New faces in the UTRGV Athletics Hall of Fame

UTRGV Athletics will honor the 2023 Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor inductees during a luncheon 11 a.m. Saturday in the University Ballroom on the Edinburg campus.

Among those inducted from legacy institution University of Texas-Pan American are former baseball players, Mike Duffey (1968-1971) and Hector Salinas (1965-1968), former women’s basketball player Bianca Torre Salinas (2009-2013) and the men’s tennis team (1975-1978). 

D. Joe Williams, former baseball, track & field and cross-country athlete (1954-1957), was inducted into the Hall of Honor. 

Former tennis player Robert Bettauer was part of the 1975-1978 UTPA Tennis Team and will be honored along with the rest of the team. 

Bettauer holds the second-place spot for most singles wins in program history.

When Bettauer found out he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame, he said he had heard in late fall  there might be a good chance the team would get inducted. 

“[Robert Hubbard, a former teammate,] and I have been in contact,” he said. “And, actually, that’s one of the cool features of our particular team. … Many of us have stayed in touch over the past almost 50 years … And then, when a date was set … we put a lot of things in motion. So, we actually got ourselves organized before we heard anything formal.”

Bettauer said the team lives all around the world. He said most of them will be attending the luncheon and it would serve as a sort of reunion for them.

He said looking at their game record shows the merit and work it took to get to this point. The team went from 3-19 the year before they joined, to 17-6 the first year they were together.

Bettauer pointed out how it was “astounding” not just due to the record, but also the level of competition they faced. 

“We were an independent school at that time,” Bettauer said. “So we played everywhere throughout the U.S. We went to California. We used to travel in a van through Georgia and Tennessee, and we played all the big schools. … We beat many of them. … We were playing the very best schools in the U.S.”

Asked the significance and merit it takes to be included in the Hall of Fame, Jonah Goldberg, senior associate athletic director for Communications & Championships, replied it takes being the best of the best to get in.

“I’ve had the honor of being able to talk to some of these people,” Goldberg said. “At times, I’ve been the one to tell them, ‘Hey, you’re getting inducted’, and, like, the reactions that you hear are just incredible. People are so thankful and they’re so excited to get [inducted].”

He explained a committee of people, along with previous Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor members, vote on the people placed on the ballot. The top six people voted, who are also named on at least half of the ballots, get inducted.

Goldberg said that there are more individuals from recent generations that are being inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

Salinas was part of the 2009-2013 UTPA Women’s Basketball Team. She holds the second-place spot for most points scored in program history.

Salinas initially missed the call to inform her about her induction. A voicemail was left with a transcript and she saw “Hall of Fame” being mentioned. She said she was in shock when she found out.

Salinas said she played for the love of the sport, to represent her family and to be an example to younger girls.

“Younger girls … probably felt, like, ‘Man, we will never have a chance because we’re from the [Rio Grande Valley],’” she said. “I wanted to let them know you put your mind and heart to it and you work hard and believe that you can achieve something [then] it can really happen.”

She said she was appreciative of the university recognizing the athletes and thankful for her teammates and what they accomplished in their four years together.

“We certainly had a lot of success years ago,” Goldberg said. “But, now, this year, with Bianca getting inducted, … she competed here while I was here. … That’s the first time that a student athlete who competed while I was here … has been inducted, which is exciting for me because she was the first great player that I got to see.”

To RSVP, call 665-4069 or email vclub@utrgv.edu.

For more information regarding the UTRGV Athletics Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor, visit GoUTRGV.com/HallofFame.