May 22, 2018 San Jose, Calif.----- A Super Bowl champion, a NCAA individual champion and another that played on a NCAA Championship team, a three-time judo Olympian, the first four-time all-conference and all-region softball player, a USA National Team player, a legendary supporter and a second-place NCAA Championship team are the 2018 inductees into the San Jose State University Sports Hall of Fame. Marie Tuite, the Spartans director of athletics made the announcement.
Wide receiver James Jones (2003-06), who played nine NFL seasons and caught five passes in the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl XLV win in 2011; Charlie Clark, the 1960 NCAA champion in the steeplechase; Lisa Walton, a three-time first-team All-American golfer; Gerardo Padilla, a three-time Olympic Games qualifier in judo representing Mexico; Pat Martinez, a four-time all-region softball outfielder; Juliet Moss, the first Spartan women's water polo player to be named to the USA National Team; the 1971 San Jose State men's water polo team that posted a 20-1 win-loss record and world-renowned cheerleader Krazy George (a.k.a. George Henderson) are the inductees.
"We welcome this extraordinary 2018 class to the San Jose State University Sports Hall of Fame. We are inducting male and female champions from individual and team sports and Spartans from diverse backgrounds," said Tuite. "What they share in common is athletics and sports excellence at San Jose State, as well as impactful professional and national team careers. In addition, these inductees are true Spartans in their spirit and pride for San Jose State. These men and women are joining more than 370 of the best Spartan athletes in nearly 130 years of intercollegiate athletics competition into our Hall of Fame. "I also want to thank those in our Order of Sparta alumni athletes organization that worked diligently to recommend these outstanding individuals and team for Hall of Fame status."
This year's San Jose State University Hall of Fame induction ceremony is Friday, September 28, beginning at 6:00 p.m., in the Diaz Compean Student Union centrally located on the San Jose State campus. All inductees will be honored and introduced the next day at the September 29 Spartan home football game versus the University of Hawaii.
Information on making reservations to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be made available in the near future.
2018 San Jose State University Hall of Fame inductees
Charlie Clark (1939-72), track & field and cross country (1960-61)
A transfer from Santa Ana College, Charlie Clark was one of the top U.S. distance runners of his era. Clark won the 1960 NCAA Championship in the steeplechase with a meet record time of 9:02.1. Earlier in the year, he was the first Spartan to run the steeplechase under 9:00.0 with his school record 8:58.2, a mark that stood for four seasons.
In one of Coach Bud Winter's zany creations, he and Jeff Fishback set a world record for the two-man, 10-mile relay covering the distance in just over 42 minutes.
The two-sport athlete excelled in cross country. San Jose State finished second as a team at the 1961 NCAA Cross Country Championships. As an individual, Clark placed sixth at the NCAA Championships that year to earn All-America honors.
Track & Field News ranked Clark #3 in the U.S. in the 5,000 meters. He was the 1964 Pan American Games silver medalist in the 5,000 meters. Clark also competed internationally representing the United States in the 1961 and 1962 USA vs. Russia meets.
James Jones, football (2003-06)
An all-around athlete from San Jose's Gunderson High School, James blossomed as a Spartan with the arrival of Dick Tomey as the football team's head coach. Jones played wide receiver and returned punts. His best season was in 2006 when he caught 70 passes for 893 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was the Offensive Most Valuable Player in the Spartans' New Mexico Bowl win catching two Adam Tafralis touchdown passes. But, he may be best known that season for his 42-yard reverse that proved to be the game-winning touchdown in San Jose State's 35-34 comeback victory over Stanford after trailing 27-7 in the second quarter.
The second-team All-Western Athletic Conference honoree was the 78th overall selection in the 2007 National Football League draft as the Green Bay Packers' third round pick. He played his first seven seasons with the Packers, one with the Oakland Raiders and his final season the Packers again. Green Bay won Super Bowl XLV defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers. The following season, Jones led the NFL with 14 touchdown receptions. He would conclude his career with 433 receptions and 51 touchdown catches, the most by any San Jose State player to play in the NFL.
Now retired as a NFL player, Jones now can be seen on the NFL Network. He is active in community activities with a focus on his Love Jones 4 Kids foundation to help children of all ages.
Pat Martinez, softball (1993-96)
An outfielder on the 1993 through 1996 teams, Pat Martinez is the only Spartan to be named an All-Pacific Region honoree four times. She was the second Spartan to earn All-Big West Conference honors in all four of her seasons. Martinez was an honorable mention All-Big West selection as a freshman, a second-team choice as a junior and a first-team selection as a sophomore and a senior.
In her four seasons, Martinez was a starter in 242 out of a possible 244 games. Her career batting average of .346 was a school record and still ranks #6 all-time. More than 20 years later, Martinez still is the San Jose State career leader for at-bats (768) and base hits (266), shares the top spot for triples (22) and began the 2018 season ranked in the top-10 in starts and games played, total bases, runs scored, doubles, and RBIs.
Juliet Moss, water polo (2006-09)
A local product from San Jose's Mt. Pleasant High, Juliet was a model student-athlete. She was a second team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation player as a junior and a first-team choice as a senior, just the second Spartan in the history of the program to be named a first-team player. Juliet also earned conference and national academic awards.
Moss set the San Jose State single season scoring of 80 goals in her 2009 senior season. The two-time All-American was the first Spartan to score 50 or more goals in a season three times, the first to score 200 goals in a career and finished as the career scoring leader with 206 scores.
She was named to USA Water Polo's junior national team in 2007 and the USA senior national B team in 2008. She became the first Spartan to be named to the senior national team in 2010 and remained with Team USA through 2012. Moss would go on to play for the New York Athletic Club and professionally in Australia.
Gerardo Padilla, judo (1979-82)
A two-time National Collegiate Judo Association champion, Gerardo Padilla was a co-captain of the 1982 San Jose State judo team. Padilla is one of six Spartan athletes to compete in at least three Olympic Games. He was the first judoka from Mexico to compete in three Olympics and the only male judo player to participate in three Olympics. Padilla represented Mexico in the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics and his country in the 1979 and 1983 Pan American Games.
He was the 1983 Dutch Open and Pan American Games champion in the U-65 weight classification and a past Pan American Judo Union junior and senior champion. A sixth degree black belt, Padilla remains close to the San Jose State judo program as one of the team's assistant coaches.
  Lisa Walton, women's golf (1991-94) Lisa Walton was a three-time first-team All-American golfer at San Jose State. She was a seven-time individual winner during her four seasons as a Spartan. Walton was the 1992 and 1993 Big West Conference champion, the first player in conference history to earn medalist honors in back-to-back years. She was a four-time all-conference selection and the co-Big West Player of the Year during her sophomore and junior seasons sharing the award with teammate and Hall of Famer Tracy Hanson.
Walton's par on the 18th hole as San Jose State's final player clinched the Spartans' third NCAA Women's Golf Championship in five years. San Jose State was the first school to win three NCAA Women's Golf Championships. Individually, she finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Championship twice â€" seventh in 1992 and 10th in 1994.
1971 San Jose State men's water polo team
The 1971 San Jose State men's water polo team was one of the top teams in the country. The Spartans won the Pacific Coast Athletic Association tournament knocking off Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. San Jose State extended its season record to 20-0 after defeating Stanford and Cal State Fullerton in the first two rounds of the NCAA Championship tournament before UCLA won a hard-fought 5-3 decision for the NCAA title.
Mike Albright, Fred Belcher, Ken Belli, John Gebers, Steve Hamann, Greg Jackson, and Steve Spencer were named All-PCAA that year. Hamann, a 1980 U.S. Olympian, Ed Samuels, and Bruce Watson would go on to play for Team USA. There was no conference Coach of the Year, but if there was one, most certainly the award would have gone to Lee Walton, who coached the Spartans for 11 seasons and ushered San Jose State's transition from a post-season tournament championship team in 1968 to success in NCAA Championships competition.
Krazy George, cheerleader (1968-present)
The one-time industrial arts major and former brown belt in judo got his start as a professional cheerleader 50 years ago at San Jose State football games. Somewhat imitated, but never equaled since then, in his manner to get fans into playing a bigger role in their in-person sporting experience, George Henderson morphed into "Crazy George" in the late 1960's and 1970's into "Krazy George" today.
His trademark appearance is his shorts, team jersey, tom-tom and hand drum. The one-man cheering icon for National Football League, National Hockey League, Canadian Football League, Team USA men's and women's soccer and Major League Baseball teams has his roots and his soul here in San Jose with the San Jose Giants, San Jose Earthquakes and his San Jose State Spartans. Estimates range to about 30 million people through the years joining him in cheers ranging from "The Sonic Boom" to "Shhhh" to "The Wave" which he introduced during the 1981 American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and Oakland A's.