JASON TERRY – BASKETBALL
Jason Terry led Seattle’s Franklin High School to consecutive state basketball championships in 1994 and 1995, then was a key member of the University of Arizona NCAA national championship in 1997. During his professional career, he added an NBA title with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. A 6-foot-2 guard, Terry played 19 years in the NBA, averaging 13.4 points (18,881 career, regular season) and 3.8 assists (5,415 career). For the 2008-09 season, Terry was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, one of five consecutive seasons where he finished in the top three of voting for the award. Terry shot 38% on 3-pointers in his career and tied an NBA playoff record with nine 3-pointers in a 2011 Western Conference Semifinals game. At one point, The Jet’s 2,282 made 3-pointers were in the top 10 in NBA history. His NBA career high was a 46-point game in 2022. Terry’s number 31 was retired by the University of Arizona, where he was the Pac-10 Player of the Year and a first-team All-American in 1999.
RHONDA SMITH BANCHERO – BASKETBALL
Rhonda Smith of Seattle’s Franklin High was named the 1989 State of Washington basketball player of the year by the Seattle Times and Gatorade. At 6-foot-3, she was a force in the paint and became the all-time leading scorer (1,801 points) and third in career rebounds (803) at the University of Washington. She led the Huskies to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament her senior year (1994-95) and earned All-America honors from Basketball America. Smith-Banchero was a three-time all-Pac-10 selection having led the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament in her final three seasons. Professionally, she played seven seasons abroad in addition to stints in the American Basketball League with the Seattle Reign and Portland Power and the WNBA with the Sacramento Monarchs. She was the first player from Washington ever selected in the WNBA draft in 2000.
KELLY STEPHENS TYSLAND – ICE HOCKEY
Kelly Stephens grew up in Shoreline when options for girl’s hockey were limited. She trained at Olympic View Ice Arena with the Seattle Junior Hockey Association. At 14, she moved away to pursue the sport at the highest level. She became a star at the University of Minnesota and an Olympian with the U.S. women’s team. In five games at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Stephens scored two goals and had two assists. In the bronze medal game against Sweden, she scored the game winner. She earned two IIHF World Women’s Championships medals—a gold medal in 2005 in Sweden and a silver in 2004 in Canada. At the University of Minnesota from 2001-2005, she helped the Gophers win the national championship twice. In 2004, she was selected to the All-Tournament Team after scoring five points in the Frozen Four. In 2005, the Gophers went 36-2-2 and were the top-ranked team in the nation all season. After her competitive years, Stephens-Tysland returned to the Seattle area and became a leading voice for bringing women’s pro hockey to Seattle.
BOB RONDEAU – BROADCASTER
The voice of University of Washington football and basketball for a generation, Bob was a 10-time winner of the National Sports Media Association Washington State Sports Broadcaster of the Year. He began calling UW football as the color commentator in 1978 when he was the sports director at KOMO Radio. He switched to play-by-play in 1981 and represented Husky football on the radio until his retirement at the end of the 2017 season. He also called UW men’s basketball games from 1985 through 2016. Bob described many of the greatest moments in Huskies history including the 1991 football national championship, four Heisman Trophy finalists, and 11 NCAA basketball tournament teams.
RICHIE SEXSON – BASEBALL
Before he was a Major League Baseball All-Star, Richie was a 6-foot-7 standout in baseball, basketball and football at Prairie High School near Vancouver. He had a 44-point basketball game and college scholarship offers as wide receiver as well. He intended to play baseball and basketball in college but was selected by Cleveland in the 1993 MLB draft and signed a pro contract. By 1997, he began a 12-year Major League career that finished with a .261 average, 306 home runs and 943 RBI. Richie was an MLB All-Star in 2002 and 2003 playing for the Milwaukee Brewers, where he hit a career-high 45 homers in 2003. Twice in his career, he received votes for Most Valuable Player, including 2005 when he hit 39 home runs and drove in 121 for the Seattle Mariners, one of his four seasons in Seattle.
ED VIESTURS – MOUNTAINEERING
Ed is widely regarded as the foremost high-altitude mountaineer ever from the United States. He reached the summits of all of the world’s 14 8,000-meter peaks without using supplemental oxygen. He completed this goal May 12, 2005 with his ascent of Nepal’s Annapurna one of the world’s most treacherous mountains. He is one of only a handful of climbers in history (and the only American) to accomplish this. National Geographic named him Adventurer of the Year in 2005. Ed reached the peak of Earth’s surface atop Mount Everest seven times. A long-time Bainbridge Island resident, he came to Washington as a UW student (class of ’81) and started climbing Mount Rainier. He has guided himself and others to the top of Rainier over 200 times in addition to leading ascents of the most technical peaks in the world.
ARETHA (HILL) THURMOND – TRACK & FIELD
At Renton High, Aretha won three consecutive WIAA state titles in the discus (1992-1994) and a shot put championship. She was just getting started on a world class career. At the University of Washington, she was a 4-time All-American (1995-98) setting UW and Pac-10 Conference records. Her first Olympics came while she was still a UW Husky in 1996. She qualified for the U.S. Olympic team three other times (2004, 2008 and 2012). She was the U.S. national champion in 2003 and 2004 and the gold medalist at the 1999 and 2003 Pan American Games. Aretha spent several years ranked among the top 10 discus throwers in the IAAF World Rankings, reaching a career high of 6th in 2005. Her career best throw of 216 feet, 1 inch came in 2004 and was once the third best distance by a U.S. competitor.
Big 10 Impact video highlighting Aretha’s career: