NMSHOF - Key Persons
o Brice Long was manager at ASU(former video coordinator for the Minnesota Timberwolves).
Job Titles:
- Occupation - School Administrator
In the 1950s and 60s, handball was king among Albuquerque's elite athletic circles. And Emanuel "Manny" Smith was the king of Albuquerque handball courts. Smith was the dean of Duke City handball, having won 11 consecutive Albuquerque city titles (1957-67) and nine straight New Mexico state crowns (1958-66) both still records to this day. His battles with the late Cordy Garcia were legendary, with Smith winning 11 of their 13 matches. Twice, Smith was feature in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" during his reign, and became the Duke City's first nationally-ranked handball player having won tournaments from across the country. But the man the late George Maloof Sr., said was "The best athlete I ever met," Manny was so much more than an Albuquerque sports legend. He was a highly-honored teacher, principal and actor and was a stellar influence to so many Albuquerque students, athletes and would-be actors. When Smith died at age 65 in 1995, the Del Norte High School Theater of Performing Arts was standing room only for "The Final Act - The Manny Smith Memorial," an event that was televised locally.
Frank Castillo retired as a teacher from Albuquerque Public School (APS) after 33 ½ years of dedicated service to the students of APS. He has continued to the head basketball coach at La Cueva High School, where he has won 5 state championships and numerous district and city championships. In 2007, he was inducted into the New Mexico High School Coaches Hall of Fame. In 2010 Coach Castillo was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He has also been named Coach of the Year by the Albuquerque Coaches Association and the New Mexico High School Coaches Association. Coach Castillo has also been nominated as Regional Coach of the Year by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association and the NFHS Coaches Association. Frank was a board member of the NMAA Commission and is currently a member of the NMAA Basketball Sports Specific Committee. He also served on several boards in the community including the Heart Hospital Foundation. In 2015, Coach Castillo became the winningest basketball coach in APS history. The 2015-2016 will be his 38 th season as a head basketball coach in APS, which is the longest tenure.
Henry was born and raised in Albuquerque "By His Wonderful Mother Della-The Leader of His Life!" He attended St. Therese Elementary School and McKinley Mid-School where he was a three sport athlete and Sandia High School where he also was a three sport athlete and played quarterback and defensive back for the Matadors. During his Senior year playing against Manzano Henry intercepted four passes, which is still a school record. Henry also was an All City baseball player and a basketball point guard. He attended the University of New Mexico where he studied physical education, biology and recreation. Served as the Director of the Old Town Boys Club for 8 years. He was also a highly rated high school and college basketball referee. He left the boys club to become a radio and television broadcaster and was the voice of the LOBOS at KOB-TV from 1977-1998. In 1998, Henry founded New Mexico's first ever "All Sports" radio station at 1150 AM. At that time it was only the third of its kind in the country. It was the "KID'S STATION" broadcasting hundreds of games for thousands of kids for 15 years. Henry was also the voice the UNM LOBO Baseball team for 13 years. He is a former winner of the State of New Mexico Sportscaster of the Year Award and two time winner of the Play by Play award by the New Mexico's Broadcasters Association. In 2013, Henry earned the Best Sports Show and Best Feature wards by the New Mexcio Broadcasters Association. Henry current hosts s a Saturday Morning Show at ESPN Radio 101.7 FM, "The TEAM". "Henry's greatest highlight has been watching his son Aaron come into the world and being proud to be his father and watching Aaron become a husband to his wonderful wife Jessica and a father to Henry's beautiful granddaughters Jersey and Brooklyn."
Job Titles:
- Member of the NM Sports Hall of Fame Board
- Retired Chief
JOSEPH F. BACA retired Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico and earned his J.D. degree at George Washington University Law School. He received an L.L.M. degree from the University of Virginia Law School. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from George Washington University.
Justice Baca is the recipient of numerous awards, including the J. William Fulbright Award for Distinguished Public Service from George Washington University Law School and the Outstanding Judicial Service Award from the New Mexico Bar Association. Twice named by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the "100 Most influential Hispanics in America". He was also selected as one of seven lawyers on the Hispanic National Bar Association's "Short List" sent to Presidents George H.W. Bush, William Clinton and George W. Bush with recommendation of appointment to the United States Supreme Court.
Justice Baca has been a member of the NM Sports Hall of Fame Board for over twenty years. A past president of the UNM Alumni Association, he is an avid Lobo fan.
Karen Honeycutt graduated from Raton High School. Karen earned a BS and Masters from Eastern New Mexico University. She worked at Albuquerque High School as a teacher, Activities Director, Cheer and Dance Coach for 14 years. Karen was the Assistant Director for 10 years and interim Executive Director for 1 year at the New Mexico Activities Association. Currently a Supervisor at Santa Ana Star Casino.
Lena Pierotti moved to White Rock New Mexico in 1951. Lou worked outside the closed city of Los Alamos as a butcher in a grocery store. In 1952, Lou and his wife Lena became the first owners of a business in Los Alamos, by betting on themselves, by obtaining a loan to start the Pierotti's Soda Bar. The restaurant was successful and the home of the Pierotti Clowns. They sold the restaurant in 1965.
Lou moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Lou and four partners opened Valley Bowl on North Fourth Street in 1965. Lou and Lena returned to Los Alamos and purchased another business in 1967. They created Pierotti's Los Alamos Floral with wife Lee and Vera Gallagher as floral designers. The floral shop proved to be another successful business adventure for 18 years, until final retirement in 1985.
Mark, one of the most accomplished and decorated sportswriters and sportscasters in state history, just completed his first year on the committee.
The Albuquerque native graduated from Eldorado High (1975) and completed both broadcast and print sequences for his journalism degree from UNM in 1981. He has worked as a professional journalist in Albuquerque for 38 years, and is the only New Mexican to ever be named the National Sportswriter and Sportscaster Association's state sportscaster of the year (1984) and sportswriter of the year (2015, 2016). In addition, Mark has captured more than 20 other awards at state, regional and national levels.
In 1996, he was the top individual honored by the Associated Press Managing Editors for national investigative story of the year. The award was for his reporting on the St. Pius Bucklegate controversy.
He also broke a number of national stories during the fallout from the fatal shooting of former UNM and Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy, who was killed by a teammate. The stories, in which Smith was interviewed numerous times by CNN, ESPN, MSNBC and the Today Show, led to the downfall of the Baylor program and coach Dave Bliss, a former Lobo coach. He has also been a correspondent for ESPN and CNN, and has been host of sports talk shows on three Albuquerque radio stations.
Mark wrestled and played baseball at Eldorado, and describes himself as "the ultimate gym rat" when it came to playing basketball at the EHS and Johnson Gym.
"I guess the adage is true." Mark said with a laugh. "Those who can, do. Those who can't, become sports writers."
Mark, a New Mexico sports historian, stayed active in adult basketball, tennis, softball and golf leagues "until my fourth ACL made me realize the best place for me to be at a sporting event, is press row."
He is the son of longtime APS teachers Rosemary and the late Manny Smith. Manny was a nine-time state handball champion.
Mark's wife, Robyn, is an APS teacher and their 7-year-old son, Brock, is a first grader "and a future City Golf Champion," Mark says. "Or, maybe, a caddy."
o Nick recounted that young Mexican kids would wait for him to come out of the gym after each home game and would chant to him, "Money, money, money," so he would throw them Mexican centavos. After losing an important game, Nick came out to their chanting for money and he explained to them that they never even bothered to ask him how the game went. After future games, the kids still waited for him but asked "Did you win or lose tonight?" Then after he responded, they would chant, "Pino, Pino, Pino!" This was one of his fond memories of his time in Mexico. Nick always loved those kids. Many were homeless and hungry. He watched them run around and play soccer on the streets. He was the only member of the basketball team that payed attention to these kids and gave them some financial support.
Job Titles:
- Assistant at ASU ( Head Coach at UT San Antonio )
Job Titles:
- Assistant at Ole Miss and Arizona State ( Head Coach at Bethany College, Kansas
Job Titles:
- Manager at ASU, ( Former NBA Scout for the OK City Thunder, New York Knicks, and Long Island Nets. )
A former four-sport standout at Albuquerque's Sandia High (class of 1978) and community and business leader, Paula is in her first year with the committee. She brings a wealth of knowledge about New Mexico prep sports. The 1983 University of Arizona graduate (BS in education) has shared her love for sports as a coach in softball, basketball and tennis. She lettered at Sandia in volleyball, field hockey, basketball and softball.
In 1978, Paula was shortstop and co-captain for the Matadors' state championship softball team. "Winning state is something I will always remember," she said. and I would love for Sandia to win another one. It's the only State Championship Sandia has ever won in softball."
At the U of A, she was very active in intramural sports.
"And I'm still a big fan of U of A sports," she said, noting that if the Wildcats play in Albuquerque, "I'll be there."
Paula has stayed extremely active in sports, and her passions include golf, cycling and tennis.
She has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and biked across Iowa. In tennis, she qualified for nationals in 2009 and 2017 at the 4.0 level.
Outside of sports, Paula started PS Ink Screen Printing & Embroidery in 1996, which is still very successful in Albuquerque. She was also a member of the Leadership Albuquerque Class of 2003 and served on the curriculum committee for two years.
Paula's hobbies include traveling, food and reading
o Phil Jabour was Evans' manager at ASU( currently scout for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director for the New Mexico Association of Educational Retirees
Russell Goff is the Executive Director for the New Mexico Association of Educational Retirees. He has served as Executive Director since 2002. Russell began his career as a teacher at AdobeAcresElementary School in 1964 and served for 37 years in the Albuquerque Public Schools until retiring in 2001. In APS he served as a teacher, coach, activities director, assistant principal, lobbyist and culminating his career as Principal of Eldorado High School. He also served as Principal of Washington and WilsonMiddle Schools in APS. He received his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from the University of New Mexico and did additional graduate study at the Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado and Appalachian State College in Boone, North Carolina. Currently, he serves on four boards including: the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame, where he is a past-president, the New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders, the New Mexico Association of Educational Retirees and is a also a trustee on the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board. Russell and his wife, Linda, have two daughters and two grandsons.
o Sean Sutton was assistant at Mississippi in 1992-93( Head coach at Oklahoma State).