PHOENIX SUNS

Mickelson, Westphal among 2020 Arizona Sports Hall of Fame class

Sep 8, 2020, 7:51 AM

Arizona State alum Phil Mickelson (Photo by Tyler Drake/ Cronkite News)...

Arizona State alum Phil Mickelson (Photo by Tyler Drake/ Cronkite News)

(Photo by Tyler Drake/ Cronkite News)

The votes have been tallied.

The Arizona Sports Hall of Fame announced its 2020 class on Tuesday, with a former Arizona State golfer and former Phoenix Suns player/coach making the cut. The seven inducted members in the 50th class qualify because they are native Arizonans, recognized as such or have made two or more contributions to athletics in the state.

Here is the entire list of 2020’s inductees:

Phil Mickelson

The PGA pro and former Arizona State Sun Devil is recognized as one of the best golfers of all-time.

Mickelson captured three NCAA titles as a member of the Sun Devils in 1989, 1990 and again in 1992. With the help of Lefty, ASU took home its first-ever team NCAA championship in 1990. Mickelson earned First-Team All-American honors in all four years at ASU.

He was named Pac-10 Player of the Year as a sophomore, junior and senior and won 16 tournaments over the course of the his college career.

As a professional, Mickelson continued to find success, winning 44 PGA Tour events, including five major victories. His major wins include three Masters (2004, 2006, 2010), an Open Championship and a PGA Championship (2005).

Paul Westphal

Paul Westphal is a five-time NBA All-Star and played the best basketball of his career in Phoenix.

Arriving to the Valley in a 1975 trade, Westphal went on to average 20 points per game in all five of his seasons with the Suns from 1976-80.

In three of his five seasons in Phoenix, Westphal made First Team All-NBA and was also Second Team All-NBA for the 1977-78 season.

Following his career as a player, Westphal went on to be an assistant coach and later the head coach for the Suns. In four seasons as the team’s head coach, he tallied a 191-88 record and led Phoenix to the 1993 NBA Finals. The Suns fell in six games to the Chicago Bulls.

Westphal was inducted into the Suns’ Ring of Honor in 1998 and is also a member of the USC Hall of Fame and Pac-12 Hall of Honor.

Westphal was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.

Joe Caldwell

Jumpin’ Joe Caldwell is revered as one of Arizona State’s top basketball players. Caldwell spent three seasons (83 games) in Tempe, averaging 18.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. For his efforts, Caldwell was selected second overall in the 1964 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.

Before getting drafted, however, Caldwell won a gold medal with the 1964 U.S. Olympic basketball team.

After a short stint with the Pistons, Caldwell joined the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks, making the All-Star game twice. He then went on to play for the ABA’s Carolina Cougars, where he was named an All-Star two more times. Caldwell was also named to three All-Defensive teams in his 13-year career.

Ann Meyers Drysdale

Naismith Hall of Fame inductee and sportscaster Ann Meyers Drysdale has blazed a trail for women in sports.

Not only was she the first woman to ever receive a scholarship, she’s still the only female ever to sign an NBA contract. On top of that, she was one of the first female color analysts in the NBA and still calls Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury games.

In 2006, she was hired as the Mercury GM and VP of the Suns. She served as GM until 2011.

Andre Ethier

St. Mary’s High School product Andre Ethier carved out an impressive MLB career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

During his 12 seasons with the team, Ethier recorded 1,367 hits and 687 RBIs while sporting a .285 batting average to go along with a .359 OBP. The Phoenix native was named an All-Star twice in his career. The outfielder made it to the postseason eight times, including a 2017 World Series appearing before retiring in July of 2018.

Roland Hemond

Roland Hemond worked as senior executive vice president of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 1996-2000 and is credited for helping guide the franchise through its debut season in 1998.

Hemond also created the Arizona Fall League in 1992, providing a league for baseball prospects still developing.

He had two stints with the D-backs, the first beginning in 1996 as the team’s senior executive VP, before returning to Arizona in 2007 as the special assistant to president and CEO Derrick Hall.

Hemond is a three-time winner of Major League Baseball’s Executive of the Year award (1972, 1983, 1989).

John Bridger

Thunderbirds executive director John Bridger was voted to the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame by the public after retiring in May of last year.

The 2020 Waste Management Phoenix Open marked Bridger’s 18th and final year as executive director. He had a meaningful role in growing the Waste Management Phoenix Open — and its charitable fundraising — to what it is today.

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