NCAA CONVENTION
HONORS CELEBRATION
JANUARY 11, 2023
7:00 PM
ANNOUNCER: And now please welcome our Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Andy Katz.
(Applause.)
ANDY KATZ: Welcome everyone to our 2023 NCAA Honors Celebration!
I’m Andy Katz, and it’s a pleasure to be your host for
this event.
Each year, the Honors Celebration recognizes the NCAA’s best and brightest. The Today’s Top 10 honorees are
recent graduates who excelled in academics, athletic competition and in their communities. The Silver Anniversary honorees finished their athletics eligibility 25 years ago and are making lasting impacts in their
careers and in their communities. The Inspiration honorees are recognized for their remarkable determination in overcoming life changing obstacles. And our ceremony will culminate with the presentation of the
NCAA’s highest award, the Theodore Roosevelt Award.
Now, let's welcome tonight’s honorees. First, the 2023 NCAA Today’s Top Ten:
From Columbia, Sylvie Binder.
From NC State, Jaeda Daniel.
From Stanford, Brooke Forde.
Unable to join us this evening, From Stanford, Naomi Girma.
From Rutgers, Gianna Glatz.
From Central College Iowa, Blaine Hawkins.
From West Chester, Jessica Meakim.
From St. John Fisher, Jack Mulvihill.
From Embry Riddle Florida, Juan Ortiz Couder.
And unable to attend this evening, from Kentucky, Abby Steiner.
Now, the 2023 NCAA Silver Anniversary honorees:
From Texas, Phil Dawson.
From Harvard, Allison Feaster.
From New York University, Dr. Marsha Harris.
Unable to attend this evening, from Southern California, Lenny Krayzelburg.
From Tennessee, Peyton Manning,
And from Notre Dame, Kate Markgraf.
Next, the 2023 NCAA Inspiration honorees:
From Western Washington, Gracie Phelps.
And the Black 14, from Wyoming: Tony Gibson; John Griffin; Lionel Grimes; Mel Hamilton; Ron Hill;
Guillermo Hysaw; Brian Lee, representing his late father, Earl Lee, Tony McGee; Monica Meadows, representing her late father, Don Meadows; Joe Williams and Theodore Williams.
Black 14 members not present for tonight’s ceremony are: Jerome Jay Berry, and Ivie Moore.
And Black 14 member James Isaac is recognized posthumously.
(Applause.)
Now, let’s welcome the recipient of the 2023 NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award:
From Notre Dame, Dr. Carol Lally Shields.
(Applause.)
Congratulations to all of tonight’s outstanding honorees!
(Applause.)
Remember You can learn more about them by viewing the digital Honors Celebration program on the NCAA
Convention app or by visiting NCAA.org. Tonight’s award recipients were selected by the
NCAA Honors Committee,
Which is composed of representatives Of NCAA member schools and conferences, and
past award recipients. Selecting the award winners from all the worthy nominees was no
easy task.
So we want to thank the NCAA members and past honorees who served on the committee.
Your work and commitment are deeply appreciated!
Let's go now, each category. Our first award this evening is the Today’s Top 10 Award.
Representing all three NCAA divisions, the honorees have distinguished themselves through
their accomplishments in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
Let’s hear from the Today’s Top 10.
(Video start.)
(End video.)
(Applause.)
ANDY KATZ: And now lets meet them again.
Please welcome, from Columbia, Deputy Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator, Jackie Blackett, with Sylvie Binder, a Columbia fencer and American Studies major with a concentration in sustainable
development.
(Applause.)
From NC State, Chief of Staff and Senior Woman Administrator Michelle Lee, with NC State
tennis player and Psychology major, Jaeda Daniel!
(Applause.)
From Stanford, Deputy Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator, Heather Owen,
with Stanford and Olympic swimmer and human biology Major, Brooke Forde!
(Applause.)
Unable to join us this evening is Stanford soccer player and Symbolic Systems major, Naomi Girma.
Heather Owen, back on the stage, is accepting the award on her behalf.
(Applause.)
Next, from Rutgers, please welcome Director of Athletics, Pat Hobbs, with Rutgers field hockey player and Psychology major, Gianna Glatz!
(Applause.)
From Central College, Iowa, head football coach Jeff McMartin, and Blaine Hawkins, a Central
football player with majors in Business Management and Economics!
(Applause.)
Next, from West Chester, please welcome Director of Athletics Terry Beattie, and West Chester
gymnast with majors in Business Management and International Business, Jessica Meakim!
(Applause.)
From St. John Fisher, Associate Athletics Director of Compliance and Business, Jennifer Granger,
with St. John Fisher lacrosse player and biology major, Jack Mulvihill.
(Applause.)
Next, from Embry Riddle, Florida, please welcome Head Tennis Coach, David Paschal, And Florida tennis player and Software Engineering major, from Madrid, Juan Ortiz Couder.
(Applause.)
Unable to join us this evening is Kentucky runner and Kinesiology major Abby Steiner.
Accepting the award on her behalf is Executive Associate Athletics Director, Rachel
Newman Baker.
(Applause.)
Again, one more time, Congratulations to the 2023 Today’s Top 10.
(Applause.)
We’re proud of all your accomplishments and Know you’ll continue To excel in your future endeavors.
We're seeing it here today. To learn more about these exceptional Top 10
Today honorees, as we saw in that video, you can view each of their videos on NCAA.org.
Our next award is the Inspiration Award. This unique award is reserved for incredible people who –
When confronted with a life changing event – Displayed determination and
perseverance, and they've served as role models to others.
Incredible stories on both accounts.
First, let's hear from our Inspiration Award recipient, Gracie Phelps.
(Video start.)
(End video.)
ANDY KATZ: Please join me in welcoming Western Washington Director of Athletics, Steven
Card, and Gracie Phelps!
(Applause.)
Gracie, thank you so much for sharing your story. Tell us now what are you doing with your plans for now and in the future?
>> I just thank everybody who has gotten me to this point right now, and it's been my family, and my teachers and my coaches in my life. They have played a huge role in my growing up from the time I was 7 years old until now.
I just graduated, to become a teacher, and I'm currently the head girls varsity basketball coach up in Blaine High School, in a little corner of Western Washington, Washington State. So I'm just giving back in any way I can to the community that helped me grow to the person I am today.
Thank you so much for having me here, too, it's incredibly humbling, and I feel super honored.
ANDY KATZ: Thank you, Gracie. Thanks for sharing your story.
Gracie Phelps.
(Applause.)
We will have another inspiration here momentarily. First, Our next award is the Silver
Anniversary Award. It is presented to former college athletes who don't want to remember it's 25 years since they were on the athletic field or court of competition, This year’s Silver Anniversary group includes stellar college athletes and familiar names who have achieved great success in their chosen professions and making significant impacts on others. Let’s hear from the 2023 Silver Anniversary honorees.
(Video start.)
(End video.)
(Applause.)
ANDY KATZ: And now, please welcome, from Texas, Vice President and Director of Athletics Chris Del Conte,
and Phil Dawson.
(Applause.)
Next, from Harvard, Director of Athletics, Erin McDermott, and Allison Feaster.
(Applause.)
From New York University, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics, Stuart Robinson, And Dr. Marsha Harris.
(Applause.)
Unable to be here this evening is Lenny Krayzelburg. Accepting the award on his behalf is Southern California
Faculty Athletics representative, Alan Green.
(Applause.)
From Tennessee, Faculty Athletics Representative, Donna Bruce and Peyton Manning.
(Applause.)
Next, from Notre Dame, Director
of Athletics, Jack Swarbrick,
And Kate Markgraf.
(Applause.)
Congratulations again to all our
outstanding Silver Anniversary
honorees.
(Applause.)
You can learn more about them and what we saw in the video, of course, by visiting NCAA.org or the convention app. As a reminder to NCAA members, who are here, watching at home, nominations for the 2024 Silver
Anniversary Awards will open in February.
Be sure to nominate deserving alumni who will be marking the 25th anniversary of the end of their college athletics career in 2023 24. For more information about the criteria and nomination process
can be found on NCAA.org. Now we are going to go back to the Inspiration Award for the Black 14.
Let’s hear from them.
(Video start.)
(End video.)
(Applause.)
ANDY KATZ: Please welcome back to the stage, the Black 14, with Wyoming Head Football Coach,
Craig Bohl.
(Applause.)
The three board members for the Black 14, Mel Hamilton, John Griffin, and Tony McGee.
Mel, it is never too late, never too late for an honor to be justly earned, deserved, and you guys deserved this, years later. Tell me why it's so important that your story of the courage, the bravery you all showed
In 1969 be told today.
>> You know, I was an educator for 29 years, and I have told this story of the Black 14 many, many times in the classroom.
I did so because I realized the importance of such a thing to be told and for it not to be white washed and put away. I did so because I wanted to write something that would benefit other people rather than myself. And when I was talking to John Griffin, I said I wonder if the LDS Church would go into partnership with us. So I called, and they said "write a proposal." I wrote that proposal, and to my surprise they accepted it. We were mortal enemies in the 60s and now we became partners. So it's important that people know that you can disagree, but you must come together to work for humanity and always, always work hard and never let it die.
(Applause.)
ANDY KATZ: Bravo. I want your teammates to chime in here.
>> This is an American story. This is a story of turning a tragedy into philanthropy and is essentially what we've done. The take away is don't let an incident define your life for the rest of your days. That day, and we can all certainly attest to that. We were not going to let the coach define our lives. We didn't know. We were young kids. We didn't know what we were going to do, but I'll be darned, every one of these guys had it in them to say we're going to become something and eventually we're going to be able to give back, and that's what we're doing now.
(Applause.)
>> Bravo.
>> You know, it's a situation when you look at what's transpired now and you look what happened in the past, and they said this didn't define us, but it defined this moment. We defined what we wanted with it. We are taking that and making the best we can. At the same time, when you look at the honorees you're showing today, we feel like we're part of that. What you do is take a negative and make a positive. One thing about it is, you don't let it get you down. You bring it up.
ANDY KATZ: You've controlled your narrative; you've written your own story. What an inspiration! Let's hear it one more time for the Black 14!
(Applause.)
Wow, incredible stories tonight, obviously by their inspiration, winners, our top 10, Silver Anniversary, and it's so great to see them now, and 25 years later when they finish their careers.
Now, we’ve come to our final 2023 Honors Celebration award, The Theodore Roosevelt Award.
To present the award, Please welcome Linda Livingstone, President of Baylor University
and the Chair of the NCAA Board of Governors.
LINDA LIVINGSTONE: Thank you. I don't know about you, but I have been deeply moved by these stories tonight. It just really represents all that is core and special about the NCAA, so it's just a real privilege to be part of this, this evening.
Well, the “Teddy” award is the highest honor the NCAA
may confer on an individual. Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, whose concern for the
conduct of intercollegiate athletics led to the formation Of the NCAA in 1906. This award is given
To a person who “by personal example and contributions to society, exemplifies the ideals To which collegiate athletics programs and amateur sports competition are dedicated.” As a member of the first women’s
basketball team at the University of Notre Dame, this year’s honoree, Dr. Carol Lally Shields, helped build the
foundation of what has become a highly successful program at Notre Dame.
As a player, she created a culture of teamwork and led her team as a co captain. Receiving a degree in
preprofessional studies, she became the first woman to receive Notre Dame’s Bryon V. Kanley Award for excellence in athletics and academics. She went on to medical school and has been a trailblazer in
ocular oncology. In her accomplishments as both a student athlete and a world renowned ocular
oncologist, she is a pioneer. The NCAA is proud to honor Dr. Carol Lally Shields as the 2023 NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award recipient. Let’s hear from Dr. Shields.
(Video start.)
(End video.)
(Applause.)
LINDA LIVINGSTONE: Please join me in welcoming Notre Dame Senior Deputy Athletics Director, Missy Conboy, and Dr. Carol Lally Shields!
(Applause.)
>> Ladies and gentlemen, members of the NCAA, and awardee winners, what an amazing, unanticipated and spectacular award this is. What a special evening for the NCAA, for the University of Notre Dame. Notice my son's Notre Dame socks.
(Laughter.)
For Title IX, for women's sports, for my family, and for all those young boys and girls out there practicing their cross over dribbling, 3 point shot and dreaming one day of becoming a collegiate athlete. This award is for them!
(Applause.)
My life, my career, my job, face it, has been a long series of basketball games. While at Notre Dame, I learned the meaning of team work as soon as I dawned the University of Notre Dame jersey. It was like magic, like a spell was cast. I took this surreal journey through Notre Dame women's basketball. I lived jump shot; hang time; layup; high five; man on man; ladder drills; tight defense; sticky fingers; dribble pass, no looking; speed; fake right, go left; breakaway, and victory.
I am now an Ophthalmologist, and I have specialized in eye cancer for nearly forty years. My game now is only victory.
(Applause.)
No losses. I can't afford losses. I cure eye cancer, and my job is tough as nails and needs the skills and determination of an NCAA athlete!
(Applause.)
No joke. My day begins with a mother and father handing off their gorgeous six month old baby to me. Their baby has a life threatening eye cancer called retinoblastoma, and my job is to cure it, to save his or her life and save the eye. Slam dunk, motivation, focus on my best game, always! The parents sense, they know, that I will fight to save the baby's life with a perfect jump shot. They know that my defense for protection of that baby's vision is unbreakable, untouchable. Some days it's easy, and we run fast breaks and wipe out cancer. Little competition. Some days it's challenging, and it feels like we are behind by 10 points. So I call full court press, serious, man to man defense, impenetrable and turn around the game for that young child. Some days it's really tough. I'm looking at cancer near the center of vision in a baby's only seeing eye. Imagine that. I need silence! Utmost precision, no head movements, because I am microns away from the baby's central vision. No room for error. My layup must be right on target. I am poised, confident, dribble, dribble. Focus on the rim, shift my feet for comfort, knees flexed and loose, right arm fluid, elbow angled, ball in hand, left arm steady, and with the flick of the wrist a touch of backspin, the ball sails to a "swish!"
Game won, laser done, life saved. The baby wakes, crying in happiness, and we hand the precious child back to the parents. Life and vision saved. That is my victory. So I would like to thank the NCAA for your belief in the power of athleticism and its role not only on the court but in every day life. I would like to thank the University of Notre Dame, my Alma Mater, for the opportunity to participate in the pioneering days of women's varsity basketball. You solidified my belief in myself. And thank you to my husband Jerry and our seven children, Jerry, Patrick, Bill, John, Nellie and Rosie I can't say it faster than that all embarking on their own careers in business, law, and medicine. This is the greatest distinction of my life. I am over the moon with honor to receive the Theodore Roosevelt award of the NCAA. With confidence and humility, I accept this "Teddy" award and promise I will live up to its high standards. Thank you.
(Applause.)
ANDY KATZ: Congratulations
again to Dr. Carol Lally
Shields!
(Applause.)
As she said, on the anniversary of Title IX, everyone would want Dr. Shields to lead their team. What a phenomenal night.
And now, I’d like to ask all the
2023 honorees to please stand
for one more round of applause.
(Applause.)
If we can, guests are asked to stay seated as the honorees make their exit.
We salute all our deserving
honorees for their accomplishments and for being shining examples to all of us.
Tonight is another great example in a message to all our membership across the country, you see what it means to these individuals to be recognized. They're deserving. Every year I look forward to this night, it's obviously a highlight of the year. So thrilled we're back here all in person. Again, you can learn more about all their great stories, inspiring stories, on the digital event program on the NCAA Convention app or by visiting NCAA.org.
As you exit, please go to the back, the doors are behind you as you go out the ballroom. On behalf of the NCAA, thank you for attending this year's Honors Celebration. We look forward to seeing you all next year at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix. Stay well, be safe, thank you. Good night.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports