SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) - It was a star-studded class being inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame Monday night in downtown Salt Lake City.
Former BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose was among the five inductees at Little America Hotel.
Rose had a career record of 348-135 (.720) record in 14 seasons at BYU, including includes a 43-11 mark vs. instate schools. Dave earned four Mountain West Conference regular-season championships and three Coach of the Year awards. His eight trips to the NCAA Tournament, including six years in a row, are both BYU highs for any coach, and so is his achievement of 13 consecutive appearances in either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT.
"It's really kind of humbling," Rose said. "I'm excited to actually see all the people, all my friends and family who supported me at our games over the years. It's a great honor."
Olympic champion Ted Ligety was also inducted into the Hall of Fame.
A native of Park City, Ligety started competing at age 10 and eventually became a two-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the top three giant slalom skiers in history, thanks to a steady climb through the ranks of ski racing in Utah.
Ligety first struck gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics in the combined (downhill/slalom) event in Italy at age 21. He also won the 2014 Olympic gold medal in the giant slalom in Russia. Ligety won five World Championships during the course of his legendary career. Ligety retired from competitive skiing in 2021 as one of the greatest American skiers of all time.
"It's pretty shocking to think that I'm entering the Utah Sports Hall of Fame," Ligety said. "I'm not even 40 years old yet, so I feel like I'm too young for these types of things. But I am so honored to be here."
Ligety was honored to be inducted along with skiing icon Stein Erickson at Monday's event.
"Growing up skiing Deer Valley, Stein was the local legend," Ligety said. "He really put Park City on the map as far as a ski town, so to be inducted with him is really neat."
Erickson, a native of Norway, was initially involved in the development and layout of Park City Mountain Resort after moving to Utah in the late 1960s. So it is fitting that he joins Ted Ligety, who grew from a PCMR toddler into an Olympic champion himself, in the Utah Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023.
When Stein passed away in 2015 at age 88, Deer Valley President/General Manager Bob Wheaton labeled him “an integral part of the Deer Valley family since the resort’s inception,” crediting him with “infinite” influence in the ski industry.
BYU graduate Julie Thompson Seal is the first fencer to be inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame, while longtime sportswriter Tom Wharton was also inducted on Monday.
The induction ceremony was hosted by ABC4's Wesley Ruff.