Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame Selects Manzella, Losman, Junius, Montagnino and Dickson for 2016 Class

NEW ORLEANS – Troy Dannen, Ben Weiner Director of Athletics Chair, has announced baseball All-American Tommy Manzella, 2002 ConAgra Food Hawai'i Bowl champion quarterback J.P. Losman, three-time Conference USA champion javelin thrower Nathan Junius, 1,000 point women's basketball scorer Jami Montagnino and former Director of Athletics Rick Dickson as members of the 2016 Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame.

The Tulane Athletics 2016 Hall of Fame Class will be inducted on Friday, Sept. 23, from 6-9 p.m. at Yulman Stadium on the Tulane University Uptown campus. The group will then be honored at halftime of Tulane's contest against UL-Lafayette at Saturday, Sept. 24. Click here to register for the weekend.

All four student-athletes represented Tulane within the last 20 years, and were the top in their sports.

Dickson will receive the Billy Slatten Award, which was established in 2004 in honor of William A. "Billy" Slatten, a longtime supporter of Tulane Athletics, a member of the Tulane Board of Trustees and the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee. Dickson joins former Tulane sports information director Bill Curl (2013), former Tulane radio broadcaster Bruce Miller (2007), former Times-Picayune beatwriter George Sweeney (2009) and longtime Tulane historian and statistician Gayle Letulle (2010) as Slatten Award winners.

"The induction of these greats is a salute not only for their contributions to the history of our institution, but recognition of the foundation their leadership established which allows us the opportunity for success moving forward," stated Dannen. "It is an honor to enshrine their legacies in our Hall of Fame."

Below are bios on each inductee.

Nathan Junius, Track & Field, 1997-2001

Holds both the javelin and discus all-time records at Tulane
Javelin record is 240 feet 4 inches, discus record is 160 feet.
Two-time All American in the Javelin (2000 & 2001).
2000 NCAA Championship he placed 10^th overall (Javelin).
2001 NCAA Championship he placed 3^rd overall.
3-time Conference USA Champion in the Javelin (1999-2001).
C-USA Champion in the discus (2000).
Competed in the 2000 Olympic Trails.
Graduated in 2001 with a degree in engineering.
Four-time member of the Conference USA Academic Honor Roll 1996-99.
Named C-USA Male Athlete of the Week on April 24, 2001.
Still holds the C-USA Championship record in the javelin throw.
One of only seven male athletes in C-USA history to win a single event three times.

Tommy Manzella, Baseball, 2002-05

Earned All-Conference honors during his senior season, including All-Conference USA first team and was an Academic All-District and Academic All-American during his final year.
Started 240 of 244 career games and was named to the Conference USA All-Tournament Team twice in his career, while earning All-NCAA Regional honors as a junior.
Garnered T-Club and Tulane Student-Athlete of the Year accolades his senior season.
Sits among the career rankings in assists (3^rd), games played (3^rd, games started (4^th), doubles (5^th), sacrifice hits (5^th), hits (6^th), total bases (8^th), RBI (10^th) and runs scored (13^th).
Hit over .300 during each of his final three seasons on campus, including a career-best .347 during the 2005 season.
Became one of only seven players in school history to post 100-plus hits in a season as he posted 100 knocks in 2005.
Set career-highs in hits, runs scored, doubles, home runs, slugging percentage walks and on-base percentage during his senior season.
Was a third round pick of the Houston Astros in the 2005 MLB Draft and has logged 90 games at the major league level in two years with the big club.
Named to the All-Louisiana second team and to the Oxford Regional All-Tournament team in 2004
Received Honorable Mention All-Louisiana in 2003.

Jami Montagnino, Women's Basketball, 2003-07

Ranks 16th on Tulane's all-time scoring list with 1,111 career points.
Played professional basketball in Europe for five years
Signed a professional contract out of college to play in Ribera, Sicily, Italy – Serie A1
Also played club ball in Spain in 2011 before returning to Italy in Jan. of 2012.
Played for the Italian national team in 2008.
Career Stats – top-10: Record holder for free-throw percentage (.861), 7th in three-pointers made (157), 9th in games started (97)
As a senior earned First Team All-Conference USA // First Team All-Louisiana // C-USA Scholar Athlete of the Year // C-USA All-Academic Team // Allstate Sugar Bowl January Athlete of the Month // DoubleTree Classic All-Tournament Team
Averaged 14.3 points (her best season in all four years), which ranked 10th in Conference USA
Her .899 free-throw percentage ranks No. 1 all-time for a single season (Ranked fifth in the NCAA)
Led the Wave to a 26-7 record, one win shy of the school record for wins, a regular season Conference USA championship and to the 2nd Round of the WNIT
As a junior, named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team, scored a career high 35 points in quarterfinal loss to SMU and tied a C-USA Tournament record by making all 12 of her free throw attempts in the game
Started more games than any other freshman since Barbara Farris' 1994-95 season

J.P. Losman, Football, 2000-03

A four-year letterwinner and two-year starter. Started 27 of 38 career games and completed 570-of-987 pass attempts (.578) for 6,754 yards and 60 touchdowns. Finished his career ranked fourth for passing yardage, passing yardage per game (177.74), pass attempts, pass attempts per game (25.97), pass completions per game (15.0), completion percentage (.578) and was third for pass completions, touchdowns, touchdown passes per game (1.57) and 300-yard passing games (7), fifth for yards per attempt (6.843) and passing efficiency (121.82), eighth for yards per completion (11.85) and interceptions.
Set the school's single game record with five touchdowns twice (Army-9/20/03 and Navy 10/26/02). He quarterbacked the Green Wave to a bowl win over Hawaii in the 2002 ConAgra Food Hawaii Bowl and became just one of four starting quarterbacks at Tulane to win a bowl game, joining Bucky Bryan (1935 Sugar Bowl), Mike Walker (1970 Liberty Bowl) and Shaun King (1998 Liberty Bowl)
2003: One of seven Finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, was named to the All-Conference USA second team and was an honorable mention All-Louisiana selection. Named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 15 and was the Louisiana Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 22. Completed 251-of-422 passes for 3,077 yards with 33 TDs and 14 INTs, one of the top three seasons in TU history. The only QB in C-USA to surpass the 3,000-yard mark in passing (3,077) and total offense (3,157) that year. His 33 TD passes are second-highest TU single season total and are tied for 3rd in the country (through Nov. 24). Threw at least one TD pass in every game during the; nine games with more than one and seven with three or more
2002: With 230 completions in 401 attempts for 2,468 yards and 19 TDs, posted one of the top passing and total offense seasons in school history. Finished his first season as a starter with a victory in the Hawaii Bowl where he completed 20-of-39 passes for 240 yards, rushed for a pair of touchdowns and a two-point conversion and threw for another PAT. Completed 58% of his passes on the year and threw touchdown passes of 64 (vs. Southern Miss), 54 (vs. Navy), 43 (vs. ULM) and 44 (vs. Southern) yards. Finished the year with six rushing TDs. Threw 13 TD passes with just two interceptions and two 300-yard games during Tulane's four-game winning streak. Gained more rushing yards (236) than anyone on the team except Mewelde Moore. Ranked fourth in Conference USA in passing efficiency and total offense.
2001: Played in three games as the backup to NFL Draftee Patrick Ramsey. Made his only start of the year against Army (10/27) with Ramsey injured, tallying three touchdowns and 384 yards on 25-of-39 passing. Also had a three-yard touchdown jaunt. His 384 passing yards is the eighth-best single-game total in school history, bettered by just three quarterbacks all-time.
2000: Saw action in 10 games, completing 58-of-115 passes for 722 yards. Also rushed 59 times for 133 yards, third on the team. Was selected as the top freshman quarterback in Conference USA. Made his first career start against East Carolina (9/16), completing 20-of-35 passes for 299 yards and a pair of touchdowns. For much of the season, played several series per game, offering an alternate style to that of Patrick Ramsey.

Rick Dickson, Director of Athletics, 2000-15

Guided Tulane Athletics through some of the most tumultuous periods in its history, including the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which nearly destroyed the university's athletics facilities.
Rebuilt athletics program to full complement of 16 programs.
Left an athletics program that in the last few years has joined the American Athletic Conference, opened Yulman Stadium and built or renovated numerous other facilities, including Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, Avron B. Fogelman Arena at Devlin Fieldhouse and the Hertz Center.
Under Dickson's watch, Tulane teams won 41 C-USA titles and advanced to NCAA postseason play 36 times. This includes two bowl games (2002, 2013), the 2001 and 2005 College World Series and the 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014 NCAA Women's Golf Championships.
During the Dickson era, Tulane's student-athletes compiled a semester grade point average of 3.0 and ranked among the NCAA leaders in graduation rates. Tulane's varsity sports teams scored well above their national averages in the NCAA's Academic Performance Rates (APR).

Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame Selects Manzella, Losman, Junius, Montagnino and Dickson for 2016 Class

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