-back VISAA Division I state titles in 2014 and 2015.
Becca Wann Taylor – Women's Soccer & Women's Basketball – 2010-2014
From the soccer pitch to the basketball hardwood, Becca Wann persevered and excelled as a two-sport Spider student-athlete, doing so close to home following a standout academic and athletic career at nearby Cosby High School in Chesterfield.
For Spider soccer, Wann was an NSCAA Division I All-American, two-time Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, three-time All A-10 selection, A-10 Rookie of the Year and two-time team captain. She was the first Spider to be named A10 Rookie and Player of the Year.
Wann finished her Spider soccer career in the top three in 12 categories, including 1st all-time in points per game (1.52) and game-winning goals (15). She finished 3rd all-time in points (76) and second all-time in goals (34). She was a member of the USA U20 Gold Medal-winning women's soccer team.
As fall turned to winter, Becca traded her soccer cleats for basketball sneakers. Despite missing her senior season due to injury, she still played in 84 career games, with 704 points and 522 rebounds, including 10 double-doubles. She was a two-time preseason All-Conference selection.
Wann was named Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player as a sophomore, when she averaged 9 points per game and led the team in field goal percentage (52%) and assists (87).
In her junior season, Wann was second on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg) and steals (51) and led the Spiders in assists (93) and rebounds per game (7.9). She scored a career-high 21 points at state rival James Madison.
Following graduation, Wann began her current career as a women's college basketball official. She has worked games at the Division I, II and III levels, including conferences such as the ODAC, CIAA, Big East and CAA. She is also an assistant coach for Midlothian High School's boys basketball teams, where former Spider Jarhon Giddings was named head coach in April 2018.
-- UR --
The Class of 2018, which spans six decades of Spider Athletics, consists of Kevin Anderson (Men's Basketball 2007-11), Tom Bondurant (Baseball 1968-71), Ken Hart (Athletic Equipment Manager 1981-2015), Greg Lilly (Football 1990-1993), Becca Wann Taylor (Women's Soccer & Basketball 2010-14) and the 1999 Men's Golf Team enshrined as the Team of Distinction.
Team of Distinction – Men's Golf 1999
It is an accomplishment that has withstood the test of time. The 1998-99 Spider Men's Golf Team capped a record-breaking season of firsts by earning the program's first and only appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Golf National Championship.
Coach Nat Withers' team also made its first of three consecutive appearances in the NCAA East Regional at the Rhode Island Country Club, finishing eighth, ahead of Clemson, North Carolina State, Maryland, Penn State, Mississippi and Mississippi State, and just one stroke behind Duke and North Carolina. The eighth place standing qualified the Spiders for the national tournament, and it completed an unprecedented streak of compiling a Top-10 finish in all 12 tournaments in 1998-99, including eight Top-5 finishes.
The five-man squad that participated in the NCAA Tournament at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, consisted of Joe Horowitz, co-captain Ryan McClain, co-captain Ken Macdonald, Chad Moseley, and Andy Peden. The group shot 27 rounds of even or under par that season, compiling 25 Top-20 finishes as individuals.
Macdonald earned All-CAA First Team honors, while Moseley and Horowitz were selected to the All-CAA Second Team. Peden and AJ Ploszay were named to the CAA All-Academic Team. The Spiders were the first-ever CAA team to appear in the NCAA Division I Men's Golf National Championship.
Kevin Anderson – Men's Basketball – 2007-2011
No Spider men's basketball player won more games than Kevin Anderson, whose legendary heroics led Richmond to 91 victories in a four-year career that included four post season appearances. In the process, "KA" became one of the most recognizable and decorated student-athletes in school history.
He made an immediate impact, earning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie Team honors. As a sophomore, he made Second Team All-Atlantic 10, leading the Spiders in scoring (16.6) and assists (101). His 598 points made him the second UR sophomore to etch his name in the Top Ten 10 single-season scoring list, joining Hall of Famer and all-time leading scorer John Newman.
But Anderson saved his best for his last two seasons. As a junior, he averaged 17.8 ppg and was named A-10 Player of the Year, First Team A-10, Honorable Mention All-American and State Player of the Year, leading the Spiders back to the NCAA Tournament with a Top 25 national ranking. His top scoring performances came against a college basketball's who's who – 22 vs. Dayton, 27 vs. No. 24 Xavier, 29 vs. No. 17 Temple and a career-high 31 vs. Wake Forest.
As a senior captain, Anderson capped his collegiate career with another appearance in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Sweet 16 with a school record 29 wins and another Top 25 national ranking. Again, his top performances came against the nation's top teams – 22 vs. No. 24 Temple, 28 vs. No. 8 Purdue, 26 vs. Dayton and a memorable 25 point effort against No. 25 Vanderbilt in an NCAA Tournament first round game that included an iconic fade away jumper in the final seconds clinching the Spider victory.
For his efforts, Anderson was again named First Team All-Atlantic 10, as well as MVP of the A-10 Tournament. He was one of 20 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard.
He ended his career with the nation's longest active games started streak at 131. He is second on Richmond's all-time scoring list with 2,165 career points and finished his career third in steals (217), third in field goals made (768), fourth in assists (410) and sixth in three-pointers (175).
Anderson played professionally overseas for six seasons before joining former Richmond assistant Kevin McGeehan's staff at Campbell. He was named an assistant coach at Liberty University in August 2018.
In 2011, Anderson became just the sixth Spider, and only the third men's basketball player, to have a banner hoisted to the rafters of the Robins Center.
Tom Bondurant – Baseball – 1968-1971
Tom Bondurant rose to the rank of captain on the baseball field during his playing days, and later rose to the position of judge in the court room.
Statistically, he excelled in his junior year for the Spiders, batting .367, the top mark in the Southern Conference. For his career, he was a two-time All-Southern Conference and All-Big Five selection. A first baseman, Bondurant was a career .300 hitter who batted cleanup his junior and senior seasons. By all accounts, his crowning achievement was being named Captain as a senior for Hall of Fame Coach Mac Pitt's last team in 1971, a squad that finished with a winning record. In 1974, Tom served as an assistant on Hall of Fame coach Chuck Boone's winningest Spider team.
Once his athletic career was behind him, Bondurant focused on, and succeeded at, his chosen profession of law, graduating from the University of Richmond's T.C. Williams School of Law in 1974. He went on to be a lawyer, teacher – including at the UR Law School – and judge. He is a past President of the Henrico County Bar Association and a member of Lawyers Helping Lawyers and Chairman on the Virginia State Bar Substance Abuse Committee.
Ken Hart – Athletic Equipment Manager – 1981-2015
For 34 years, Ken Hart oversaw the Spiders' athletic equipment room, primarily for football, but for as many as 19 varsity sports. While he may not have been the face of the program, he was a familiar face who was the conduit that connected generations of Richmond student-athletes, coaches, staff and alumni.
In addition to the traditional duties of purchasing, distributing, repairing and inventorying athletic equipment, Ken's Robins Center door was always open as he embraced the role of "psychologist, teacher, good guy, bad guy, father and friend."
A longtime advocate for equipment advancement and safety of his student-athletes, Hart was honored as the Athletic Equipment Managers Association Manager of the Year in 1993. He served five years as President of the organization.
Hart traveled extensively with football, transporting essential team equipment and personnel from as far away as London, England, Missoula, Montana and Fargo, North Dakota to the short but challenging trip downtown to the Spiders' former off-campus home at University of Richmond Stadium. He helped guide the football transition to the new, on-campus Robins Stadium in 2010. During his tenure, Spider Football made 10 post season appearances, highlighted by a national championship in 2008.
Following his official retirement in 2015, Hart, a 1975 Bowling Green grad, has remained involved in Richmond Athletics as a volunteer assistant coach with men's golf. The team won its first-ever Atlantic 10 Championship in 2017.
Greg Lilly – Football – 1990-1993
Greg Lilly arrived at Richmond as a walk-on freshman on the football team. He left as a record-setting, award-winning scholarship quarterback, whose contributions to his country and to his sport were only just beginning.
His junior season in 1992 etched his name in the Richmond record book, when he led the Spiders to a 7-4 mark. He threw for a then-UR record 2704 yards, 19 touchdowns and four 300-yard games. He led the Yankee Conference in passing yards, TD passes and total offense, earning him Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year, ECAC Player of the Year, First Team All-State, and Honorable Mention All-American.
In a 49-40 victory over rival James Madison, Lilly accounted for all seven Spider touchdowns, with five TD passes and two rushing scores. Against Delaware, he threw for a career-high 374 yards, then the 3rd highest total in school history.
For his career, Lilly was 485-855, with 37 TDs, 6703 yards and a 57% completion mark. He finished his career 2nd in passing yards and completions, and 4th in TD passes.
Lilly temporarily moved to the sidelines as a Spider assistant coach from 1995-1997. He then joined the United States Marine Corps, serving as an infantry platoon commander from 1998-2005. His platoons conducted six overseas deployments including two combat tours in Baghdad, Iraq.
He returned to football as an assistant coach at Benedictine College Prep in Richmond. He has been the Cadets' head coach since 2009. Lilly's teams won back-to-back VISAA Division I state titles in 2014 and 2015.
Becca Wann Taylor – Women's Soccer & Women's Basketball – 2010-2014
From the soccer pitch to the basketball hardwood, Becca Wann persevered and excelled as a two-sport Spider student-athlete, doing so close to home following a standout academic and athletic career at nearby Cosby High School in Chesterfield.
For Spider soccer, Wann was an NSCAA Division I All-American, two-time Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, three-time All A-10 selection, A-10 Rookie of the Year and two-time team captain. She was the first Spider to be named A10 Rookie and Player of the Year.
Wann finished her Spider soccer career in the top three in 12 categories, including 1st all-time in points per game (1.52) and game-winning goals (15). She finished 3rd all-time in points (76) and second all-time in goals (34). She was a member of the USA U20 Gold Medal-winning women's soccer team.
As fall turned to winter, Becca traded her soccer cleats for basketball sneakers. Despite missing her senior season due to injury, she still played in 84 career games, with 704 points and 522 rebounds, including 10 double-doubles. She was a two-time preseason All-Conference selection.
Wann was named Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player as a sophomore, when she averaged 9 points per game and led the team in field goal percentage (52%) and assists (87).
In her junior season, Wann was second on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg) and steals (51) and led the Spiders in assists (93) and rebounds per game (7.9). She scored a career-high 21 points at state rival James Madison.
Following graduation, Wann began her current career as a women's college basketball official. She has worked games at the Division I, II and III levels, including conferences such as the ODAC, CIAA, Big East and CAA. She is also an assistant coach for Midlothian High School's boys basketball teams, where former Spider Jarhon Giddings was named head coach in April 2018.
-- UR --
Men's Basketball Postgame - St. Bonaventure
Sunday, February 22
Baseball Postgame vs Penn State: Head Coach Mik Aoki
Sunday, February 22
Men's Basketball Press Conference - February 20
Friday, February 20
Davidson Postgame
Thursday, February 19