Seven Named To UCO Athletic Hall of Fame

8/11/2014 5:10:00 PM

EDMOND (Aug. 11) -- Five of the best athletes in school history, a long-time administrator and one of the biggest supporters of the athletic department have been elected for induction into the University of Central Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame.

Making up the 2014 Hall of Fame class in the Athlete Category is 1940s basketball star Bill Ballew, football All-American Ed Desherow, soccer standout Kim (Brown) Kilgore and wrestling national champions Cole Province and Shawn Silvis, while Jeff McKibbin was chosen in the Coach/Administrator category and Chad Richison for Lifetime Achievement.

The seven new members will be formally inducted during the UCO Hall of Fame Banquet Oct. 31 in the University Center Ballroom.

A native of Bray, Okla., Ballew served in World War II before coming to Central in 1946 and joining the basketball team as an undersized 6-foot-2 center. He went on to garner first-team All-Oklahoma Collegiate Conference honors four straight years, the first player in school history to achieve that honor.

Ballew averaged 15.0 points a game for his career and become UCO's first-ever 1,000-point scorer when he finished with what was then a school-record 1,092 points. He still ranks 31st on the school's career scoring list, one of just eight players in the top 40 to have played before 1960.

Ballew was a high school coach at John Marshall High School, Edmond Memorial High School and Putnam City High School before moving to California in the mid-1960s and continuing his coaching career there.

Desherow was a local star at Edmond Memorial High School before signing with Arkansas, redshirting his first year there and then sitting out the next season to injury. He came to UCO in the spring of 1982 and had an immediate impact the following fall in helping lead the Bronchos to the NAIA national championship.

The hard-hitting linebacker racked up 134 tackles -- the seventh-best season in school history -- with one interception and one fumble recovery in earning All-District Nine honors. Desherow made 43 tackles in three playoff games, including an astounding 25 in UCO's first-round win over Colorado State-Pueblo, and had 11 tackles with a broken up pass in a 14-11 finals victory over Colorado Mesa.

Desherow put together one of the best defensive seasons in school history as a junior in 1983 in finishing with 149 tackles, the fourth-most in school history. He made 12 or more tackles in eight games and was named District Nine Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team NAIA All-American as the Bronchos went 8-1-1.

Desherow battled injuries throughout his senior season in 1984 but still amassed 75 tackles, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions in picking up first-team All-District Nine and second-team All-America recognition as UCO finished 7-3. Desherow, who passed away in 1994, ranks seventh on the school's all-time tackles list with 358.

Kilgore helped put UCO's fledging soccer program on the map during her four-year stint as a high-scoring forward from 1999-02, leading the Bronchos to a 71-17-1 record, two Lone Star Conference championships and two NCAA Division II national tournament berths during that span.

She was a first-team All-LSC selection and the Freshman of the Year as a rookie in 1999 after finishing second in the league in goals (19) and points (46) as UCO went 13-5-1 in just its second season of existence. Kilgore came back the next season to repeat as a first-team All-LSC pick in addition to grabbing second-team All-Region honors after again finishing second in the conference in goals (18) and points (45) for a 21-3 team that captured its first LSC title and made its initial national tournament appearance.

Kilgore was even better as a junior in 2001 when she led the league in goals (34) and points (74), ranking third and fifth nationally in those two categories, while garnering LSC Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Region recognition for a 15-6 team. She was a repeat LSC Offensive Player of the Year winner and second-team All-Region pick during her senior campaign after again leading the conference in goals (20) and points (44) as the Bronchos went 20-3 in winning the LSC and making the national tournament.

Kilgore finished with school and LSC career records for goals (91), goals per game (1.05), points (209), points per game (3.00) and shots (350). She owns single-game school marks for goals (five) and points (12) while ranking second, fourth and fifth on UCO's single-season goals list.

Province put together one of the best careers in UCO's illustrious wrestling history from 2000-04 in capturing four consecutive NCAA Division II national championships at 133 pounds. He's one of just 20 four-time national champions in the history of collegiate wrestling at any level.

A prep standout at Claremore High School, Province redshirted his first year with the Bronchos and then won the Midwest Regional and national titles in 2000-01 to cap a 34-10 season, becoming UCO's first freshman Division II national champion. He came back as a sophomore in 2001-02 to go 34-11 in repeating as regional and national champion while leading the Bronchos to their first team national crown since 1995.

Province missed the first semester of his junior season to an elbow injury, but was unbeatable upon his return and ended up a perfect 26-0. He claimed regional and national titles for the third straight season, claiming Midwest Regional Wrestler of the Year and Division II National Tournament Outstanding Wrestler honors in the process as UCO won the team national championship.

Province capped his career in 2003-04 with another dominating season, going 36-1 -- the lone loss coming to the Division I national champion -- while winning the regional and national championships once again. He finished with a 130-22 career record, ranking fifth on UCO's all-time wins list, and had 60 bonus-point wins with a school-record 33 major decisions. Province, who never lost a home match, was inducted into the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013.

Silvis also enjoyed a productive career on the mat during the same span as a four-year starter and three-time All-American at 165 pounds.

A four-time state placer at Augusta (Kan.) High School, Silvis went 27-16 as a true freshman in 2000-01 and qualified for the NCAA Division II national tournament with a Midwest Regional runner-up finish. He rebounded from an early-season knee injury the following season to put together a 31-2 record en route to capturing regional and national championships to help UCO claim the national team title.

Silvis continued his dominating ways as a junior in 2002-03, going 32-6 and repeating as regional and national champion while the Bronchos won a second straight team crown. He was denied a third straight national title as a senior with a close finals loss in finishing as runner-up, but was named Midwest Regional Wrestler of the Year after winning that championship and ended up 41-4 -- the fifth-most wins in a season at UCO -- with 25 bonus-point victories.

Silvis ended his career with a 131-28 record, ranking third on UCO's all-time wins list and he was inducted into the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013.

McKibbin enjoyed a lengthy career with the Bronchos in various roles within the athletic department while impacting the lives of thousands of student-athletes and is still associated with the university.

A student assistant trainer at UCO during the 1970s, McKibbin took over as head athletic trainer in 1980 and served in that capacity until 2004, when he took over as chair of the Graduate Athletic Training Program. He assumed additional duties as assistant athletic director for facilities and equipment in the early 1990s and became associate athletic director in the early 2000s.

McKibbin has served as president of the Oklahoma Athletic Trainers Association and chair of the regional division of the National Athletic Trainers Association. He was inducted into the Mid-America Athletic Trainers' Association's Hall of Fame in 2011.

Richison, a member of the UCO wrestling team in the early 1990s, has been a loyal supporter of the Bronchos for many years in addition to being deeply involved in many civic activities in the Edmond and Oklahoma City communities.

He started Paycom in 1998 and has built it into one of the country's most respected companies and one of the largest payroll service providers in the world. Paycom has been consistently ranked as one of the top work places in the state and in 2013 celebrated its eighth consecutive year a an Inc. 500/5000 honoree and 11th year on Oklahoma City's Metro 50 list.

Richison was named Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year in the Southwest Area in 2010 and earned the Oklahoman's 2013 Large Business Leadership Award. He has become one of UCO's top athletic donors and is a valued member of the UCO Athletics Strategic Advisory Committee.

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