Becky Hammon didn’t surprise anyone Thursday night at the induction banquet for the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
She showed everyone that she could take her place alongside the men.
After a stellar basketball career at Colorado State, a remarkable run in the WNBA and in her initial season with the San Antonio Spurs as the NBA’s first female assistant coach, Hammon was among the inductees at the Marriott City Center in Denver.
“I often wondered what people would remember me for,” Hammon told the audience. “I had so many people pushing me up the hill. I had challenges, but they gave me courage.”
Also inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday: two-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Roy Halladay, record-setting football coach John Gag- liardi, basketball star Chauncey Billups, John Dikeou and the late Warren Mitchell.
Bill Mitchell accepted the award for his father, who was a legendary coach at Limon High School. He said track and field was his father’s favorite sport to coach — Warren Mitchell coached it for 59 years.
Gagliardi, who has strong ties to Trinidad, set a national record for victories by a college football coach with 409 at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.
Halladay, an Arvada West product, shocked the audience by revealing that he once gave up three consecutive home runs. But that was before he starred for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies.
Dikeou, who played an important role in major-league baseball coming to Denver, thrilled many of the old-timers in the audience by mentioning Denver Zephyrs players such as Barry Larkin when Dikeou owned the minor-league franchise.
Billups told the audience he played basketball with a chip on his shoulder to let the opponent know where he was from. He starred at the University of Colorado and in the NBA after becoming a legendary player at George Washington High School in Denver.
“I felt a lot of pride in that jersey with Colorado on the front,” Billups said.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296, imoss@denverpost.com or
