Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame announces 2023 inductees
Dec. 15—Even a 45-year-old institution like the Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame can still find ways to spice things up.
The organization announced Thursday as part of its annual media lunch at Mechanics Bank Arena that the 2023 class will include the undefeated national champion 1993 Cal State Bakersfield men's basketball team, the first time it has ever inducted a team rather than an individual.
The Hall of Fame's president, Chad Manning, said that the board of directors adopted a resolution allowing for teamwide honors seven years ago, but only now has the milestone come to pass.
"I think it's a threshold we needed to cross," said Roger Fessler, one of the directors in attendance.
The rest of the class features track star Lee Adams, Bakersfield College running back George Jones, NFL quarterback Cody Kessler (one of the youngest inductees in the organization's history) and local soccer pioneer John Trino. All will have their awards officially presented over dinner at the Bakersfield Marriott on Feb. 16.
"There's so many different sports, so many different professions of guys that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and it just shows how well Bakersfield represents," Kessler said. "Pretty much in every major sport you look at, NBA, NFL, NASCAR, there's gonna be someone from Bakersfield or someone with ties to the Bakersfield area.
"So it's really cool to be a part of that fraternity, and be able to have your name in the Hall of Fame, Bob Elias, forever."
Five days after making an appearance on the sideline at Liberty's state title victory, with the Patriots led by his "all-time favorite coach" Bryan Nixon, and less than three years after the close of his NFL career, Kessler was on hand Thursday to accept his Hall of Fame medal.
Kessler earned All-Area player of the year honors for both football and basketball at Centennial, starred for three years at USC and started 12 NFL games in Cleveland and Jacksonville across a four-year NFL career.
His fellow football honoree this year is George Jones, a South Carolina native who put up eye-popping rushing numbers at BC, including a record 34 touchdowns to go along with 1,567 yards in 1994, and is already a member of the California Community College Athletic Association Hall of Fame. He kept up his record-breaking pace over a distinguished career at San Diego State and spent three years in the NFL himself.
"Traditionally we had a lot of local backs that had the opportunity to shine as Bakersfield College running backs," said Ken Calvin, a Hall of Fame director and Jones' college teammate, "but he was such a phenomenal player coming from South Carolina ... While he had other great running backs behind him, he was just eons beyond anyone else in his position."
Two of the 2023 inductees are receiving their honors posthumously, Adams and Trino. Trino died just two months ago.
"They (the Hall of Fame directors) actually came to my dad's bedside when he was just about gone and awarded him a medal," said Trino's daughter Madeline.
Trino led the effort to found the Kern County Soccer Park, which began to materialize in the 1970s and has served as a hub for local soccer since. Madeline recalled meeting the legendary Pelé when he visited for the park's grand opening in 1988.
"Being in my 50s now, it's been kind of cool because now I have friends that have children that are now playing at the soccer park," she said. "And so it's been going on for such a long time now that it's just wonderful to see all the children get to actually enjoy it in a central location."
Adams was represented by his son Bryan. A renowned hurdler at the University of Kansas who had previously attended South and BC, Adams ran the 60-yard low hurdles in 6.6 seconds in 1967, setting a national record. He later returned to Bakersfield and worked at Foothill and CSUB before dying in 2000.
Bryan Adams said he wanted people to know about the work his father did off the track helping socioeconomically disadvantaged kids get into CSUB.
"People walk up to me to this day, 20 years after he's passed away, 'Hey, your dad got me to school, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your dad,'" Adams said. "Great that he was a world record holder, and he would tell me that every once in a while to let me know I wasn't as good as him yet, but what he did off the court impacted way more lives."
The 1992-93 CSUB men's basketball team was a squad unlike any other, one that went 33-0 on its way to a Division II national championship. The Roadrunners downed a slew of schools that, like CSUB, have since moved up to Division I, and set their program on a championship trajectory for years to come.
Kenny Davis, a member of the team, credited the community for their support.
"Just to see that indelible impression that we've made on young people and their love for the game, just to see that continue on, I think it's really significant," Davis said.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
