NEWPORT NEWS, Va.
- Billiken
basketball greats Anthony Bonner and
Theresa Lisch Meacham will be
honored as part of the inaugural Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Legends
class. The A-10 Legends, made up of former men's and women's basketball
student-athletes and coaches who made an immeasurable impact on each A-10
institution and its basketball program, will be honored in March at the A-10 Men's
Basketball Championship in Brooklyn, N.Y.
"It's exciting any time you get the opportunity to
celebrate the past, and we are appreciative to the Atlantic 10 Conference for
putting on such an event," SLU director of athletics Chris May said.
"Anthony is certainly deserving of this honor," May
said. "He was successful on the basketball court and electrified the program
like few Billikens have. Anthony's numbers speak for themselves; he is simply
one of the best.
"Theresa is the epitome of the term student-athlete,"
May said. "While here for just three years, she left an indelible mark on the
program as a Billiken who not only performed highly on the court, but in the
classroom as well."
Bonner is the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in
Saint Louis University men's basketball history. He accumulated 1,972 career
points and 1,424 career rebounds during his brilliant four-year Billiken
tenure. Bonner is also SLU's all-time leader in steals (192), minutes played
(4,536) and games started (130).
During his time at SLU, the Billikens posted an
87-46 record and advanced to the finals of the NIT in 1989 and 1990. He helped
the Bills to a school-record 27 wins during the 1988-89 campaign. Bonner holds
the Billikens' single-game scoring mark after he scored 45 points against
Loyola Chicago in 1990.
A St. Louis native, Bonner was a first-round
pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 1990 NBA Draft and played six seasons in
the NBA with the Kings (1990-93), New York Knicks (1993-95) and Orlando Magic
(1996).
Meacham is the most decorated player in
Saint Louis women's basketball history despite playing only three years. In her
final campaign (2008-09), Meacham was named the A-10's female Scholar-Athlete
of the Year and became the first SLU women's basketball student-athlete to be
selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team. In addition, the summa cum laude graduate earned a place
on the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association
Scholar-Athlete list for a second consecutive year.
Also an A-10 first-team honoree that season, the
5-9 guard led the league in scoring (19.1 ppg) and free throw percentage (.889)
and ranked 25th and ninth, respectively, in the nation in those categories.
On the Billikens'
career lists, Meacham is second in scoring average (17.0 ppg), fifth in 3-point
field goals made (137), points (1,363) and 3-point field goal percentage
(.364), and eighth in assists (270). She owns school records for points in a
season (574), free throws made in a career (406) and season (169), career free throw
percentage (.869) and points in a game (37), and she tied the school mark for
single-game free throw shooting (12-for-12).
A native of
Belleville, Ill., Meacham resides in Champaign, Ill., with her husband, Trent.
The ceremony to honor the A-10 Basketball Legends will be
March 16 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., prior to the 2013 Men's
Basketball Championship semifinals. Each honoree will be saluted during a
celebration awards brunch in the 40/40 Club at Barclays Center at 11 a.m. (ET).