One of our primary goals at Skyline Sports is the archiving of history across the state of Montana and across the Big Sky. In an effort to make sure we never forget some of the most pivotal and influential figures in the 58-year history of the league, we are introducing a quick-hitting series about those who once graced the Big Sky.

We will touch on players we’ve been able to cover (particularly in photograph) during our seven years covering the league as an entity (categorized as “Skyline Era”. We will also remember players from Colter Nuanez’s first seven years covering the league (2006-2013) during his time working in newspapers and magazines (categorized as Modern Era).

And we will also chronicle memorable figures from before we covered the league professionally, before we watched the league at all or even from before we were born thanks to the help of our great friends and colleagues from across the Big Sky (categorized as “Archived Era”).

Please enjoy “Big Sky Conference figures worth remembering”

The Character

Joel Bolomboy, Weber State big man and the most prolific rebounder in the history of the Big Sky Conference.

During his time playing for WSU head coach Randy Rahe, Bolomboy morphed from an unbelievably raw talent into a professional, one of the great developmental examples in the recent history of the league.

The Timeline

Bolomboy is a native of Donetsk, Ukraine who was born to a Congolese father and a Russian mother of Tatar origin, yet went to high school in Fort Worth, Texas. He signed with Weber State in 2012 and played for Rahe until graduating in 2016 as one of the top players in recent league memory.

Bolomboy was the 52^nd pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. He spent three seasons in the NBA between active rosters and the NBA G League before signing with CSKA Moscow leading up to the 2018 season

The Measurables

The 26-year-old Bolomboy is 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds. During the NBA pre-draft combine following his senior year, Bolomboy ranked highly in almost every measurement or drill, including:

• Lane agility (10.26 seconds, first)
• Bench Press (19 reps, 2^nd)
• Vertical Leap (37.5 inches, 2^nd)
• Maximum vertical leap (40.5 inches, 4^th)
• Shuttle run (2.86 seconds, 5^th)
• Three-quarter-court sprint (3.17 seconds, 5^th)

The Landscape

In terms of physical stature, Bolomboy had few rivals within the Big Sky Conference during his college career.

The lanky, raw athlete came to Weber State as a project. But his apparent natural talents made him an impact player right away. And Weber State’s individual talent development formula helped Bolomboy become the 16^th Wildcat to be drafted into the NBA.

“When he first got here, he was extremely raw,” Rahe said during Bolomboy’s senior season in 2016. “He could always rebound but his feel for the game wasn’t very good, his skill level wasn’t very good, he didn’t really understand how to play.”

By his senior season, Bolomboy had maintained his ability as an insanely productive rebounder. And he’d added enough skills to help him become just the second player in league history to claim Big Sky Most Outstanding Player and league Defensive MVP in the same season.

The Accolades

Only Bolomboy and Portland State standout Seamus Boxley (2004-2005) claimed both awards in the same campaign. Bolomboy also was the league’s Defensive MVP as a sophomore, adding to a resume that included three All-Big Sky team selections and one iconic individual record.

While Bolomboy and Boxley share elite company, Bolomboy also was the league’s Defensive MVP as a sophomore, adding to a resume that included three All-Big Sky team selections and the rebounding record. In the 20-season history of the Big Sky Defensive MVP, only Boxley, Montana’s Will Cherry (2012, 2013) and Northern Colorado’s Jonah Radebaugh (three of the last four seasons) have earned the nod multiple times.

The reactive, springy jumping jack snared 1,312 rebounds, by far the most in the history of the league. Bolomboy shattered Steve Hayes’ 1,147 rebounds gathered between 1973 and 1977l.

Bolomboy’s 10.1 rebounds per game in his 130 contests playing at Weber State ranks 15^th in the history of the league.

The Press

Quoteable

“It might sound simple, but it totally changes the way you play when you have a guy who can control possessions (Bolomboy),” said former Montana State head coach Brian Fish, who led the Bobcats for five seasons leading up to March of 2019.

“It’s special,” Weber State head coach Randy Rahe said following Bolomboy’s two Big Sky individual awards as a senior. “We all love Joel to death and he’s meant a whole bunch to our program. He’s a phenomenal player but he’s a much better person. He’s worked so hard for this. It’s really, really rewarding to be able to celebrate a championship, two championships to be honest with you in the same year with him.”

“He works harder than anybody you can imagine,” Weber State strength coach John Henderson said on the court as Weber celebrated its Big Sky Tournament title win over Montana. “He comes in every day. He asks for extra. He’s just a hard working guy, a typical Weber State guy.

“After the first year, I noticed he recovered fast and he really responded to the training and he was hungry. He came and worked out extra. He always wanted more. I knew he had a really high ceiling. And now he is absolutely an NBA player.”

Appearances in Big Sky record book

29 including:

• Two of the Top 25 single-game rebounding totals in league history

• No. 1 in career rebounds

• No. 15 in career rebounding average (10.1 per game)

• No. 2 in single-season rebounds (415), behind Ed Wilson of Idaho State in 1967-68 (420). Also No. 17 and No. 25 in single-season rebounding totals.

• Bolomboy has two of the Top 25 rebounding averages in school history

• Bolomboy is eighth in league history in total blocks (179) and his 62 blocks in 2012-13 is the 22^nd-highest single-season total.

• As the league’s leading single-season rebounder for three seasons in a row between 2014-16 and as the league’s leader in per-game rebounding average during conference play those same three seasons.

• As a three-time All-Big Sky selection, a Big Sky MVP, a two-time Big Sky Defensive MVP.

• As the 69^th player in Big Sky history and the league-record 16^th to come out of Weber State.

• As a two-time All-Big Sky Tournament selection (2014, 2016)

• As a two-time NABC All-District selection (2015-2016)

Why you should remember

Bolomboy is a throwback, a raw and wiry prospect with limitless potential despite having limited tangible ability when he first signed to a Division I program.

The steely, hard-working and gifted big man accelerated his development by his own accord, winning over his teammates, coaches and trainers instantly with his “walk softly and carry a big stick” demeanor.

His pure abilities garnered attention but his quiet demeanor never allowed him to become a star within the league or around the region.

But the reverence expressed by every player that played with and the praise steeped upon Bolomboy by coaches who prepared to compete against him provides a sharp angle that makes Bolomboy impossible to forget for anyone who saw him live.

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.

One of our primary goals at Skyline Sports is the archiving of history across the state of Montana and across the Big Sky. In an effort to make sure we never forget some of the most pivotal and influential figures in the 58-year history of the league, we are introducing a quick-hitting series about those who once graced the Big Sky.

We will touch on players we’ve been able to cover (particularly in photograph) during our seven years covering the league as an entity (categorized as “Skyline Era”. We will also remember players from Colter Nuanez’s first seven years covering the league (2006-2013) during his time working in newspapers and magazines (categorized as Modern Era).

And we will also chronicle memorable figures from before we covered the league professionally, before we watched the league at all or even from before we were born thanks to the help of our great friends and colleagues from across the Big Sky (categorized as “Archived Era”).

Please enjoy “Big Sky Conference figures worth remembering”

The Character

Taron Johnson, Weber State All-American quarterback and the 2017 Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Johnson was one of heralded Weber State head coach Jay Hill’s first recruits, an under-recruited prospect who thrived from the first day he stepped into Hill’s program as a product of Sacramento, California.

Johnson had the most famous moment of his football life on January 17, 2021. In the NFL Divisional Round of the playoffs, Johnson intercepted a pass by Baltimore Ravens MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson and took the pick 105 yards to the house to spark the Buffalo Bills’ 17-3 in to advance to the NFC Championship game. The interception was the first thrown in the red-zone by the former Heisman Trophy winner.

The Measurables

The 24-year-old participated in the 2018 NFL Draft Combine, measuring in at 5-foot-11, 192 pounds.

During the NFL Combine, Johnson’s marks were:

• 40-yard dash: 4.50 seconds
• Bench press, 225 pounds: 17 reps
• Vertical Leap: 33 inches
• Broad Jump: 9 feet, 10 inches
• 3-cone drill: 7.03 seconds
• 20-yard shuttle: 4.28 seconds
• 60-yard shuttle: NA

NFL Scouting overview

Johnson’s lack of size will drive him into a nickel role where he appears to have the foot quickness and cover talent to handle the job. He has to prove that he can play with confidence in his technique rather than grabbing during the route and his draft stock could be hinging on his 40-yard dash time at the Combine. He could find an early role as a CB4 before eventually filling the nickel spot.

Strengths

• Plays with good bend in space
• Has experience in most coverages and techniques
• Burst to ball is quick
• Early accelerator when transitioning in man coverage
• Possesses natural coverage skills
• Quality plant and drive talent from backpedal
• Looks to lean on receivers and smother them from press
• Crowds receiver’s catch space downfield
• Extremely aware in zone
• Looks to squeeze windows and challenge the throw
• Finished with 42 career passes broken up
• Plays with good physicality and isn’t afraid to tackle

Weaknesses

• Smallish build is maxed out
• Too small for the outside
• Gets grabby in coverage and may take time to adjust to NFL refs
• Needs to be careful not to lose downfield positioning and allow receiver a patch back to the ball
• Long speed is a concern
• Quicker than fast and may not be able to carry vertical threats
• Late getting off perimeter blocks
• Physical, but will miss some tackles due to his size

The Landscape

During his 13 seasons as the head coach at the University of Utah, Ron McBride built the Utes into a respectable and sometimes elite program in the Western Athletic Conference and then the Mountain West. Current Weber State head coach Jay Hill was a defensive back under McBride in 1998 and 1999 at Utah before joining Coach Mac’s staff for the final three seasons McBrice led the Utes.

In 2005, McBride took over at Weber State and helped the Wildcats reach new heights. The 2008 Wildcats, led by Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year Cameron Higgins (a quarterback that will surely make an appearance in this series sooner than later), beat Montana during the regular-season. That result served as UM’s only league loss between 2006 and 2009, a run that saw the Griz go 31-1 in Big Sky games.

That 2008 WSU team also posted the first FCS playoff win in school history, posting a 49-35 win at Cal Poly before losing to Montana in a payback game in the quarterfinals the following week.

When McBride retired after the 2011 season — capping one of the best head coaching careers in program history that also included a 2009 playoff appearance, the fourth in WSU history — the Weber State program fell into a state of turmoil.

In December of 2011, John L. Smith took the Weber State head coaching position. By the following football season, he bolted to take the vacancy as the head coach at Arkansas created by the Bobby Petrino motorcycle scandal.

Enter Jody Sears, who serves as Weber’s interim head coach in 2012 and 2013. After four wins in two seasons, Sears was dismissed.

Enter Hill.

The former Utah special teams coordinator and protege of both McBride and Urban Meyer fundamentally changed Weber State’s trajectory and Johnson was one of the first key pieces to that renaissance.

Weber went from two wins in Hill’s first season in 2014 to a winning record in Year 2 to a playoff appearance in Year 3. During Johnson’s senior year in Hill’s fourth season, the Wildcats won the first of what would become three straight Big Sky Conference titles.

Johnson and his recruiting class had an enormous impact on that trajectory.

The Accolades

• Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the year, 2017; Johnson earned second-team All-Big Sky honors in 2016 and honorable mention honors the year prior.

• Consensus first-team All-American in 2017

• Weber State’s all-time leader in pass breakups with 42, to go along with six career interceptions and 172 total tackles.

• Selected in the 4th round, pick 121 overall of the 2017 NFL Draft.

• First Weber State Wildcat drafted since Tim Toone in 2010.

• Johnson is the 38th player from Weber State drafted in the NFL. He is one of 10 players in WSU history taken in the fourth round or higher.

• A captain on Weber State’s Big Sky Conference co-championship squad, the first of three straight shares of a league title for the Wildcats.

• Played on the first Weber State team in program history to win two playoff games in the same FCS postseason bracket

The Press

Quotable

Weber State head coach Jay Hill

“He’s our best player on our football team and he eliminates a big portion of the football field just by being able to go and cover the opponent’s best receiver,” Hill said to Skyline Sports in 2017.

Hill to Buffalo Fanatics

“When I was at the University of Utah, I coached Sean Smith…at one time, he was the highest paid corners in the NFL…and in a lot of ways, I would rather have Taron over him. He’s just that well-rounded.”

Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer

“Taron plays one of the hardest positions on the football field…Playing nickel, you have to know a lot of the details playing that position. You’ve got to play it in a physical manner and he does. In his mind, he is the biggest guy out there.”

Total appearances in the Big Sky Record Book: just four:

• Consensus All-American, 2017

• Reese’s Senior Bowl invite, 2017

• NFL Draft pick, 4th round, 121st overall in 2017

• Big Sky Player of the Week as a senior in 2017

Why you should remember

Johnson is at the same time one of the most elite talents to come through the Big Sky in the last decade and one of the players who received the least fanfare during his career.

As a sophomore and junior, he was a solid cog in a building defense and did a good job filling a role. Because of his prodigious talent, he rose to elite accolades as a senior even if his production was solid but not particularly memorable.

The evolution of the NFL game has catered to Johnson’s rapid rise to a coveted professional talent on one of the best teams in the league. The influx of spread offensive principles into the NFL and the fact that many teams run defenses with five defensive backs on the field at all times has distinctly catered to Johnson’s rise. He is a quintessential nickel, a fearless, hard-hitting and sure-tackling player who can play in the box while also playing man to man against some of the NFL’s best slot receivers.

Many Big Sky Conference talents have advanced to the highest level. Most were utterly dominant in college regardless of how they transition to the pros. But Johnson is the rare breed that has a chance to leave a much more significant memory of his playing career during his time in the NFL, which makes him a player worth remembering in the story of Weber State and the Big Sky Conference.

One of our primary goals at Skyline Sports is the archiving of history across the state of Montana and across the Big Sky. In an effort to make sure we never forget some of the most pivotal and influential figures in the 58-year history of the league, we are introducing a quick-hitting series about those who once graced the Big Sky.

We will touch on players we’ve been able to cover (particularly in photograph) during our seven years covering the league as an entity (categorized as “Skyline Era”. We will also remember players from Colter Nuanez’s first seven years covering the league (2006-2013) during his time working in newspapers and magazines (categorized as Modern Era).

And we will also chronicle memorable figures from before we covered the league professionally, before we watched the league at all or even from before we were born thanks to the help of our great friends and colleagues from across the Big Sky (categorized as “Archived Era”).

Please enjoy “Big Sky Conference figures worth remembering”

The Character

James Cowser, Southern Utah defensive end and the Big Sky Conference’s all-time leader in sacks and tackles for loss. Cowser is also the all-time leader in each category in the history of the FCS.

During his career at Southern Utah, his time coincided with the greatest run of Southern Utah’s Big Sky era. Cowser earned All-Big Sky honors during SUU’s first run to the FCS playoffs in 2013. He repeated those honors in 2014 during a down year. And during his senior year in 2015, he helped lead Southern Utah to its first run to a Big Sky Conference championship in program history while earning the second All-American nod of his career.

The Measurables

The 29-year-old participated in the 2016 NFL Combine where he measured in at 6-foot-3 1/4 and 248 pounds.

During the NFL Combine, Cowser’s marks were:

The Landscape

Southern Utah joined the Big Sky Conference as a full member institution in 2012. At that exactly moment, Montana’s unprecedented run (17 straight playoff appearances, 12 straight league titles) had just hit its first speed bump in a generation as the Griz suffered their first losing season since 1985. And Montana State was on the rise.

The league added SUU, Cal Poly, North Dakota and UC Davis (AKA the former Great West Conference) eight years ago. Andre Broadus and Cal Poly’s vaunted triple option helped the Mustangs share the league title with Montana State (MSU’s third straight title) and Eastern Washington in the first of what would become five Big Sky crowns in nine seasons under Beau Baldwin for EWU.

In 2013, Southern Utah earned its first-ever FCS playoff berth. SUU moved to the FCS as an independent in 1996, where the Thunderbirds stayed until 2004 (until 2011) as a part of the Great West. The signature win during that season came in Bozeman when Cowser had one of SUU’s sacks and the Thunderbirds toppled DeNarius McGhee and the reigning champion MSU Bobcats in Bozeman, 22-14.

That loss was the second during a three-game losing streak to end that season during the senior seasons for McGhee and his other historically great Bobcat teammates like Buch Buchanan Award winning defensive end Brad Daly along with record-setting skill players like Cody Kirk (RB) and Tanner Bleskin (WR).

In 2014, SUU took a dip but in 2015, came back to post Lamb’s best year at the helm. Cowser had 13 sacks and 19 tackles for loss as a senior. He set the Big Sky all-time record for tackles for loss in a single season with 29 in 2014. And in each his sophomore and junior seasons, Cowser piled up 11.5 sacks, helping him overtake former Idaho State and current NFL Hall of Fame semifinalist Jared Allen as the Big Sky and FCS sack king.

The Accolades

Cowser earned All-Big Sky honors three times, including first-team honors as a junior and a senior. He was an All-American his sophomore and senior years while also earning Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2015. He also earned various academic All-Big Sky and academic All-American honors.

The Press

Quotable

Ed Lamb on Cowser’s sack record:

“He’s amazing,” Southern Utah eighth-year head coach Ed Lamb told Skyline Sports in 2015. “Coaching football is just so humbling for me because when we do poorly, I take such a huge piece of that on my shoulders and I feel like I let the guys down. When we do well, the plays that the players make just stand out. We don’t teach guys necessarily to get a tackle for a loss or a strip sack. We just teach them about gap control and where their eyes should be. So to see a guy like James that has so consistently made plays is almost unbelievable.”

Lamb on Cowser’s work ethic

“In my time in coaching college football and playing college football which is a little more than 20 years now, from a daily work perspective, the way he prepares and the self-motivation he brings on a daily basis in all aspects of his life is the single best I’ve ever seen. I’d be surprised if there are too many players with the maturity and the discipline and the preparation level James Cowser has at any school in the country.”

SUU defensive line coach Ryan Hunt

“His attention to detail is tremendous. He can coach himself. He knows the mistake before I can even interject. He’s watched so much film and he’s such a student of the game, he knows exactly when his steps or hands weren’t right.

“Coaches say they don’t play favorites and all that but he’s my favorite guy I’ve ever coached. I confide in him and ask him what he wants to do. I rely on him heavily. He’s basically an assistant amongst the coaches. He has so much credibility with the other players and the coaches on staff.”

Cincinatti Bengals and former SUU CB LeShaun Sims

“His work ethic is ridiculous. He stays after practice all the time and runs gassers by himself. He lifts as hard as anyone. He’s always going so hard. He’s very passionate about football.”

SUU strength coach Jeff Butler

“I haven’t been around many athletes as talented as James Cowser but I certainly haven’t been around anyone with his work ethic. It’s a rare combination. Some guys rely on natural talent. Some guys rely on working hard. James is a rare combination of unreal talent and unreal work ethic.”

Total appearances in the Big Sky Record Book: 18, including –

• Most tackles for loss in a single season, 28.5 in 2014

• Most tackles for loss in a career, 80

• Most sacks in a career, 42.5

• Tackles for loss in a game, third, 5.5 in 2014

• All-American, 2014 and 2015

Why you should remember

Cowser’s leadership and production helped SUU establish itself as a real playoff contender — the Thunderbirds made the playoffs in 2017 as co-Big Sky champions as well after Cowser’s graduation and Lamb’s departure — early during the program’s participation in the Big Sky.

Now Southern Utah is on its way out. SUU will join the Western Athletic Conference in 2022.

That means Cowser and his Big Sky championship-winning teammates are among the last relics of the team that spent the second-least time in the history of the conference. Only UND — left after the 2018 season to join the Missouri Valley — had a shorter stay in the Big Sky.

Cowser’s story of LDS missionary who lost a formidable amount of weight only to blossom into one the great edge rushers in league history and one of the Big Sky’s most diligent workers of the last decade is a story that will not soon be forgotten.

One of our primary goals at Skyline Sports is the archiving of history across the state of Montana and across the Big Sky. In an effort to make sure we never forget some of the most pivotal and influential figures in the 58-year history of the league, we are introducing a quick-hitting series about those who graced the Big Sky.

We will touch on players we’ve been able to cover (particularly in photograph) during our seven years covering the league as an entity (categorized as “Skyline Era”. We will also remember players from Colter Nuanez’s first seven years covering the league (2006-2013) during his time working in newspapers and magazines (categorized as Modern Era).

And we will also chronicle memorable figures from before we covered the league professionally or before we watched the league at all or even from before we were born thanks to the help of our great friends and colleagues from across the Big Sky (categorized as “Archived Era”).

Please enjoy “Big Sky Conference figures worth remembering”

The Character

Delaney Hodgins, Eastern Washington sharpshooter and one of six 2,000-point scorers in Big Sky Conference women’s basketball history.  

The Timeline

Hodgins is a native of Pasco, Washington in the Evergreen State’s Tri-Cities who played for the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team from 2015-2018.

The product of Chiawana High School followed in the footsteps of her sister, Hayley Hodgins, herself the 11^th-leading scorer in Big Sky women’s hoops history with 1,865 points.

The Measurables

Delaney Hodgins was a 6-foot forward who could create her own shot from anywhere on the court, helping her become EWU’s all-time leader in scoring, free throw makes and attempts, field goal makes and attempts.

She was a versatile player who could guard most positions on the floor and score from every area on the court.

The Landscape

When Delaney Hodgins first broke into the league, the Montana Lady Griz were in the midst of their latest run to the NCAA Tournament. The second-to-last UM team under 38-year head coach Robin Selvig advanced to the NCAA Tournament, but the following year, the Big Sky Tournament moved to a neutral sit.

During Selvig’s tenure, Montana advanced to the NCAA Tournament 21 times, including hosting the Big Sky Tournament 16 times in the 21-year history up to that last tournament in Missoula.

When the tournament moved first to a neutral site in Reno, Nevada, the wide-open style of EWU head coach Wendy Schuller helped accentuate the skill set of the Tri-Cities sharpshooting sisters for the Eagles. And the Eagles were always competitive on the tournament floor.

Delaney Hodgins was a key contributor — and in the last two seasons, the leader — of a team that finished as high as second and never as low as fourth in the regular-season during her career.

During the last three seasons, Hodgins helped Eastern earn a pair of semifinal berths in the Big Sky tournament. Hodgins earned all-tournament honors as a sophomore and junior for the Eagles.

The Accolades

Hodgins was one of the most prolific in the history of Big Sky Conference basketball, men or women.

Her 2,120 points shattered her older sister’s EWU record and her name appears in the Big Sky record book more than three dozen times. Only Idaho’s Mikayla Ferenz (2,465), Idaho State’s Natalie Doma (2,296) and Montana’s Shannon Cate (2,172) scored more points in Big Sky history than Delaney Hodgins.

Perhaps the most prestigious record belonging to Hodgins is the single-game scoring record. On March 2, 2018, Hodgins poured in 46 points against Northern Arizona. A total of six players had scored exactly 41 points before Hodgins’ outburst, including Cate (1991), Portland State’s Kelsey Kahle (2007), Montana State’s Katie Bussey (2012), Northern Arizona’s Amy Patton (2012), Ferenz (2017) and Sac State’s Maranne Johnson (2018).

Hodgins earned Big Sky Freshman of the Year before becoming one of 39 players who have been selected to the Big Sky’s All-Conference teams at least three times, including only five four-time picks.

Of the 36 players to earn All-Big Sky honors three times, the Hodgins sisters are two of those honorees. From the 2014-15 season through the 2017-18 season, the Hodgins sisters occupied one of the first-team All-Big Sky slots, each garnering top recognition twice.

During Hayley’s senior year in 2016 (Delaney’s sophomore year), the younger Hodgins sister also earned second-team all-league accolades.

It’s an extension of a family legacy. Their mother Karen (Murray) Hodgins, finished her career as the all-time leading scorer at the University of Washington when her career ended in 1984. And that record stood for 11 years until Rhonda Smith broke it.

Only Kelsey Plum, Jazmine Davis, Jamie Redd, Giuliana Mendiola and Talia Walton have scored more points than Smith And Murray over the last 35 years. Murray Hodgins was the first women’s basketball player ever inducted into the UW Hall of Fame back in 1992.

Braydey Hodgins, the third of Michael and Karen’s daugthers, was a multiple-time All-Mountain West selection at Boise State Braydey scored 1,150 points during her career, earning preseason All-MWC honors entering her senior season last winter.

The Press

Quotable

On the night Delaney broke Hailey’s record

“Tonight was special. I feel blessed to have coached both Hodgins’ sisters. I’m happy for Delaney and I hope we can make this a year to remember too,” EWU head coach Wendy Schuller said. “Delaney is consistent, from the day she stepped on the floor she contributed. We never needed her to be a big-time scorer early on in her career, but she stepped up when we needed her too. Nothing she does surprises me, and I’m happy for her.”

On Hodgins’ senior night

“From day one she’s been consistent,” Schuller said. “She has such a great work ethic, and cares so much about it. She’s a great student. People don’t understand what a great student she is. She’s been a great player for us.”

Total appearances in the Big Sky Record Book: 30, including –

• Most points in a single game, 46, in March of 2018

• Best single-game 3-point percentage (7-of-7, same game)

• Sixth-most points in a single-season, 692 in 2018

• Seventh in games played, 129

• Seventh in blocked shots, 188

• Fourth in field goals made, 784

• Four straight years as an academic All-Big Sky selection

Why you should remember

Coming to Eastern Washington and following in the footsteps of her record-setting sister came with plenty of pressure. Hodgins never succumbed to any of it.

She filled the role she was asked as a young player before becoming one of the greatest scorers in the history of EWU or the Big Sky by the time she was an upperclassmen. Her poise, her ability to score from literally every spot on the court and her steady progression throughout her outstanding career makes her a player worth remembering in the modern history of the Big Sky Conference.

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.