MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's College Athletics Department announced the 2022 Hall of Fame Class today, honoring men's basketball and women's basketball. Daniel Kickert and the 2000-01 Women's Basketball team are all being recognized by the College and are set to be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame on February 19.
 
The Athletics Hall of Fame inductions will be part of the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony presented by the Alumni Association on February 19. The program begins at 5:00 pm, with a cocktail hour taking place at 4:00 pm.
 
DANIEL KICKERT – MEN'S BASKETBALL
Kickert was the second-ever men's basketball Gael from Australia, and he played an instrumental role in getting the program on the map. Kickert played four seasons in Moraga (2002-06) and was honored by the WCC all four seasons, beginning with an All-Freshman Team nod in 2003 and three-consecutive All-WCC First Team honors from 2004-06.
 
The Gaels made an impression on the NCAA in 2005 when they qualified for Randy Bennett's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, and Kickert was a driving force behind that run, setting career-bests with 564 points and a 53.8% field goal percentage. By the time his SMC career was finished, no Gael had ever scored more points than Kickert's 1,874, and he held the program's scoring record until Matthew Dellavedova overtook him in 2013. Kickert finished his career averaging 16.7 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, and 1.0 assists per game.
 
Kickert continued to play professionally after his time at Saint Mary's, including eight seasons in Europe and another seven in Australia's NBL. Among his accolades internationally, he was named a PLK All-Star in 2012, a Ukranian Super League Champion in 2013, a gold medalist with Australia at the 2017 Fiba Asia Cup and 2018 Commonwealth Games, and became the first player in NBL history to join the 50-40-90 club (50% field goal percentage, 40% three-point percentage, 90% free throw percentage in a season).
 
2000-01 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
The 2000-01 Saint Mary's Women's Basketball team made quite the run under first-year head coach Michelle Jacoby, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years, and winning their first-ever NCAA Tournament game. That was the culmination of a season that saw the Gaels win 26 games (26-6 overall), go 11-3 in WCC play, and win the West Coast Conference championship.
 
That year's version of the Gaels was littered with top-tier talent, including the WCC Player of the Year in Jermisha Dosty, another All-WCC Player in her twin-sister Jerkisha, and the WCC Freshman of the Year in Corie Mizusawa. Jermisha Dosty finished the season averaging 14.1 points per game and was second on the team behind Jerkisha in rebounds with 7.3 per game (Jerkisha led the way with an incredible 10.4 boards per game).
 
The Gaels ran the table in the WCC Tournament and beat LMU 58-53 in the championship game, with Jermisha Dosty winning the tournament's Most Valuable Player award. Selected as a nine-seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Gaels upset eight-seeded Texas 68-64 in the first round to advance to the second round, where they eventually fell to top-seeded Tennessee. Still, scoring their first-ever win the NCAA Tournament was another feather in the cap of one of the most successful seasons in SMC history.
 
The event will lead directly into the start of the Saint Mary's Men's Basketball home game against BYU on February 19 at 7:00 pm inside University Credit Union Pavilion. For more information and to RSVP to the Alumni Awards Ceremony, click HERE.