Notebook / Ray Ripton : UCLA Adds 6 Bright Stars to Athletic Hall of Fame Galaxy

Six dominant figures from UCLA’s athletic past have been inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

The new members, who joined 25 charter members inducted last June, are Bob Davenport, All-American single-wing fullback in 1954 and 1955; Craig Dixon, bronze medalist in the high hurdles in the 1948 Olympics, and former athletic director Wilbur Johns.

Also, Tommy Prothro, former head football coach whose Bruins defeated Michigan State in the 1966 Rose Bowl; George Stanich, a top athlete in track, basketball and baseball in the late 1940s, and Sidney Wicks, twice an All-American basketball player from 1969 through 1971.

With Davenport scoring a then-record 25 career touchdowns, UCLA won three straight Pacific Coast Conference championships, and the 1954 team was voted No. 1 in the nation by United Press International.

After the 1948 Olympics, hurdler Dixon won 59 straight races and was ranked the best in the world. His streak included two wins each in the NCAA and the national AAU championships.

A former Bruin cager, Johns coached basketball from 1939 to 1948, and his teams won division titles in 1945 and 1947. He hired Red Sanders as football coach and John Wooden as basketball coach.

During Prothro’s six years at Westwood, his teams had an overall record of 41-18-3, and he coached a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Gary Beban. As head coach at Oregon State, Prothro led the Beavers to two Rose Bowl appearances and developed another Heisman Trophy quarterback in Terry Baker.

Stanich won a bronze medal in the high jump in the 1948 Olympics, was an All-American basketball guard and was the Bruins’ top baseball pitcher for two seasons.

Wicks played on three NCAA championship squads for Wooden and is probably best remembered for his outstanding play in the 1970 title game. He showed tough defense against Jacksonville’s 7-footer Artis Gilmore and grabbed 18 rebounds and scored 17 points. He is now a volunteer assistant under Coach Walt Hazzard. He is seventh on UCLA’s career scoring list with 1,423 points and sixth in rebounding with 894.

A father and his son and a coach and her former player all won top honors in the 59th annual Los Angeles City Public Parks Tennis Championships. Each is eligible for the National Public Parks Tennis Championships, Aug. 11-16 in Bloomington, Minn.

Ernie Shoop Jr. of Pacific Palisades won the men’s open singles, and his father, Ernie Sr., took the 45-and-older singles division. Julie Frasier, the top player for her Santa Monica College squad this past season, won the women’s open singles and teamed with her SMC coach, Serena Rittmayer in women’s open doubles.

Hamilton Alexander of Hollywood was the singles champion in the men’s 65-and-older division.