2006

Matt Arnot was a four-time All-American gymnast at UNM from 1981-85.   The highlight of his amateur career came after his senior season when he was presented with the Nissen Award – the equivalent of college football’s Heisman Trophy.  The Nissen is given to the top senior each year based on academic and athletic accomplishments.  Arnot was also a four time Western Athletic Conference all-around champion.

By the time Arnot came to UNM, he was already a seasoned gymnast.

“I started in a tumbling class at Fishback Dance Studio in 1970,” said Arnot.  “Ed Burch was the teacher.”  Burch later opened Gold Cup Gymnastics in the late 1970s and took gymnasts to international and Olympic competition.

Time management and discipline are hallmarks of the sport.  “I frequently was at school from 7:30 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon and in the gym from 4:30 until 9. I had to fit in schoolwork and my parents said that if my grades suffered, I couldn’t do gymnastics. Gymnastics motivated me to do my best.”

Unlike other sports that have an off-season, gymnastics operates year round. “The collegiate season ran from December to April and the international circuit from May through September or October. The months in between, we healed from injury and learned new skills,” Arnot said.

In 1984, Arnot was ranked 15^th at the All-Around Olympic Trials. He had a long and illustrious career as a member of the USA national team from 1978-1985.  Also in 1985, Arnot earned a BBA from Anderson Schools of Management at UNM, and became the UNM men’s assistant gymnastics coach.

The degree came in handy when Arnot opened Duke City Gymnastics in 1990.  He owned and operated DCG until 2002 when he sold it in order to “dedicate my time to my family.”

Arnot became a loan officer at Superior Mortgage Company.  He made partner in May 2006 and has been in the mortgage business since in 1986.

Chuck Clausen, ’63 BSHPE, was a super wrestler and football player. He was also a super coach and a Super Bowl coach.  He got his start on the mat and on the field at Albuquerque’s Highland High School before competing in both sports at UNM.  A heavyweight grappler, Clausen won more than 90 percent of his wrestling matches as a Lobo between 1960-62.

A gridiron great, Clausen played center and linebacker in the 1961 Aviation Bowl. He played the same positions the following year when the Lobos were WAC champions.

A five-time letterman, Clausen wasn’t coming to school just to play. He was equally astute in the classroom, making the Dean’s List almost every semester.  He served on Student Council and was vice president of the Student Lettermen’s Club. Clausen earned a physical education degree, but also took the required courses for a major in psychology.

Following graduation, he coached wrestling and football at Gallup High School for one year before moving to Fremont, Calif., where he not only coached, but also earned a master’s in psychology at San Jose State. New Mexico lured him back briefly and he became the defensive coordinator for the New Mexico Military Institute.

In 1971, Woody Hayes called from Ohio State.  Five years and four straight Rose Bowls later, Dick Vermeil, then at UCLA, was asking him to give a clinic on defense.

Vermeil eventually got the job with the Philadelphia Eagles.  Clausen was with the Eagles for 10 years, including a 1981 Super Bowl appearance against Oakland.  Clausen coached a few more years in the pros – with the Atlanta Falcons and one year with the San Diego Chargers – but he discovered that commercial real estate requires the same kind of relationship-building that sports demands.

Of his induction Clausen said, “I am honored. It was something I didn’t expect. UNM was an important part of my life, contributing to my success on the field and by providing me with a good education.”

In his nearly 14-year tenure as director of athletics at the University of New Mexico from 1992-2006, Rudy Davalos elevated the Lobos’ program academically, competitively and fiscally.  His accomplishments were recognized nationally in 2002 as Davalos was featured by Sports Illustrated as one of the 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports.  He also received the Dr. Albert C. Yates Distinguished Service Award in 2006, bestowed upon an individual who successfully supported, promoted and exemplified the ideals of the Mountain West Conference or a member institution.

University of New Mexico student-athletes were consistently among the Mountain West Conference leaders in the academic arena.  The Lobos produced 86 MWC Scholar-Athletes during the 2004-05 academic year, more than any other conference school.  UNM student-athletes continually established new standards for semester grade-point-average, reaching a combined 3.0 or higher in the last eight terms of Davalos’ tenure.  Additionally, more than 100 student-athletes received national academic recognition since 1993.

Athletically, in the 10 years before Davalos came to New Mexico only five sports had combined to win or share 10 conference titles.  During his time at UNM, eight teams won or shared nearly 40 regular-season or postseason conference championships.  UNM was represented at NCAA postseason competition more than 115 times, while more than 150 student-athletes earned All-America recognition for their athletic achievements.

In men’s basketball, eight of the Lobos’ 11 NCAA Tournament appearances came while Davalos was at New Mexico.  Likewise, all of the NCAA Tournament showings for the Lobo women’s basketball program occurred while he was at UNM.  Men and women’s basketball ranked in the top-15 in national attendance average nine times.

In football, half of New Mexico’s total bowl appearances were accomplished between 1997-2004.  Season attendance records were broken seven times.

The UNM ski team won the 2004 NCAA championship, the first Lobo program to claim a national title, and was second in 2006.  Lobo men’s soccer was national runner-up in 2005. 

When Davalos started in 1992, the athletics department budget was $9.4 million.  The Lobos operated the 2005-06 fiscal year with a budget of more than $22 million.  Not one time during Davalos’ stay did the department fail to meet its annual financial obligations.

Davalos forged a relationship with the state’s governors and legislators, local businesses and private contributors, allowing the school to update, renovate or provide new construction for virtually every athletics facility.

Davalos served on numerous conference and national committees, including the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball committees, the NCAA Baseball Committee and the NCAA Championships Committee.

Charles “Chuck” Koskovich, raised in Canton, Ohio, was the oldest son of Joseph and Catherine Koskovich, of Zagreb, Yugoslavia.  An avid athlete, Chuck was recruited to play football for the University of New Mexico.  His tenure as a student-athlete laid the foundation for a long and fruitful life in Albuquerque.

Chuck contributed his leadership and athletics skills as quarterback for the 1951, ‘52 and ‘53 football teams.  The 1952 team earned a spot in the UNM Athletic Hall of Honor in 1993.  Coached by Dudley DeGroot, also a Posthumous Hall of Honor inductee, the team continued to excel with several shutout wins over Skyline Conference teams.

A competitive player on the field, Chuck was just as competitive off the field running for Student Body President.  As only a quarterback can strategize his plays, Chuck was ready to make some changes in student government.  But the gentleman he was, he graciously stepped down when it was ruled he was ineligible due to lack of only three credit hours. This didn’t stop Chuck from being involved as a student leader, however.  Chuck was an active member of his fraternity, Kappa Sigma, when he ran for student council as well as Jack or King of Hearts.  He also found time to court his future bride, Judy Hubbard. 

After graduating from UNM, Chuck spent his professional career with Lincoln National Life, ACF Industries and retired from the Department of Energy in 1996.

Chuck had a passion for the Lobos, volunteering his free time with the Lobo Club and serving as president of the UNM Alumni Lettermen’s Association.  As many athletes often do in their lifetime, Chuck volunteered to help youth in sports by coaching eight years in YAFL.  He also spent several years as a board member of the Albuquerque Sports Hall of Fame and volunteered for the Heart Hospital in Albuquerque.

Chuck passed away in April of 2006.

George W. “Blanco” White held the position of Administrator of Varsity Athletics and Intramural Sports at the University of New Mexico from 1937 until 1957.  He was also the Assistant Dean of the College of Education and the Director of Physical Education and Health.  As Assistant Dean of the College of Education, White was termed the general manager of Athletics.  His job involved seeing that there was more income at the gate than there was outgoing in the athletic budget, determining ticket prices, telling the fans where to sit and who sits where, and in general, keeping his finger on the pulse of the entire athletics program.

During his years at the University of New Mexico, he strived to bring the athletic program into prominence.  He endeavored to engage the services of coaches with winning records and those with excellent academic qualifications, and also that necessary spark to motivate young minds.

All positions in the athletics department were under his leadership.  As Assistant Dean of the College of Education and Director of Physical Education and Health, all academic and athletic personnel served under his direction.  This included the position of Athletics Director that was held by Roy Johnson.  Johnson held that position from 1931 until 1942.  He served in World War II until the end of the conflict in 1945.  During the war years, George White maintained that position until Johnson returned.

It must be stated that the athletic staff under the direction of George White kept the Lobo athletic program in national prominence by everyone helping each other in the coaching of all sports.  When push came to shove, Blanco did what he had to do to keep the Lobos viable. When Benny Sacks was called to active duty, Willis Barnes took over the basketball program.  One year later, White took over the Lobo basketball team and won the 1943-44 Border Conference championship. 

White always felt that the winning of the Border Conference championship was his ultimate coaching memory.  When needed, White performed all duties.  He served as an assistant football coach in 1940.  In the absence of Johnson, he not only coached the basketball team, but also the track team from 1943-1945.  After the war, he coached the tennis team from 1953 until his untimely death in 1957 at the age of 60.

Coach George White graduated from Albuquerque High School in 1914.  He enrolled at the University where he was the football captain in 1917 and also participated under the direction of Roy Johnson in track and basketball after Johnson joined the faculty at the University in 1920.

• Served in a variety of leadership positions in the New Mexico State Legislature for more than 30 years

• Responsible for funding support of numerous major capital improvements at UNM, including the Tow Diehm Athletics Facility, Championship Golf Course, parking lots at University Stadium, renovations to Johnson Arena and much, much more

• Solely responsible for the $2.7 million of recurring money allocated to UNM athletics on an annual basis…the allocation fund started at $26,000 annually

• Long-time sportswriter for the Albuquerque Tribune who was recognized posthumously

• Spent 52 years in sports journalism, including more than 40 years covering the Lobos

• Albuquerque High graduate (1943) who served in the Navy during World War II

• Passed away in 1998 at the age of 73

Tennis

• Won the award for the second year in a row

• 2005-06 MWC Student-Athlete of the Year

• Two-time MWC Player of the Year and four-time all-conference honoree

• UNM’s top singles and doubles player for four straight years (2003-06)

• Carried a double major in psychology and sociology

Football

• Became the sixth player in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards four times

• MWC Offensive Player of the Year and 1^st team all-MWC four times

• Finished 13^th all-time in NCAA history with 4,973 career rushing yards

• Holds virtually every school and MWC career record for rushing and scoring

• Graduated in December of 2005 with a degree in criminology