(WVU release)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (September 5, 2020) – Eleven outstanding contributors to Mountaineer athletics make up the 30th class of honorees in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame, announced today by Director of Athletics Shane Lyons.
The 2020 class includes Janáe (Cox) Asbury (gymnastics), Da’Sean Butler (men’s basketball), Janis Denise “JD” Drummonds (women’s basketball), Jedd Gyorko (baseball), Richard “Dick” Leftridge (football), John McGrath (men’s soccer), Tony Robertson (men’s basketball), John Rost (rifle), Clara (Grandt) Santucci (women’s cross country & track), Tom Shafer (baseball) and Ron Wolfley (football).
Due to COVID-19, there will be no induction ceremony this fall. This year’s class will be inducted along with the 2021 class during the 2021 football season. This class brings the total number of inductees to 208.
Janáe (Cox) Asbury was a three-time NCAA Championships individual qualifier in gymnastics and First Team All-American during her career from 2004-07.
The Otisco, Indiana, native earned 17 All-EAGL (East Atlantic Gymnastics League) First Team accolades. She is WVU’s all-time leading career points earner (2,070.65) and the only gymnast in school history to earn 2,000-plus points.
Cox ranks first in program history in career all-around meets competed (50) and ranks second in career meets competed (55). She ranks first in career 39.0-plus all-around scores with 37.
She is second in school history in season point total (556.8, 2007), third in career 9.9-plus scores (33), second in career balance beam 9.9-plus scores (7), fourth in career floor 9.9-plus scores (15), sixth in career bars 9.9-plus scores (5) and ninth in career vault 9.9-plus scores (6).
Cox became the second WVU gymnast to become a three-time NCAA individual qualifier and qualified in the all-around each season. She finished 13th on floor at the 2007 NCAA Championships to earn First Team All-America honors.
She led WVU to two EAGL Championships and was a three-time individual EAGL champion (2004 vault, 2005 all-around and 2005 balance beam). Cox helped the Mountaineers set program records on vault, balance beam and overall total. She owns the WVU record for all-around score (39.675), earned on March 13, 2004, and the WVU NCAA Regional Record all-around score (39.35) on April 3, 2004.
Cox was the 2007 EAGL Gymnast of the Year, the 2007 EAGL Most Outstanding Senior Gymnast, the 2004 EAGL Rookie of the Year and earned 11 EAGL Gymnast of the Week honors.
Academically, Cox was a 2007 ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team selection, four-time NACGC/W Scholastic All-American, four-time Academic All-EAGL honoree and four-time Joseph Medrick Award honoree as the team’s top all-around gymnast. She was a three-time team MVP and earned the 2007 Red Brown Cup Award, given to WVU’s top all-around athlete.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies and a master’s degree in elementary education, concurrently from WVU. Cox was a volunteer assistant in 2008, when WVU won the EAGL Championship title.
Following graduation, Cox returned to her native Indiana to teach third grade and was a gymnastics coach for her club team for two years. She married Josh Asbury, a West Virginia native, in 2010, and moved back to Morgantown to teach third grade and serve as a volunteer assistant with WVU gymnastics. Since 2011, they have lived in Summersville, West Virginia, where she taught third grade for three years. The couple has three children: Addison, Jeffrey and Hadley. Cox currently teaches gymnastics classes and is the co-coordinator for the children’s ministry at her church.
Da’Sean Butler, the winningest men’s basketball player in school history playing on teams with 107 victories, finished his Mountaineer career third in points scored from 2007-10.
Butler registered 2,095 points, ranking third in school history behind Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley. In 2010, he became the ninth first team All-American in school history after he was named to the Basketball Times and John Wooden All-America teams.
A second-team selection by the Associated Press and third-team selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 2010, Butler led WVU to a 107-39 record during his career and three straight NCAA appearances, including the 2010 Final Four and 2008 Sweet 16. Butler also directed WVU to an NIT championship in 2007, and the school’s first Big East tournament title in 2010.
A native of Newark, New Jersey, Butler earned First Team All-Big East honors, was named to the NCAA East Region All-Tournament team and selected as the Big East Championship Most Outstanding Player in 2010. The 2010 winner of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS award, Butler set WVU records in double-figure scoring games (108), career minutes played (4,491) and career games played (146).
Butler averaged 14.3 points during his career and had 26 20-point games and 11 double-doubles. His 205 3-point field goals rank fifth in school history, and he ranks eighth in career offensive rebounds with 270. Butler is third in career field goals made (741), sixth in career free throws made (408), 13th in career rebounds (800), 11th in career starts (110) and 13th in career steals (154).
Butler scored 150 points in Big East tournament games and 134 points in nine NCAA tournament games, ranking second in school history behind Jerry West. He scored a career-high 43 points on a sprained ankle in a win over Villanova in 2009, two points shy of the Coliseum record for a WVU player.
He averaged 17.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game as a senior, setting the school record for minutes played in a season with 1,360. Butler was a finalist for the John Wooden Award and Naismith Award. He had six game-winning shots as a senior, including two in the Big East Championship against Cincinnati and Georgetown.
Butler was named to the All-Big East Second Team as a junior and to the Big East All-Rookie Team as a freshman. He also was a multiple selection to the Big East Academic All-Star Team.
He was selected in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat. Butler was a graduate assistant on the WVU men’s basketball staff in 2012-13. Since 2013, he has played professional basketball in Europe and Asia.
Butler graduated from WVU in 2010, with a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies. He is pursuing a master’s degree from WVU in athletic coaching education.
He is married to Megan Butler and they have three children, Draelyn, Donovan and Melina. He and his family reside in Morgantown. Butler is the son of Ira Puryear and Korena Puryear.
Janis Denise (JD) Drummonds
Janis “JD” Drummonds became the second WVU women’s basketball player to score 1,000 career points, doing so in only two years in 1980-81.
In 62 games, she tallied 1,160 points with 14 double-doubles. Drummonds averaged 18.7 points during her two seasons, still the highest career scoring average in WVU women’s basketball history.
The Hallandale, Florida, native had 23 career 20-plus point games and four 30-plus scoring games. Drummonds averaged 21.0 points in 1981, the second highest single season scoring average at WVU. Her 693 points in 1981 were the then-second highest season scoring total of all-time.
Drummonds made 300 field goals in 1981, still the most ever in a single season at WVU.
She scored a career-high 35 points against Miami in 1980, still ranking as the third-highest point total in a game at WVU. Drummonds recorded back-to-back 30-point games against Western Michigan (30) and Mount Mercy (30) in 1980, a record that has not been duplicated.
As a senior, Drummonds led the team in assists (160) and rebounds (206). She led the team in scoring in both of her seasons (467 in 1980 and 693 in 1981). As a junior, she also led the team in scoring average (21.0), rebounds (206), steals (103) and assists (160).
Drummonds came to WVU as a First Team All-American from Broward Community College, where she received an associates of science degree. She was inducted into the Broward Community College Hall of Fame.
She received her bachelor’s degree from WVU in physical education and a master’s degree in physical education from Nova University. Following graduation from WVU, she played professionally in Tasmania, Australia. While there, she conducted her own basketball camp (JD’s Camp) for children.
Following her playing career, she returned home to Hallandale High, where she was a three-time All-Broward County First Team player in high school and also led it to state titles in 1976 and 1977 to become the girl’s head basketball coach. She led Hallandale to state runner-up finishes in 1987 and 1988. From 1984-86, she was named All-Broward County Coach of the Year.
Drummonds now teaches at Braddock High in Miami and recently retired from coaching after 32 years. She has competed in the National Senior Games 50 & over 3-on-3 for four years.
Drummonds has a daughter, Sadaria Hughes.
Jedd Gyorko garnered 10 All-America baseball honors during his outstanding career from 2008-10 and has since been an eight-year Major League Baseball player.
While at WVU, the Morgantown, West Virginia, native started 168 games at second base and shortstop, collecting 281 hits in 696 at-bats, good for a .404 career batting average. His career totals include 207 runs, 73 doubles, five triples, 35 home runs, 178 runs batted in and six stolen bases. Gyorko hit .400 or higher in two of his three years at WVU.
In the WVU record books, Gyorko is first in career extra-base hits (113) and batting average (.404), tied for first in career home runs (35), second in career runs (207), RBIs (178), doubles (73), assists (475) and total bases (469), third in career hits (281), singles (248) and slugging percentage (.674), fifth in career on-base percentage (.470), tied for fifth in career sacrifice flies (14) and tied for seventh in career walks (92).
As a junior in 2010, Gyorko batted .381, collecting 90 hits in 236 at-bats, while slugging 19 home runs, tying the program record for the most in a season. He also scored 71 runs and drove in 57 for the Mountaineers. Additionally, he hit 28 doubles, tying his own WVU single-season record, and one triple to set the WVU record for most extra-base hits in a single season (48). His 71 runs in 2010 are tied for the fourth-best mark in a single season. Gyorko also drew 43 walks as a junior, the second-most in a single season. He collected 177 total bases as a junior, setting the WVU record for the most total bases in a single season. He led the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs that season.
Gyorko capped his final season by winning the Brooks Wallace Award, the first in WVU history. Gyorko also was named a First Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and a Second Team All-American by Louisville Slugger, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Baseball America. He was named the NCBWA District II Player of the Year and was selected to the All-East Region and All-Big East First Team.
As a sophomore in 2009, Gyorko took over as the starting shortstop and collected 96 hits in 228 at-bats for a .421 average with eight home runs, 28 doubles and one triple. He also scored 74 runs, the third-best mark in a single season, and drove in 58. His 96 hits are the second-most by a Mountaineer in a single season. Additionally, Gyorko’s .421 batting average is the seventh-highest batting mark in a single season at WVU. Gyorko was named a Second Team All-American by Louisville Slugger and a Third Team All-American by the NCBWA. Gyorko also was named WVU’s first-ever Brooks Wallace Award finalist in 2009. He set WVU’s single-season record for doubles (28) and his 37 extra-base hits were good for fourth on the single-season list in 2009.
As a freshman in 2008, Gyorko batted .409, collecting 95 hits in 232 at-bats, including 17 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. He also drove in 63 runs and scored 62 runs. His 95 hits were the third-most by a Mountaineer in a single season. Gyorko capped his freshman season by being named a Second Team All-American by the NCBWA and a Freshman All-American by the NCBWA, Rivals.com and Louisville Slugger. In addition to his All-America honors, Gyorko was selected as the 2008 Rookie of the Year by the Big East Conference and was named to the All-ECAC First Team, All-Big East Second Team and All-Big East Rookie Team.
Gyorko became the 68th Mountaineer to be taken in the 2010 MLB Draft, selected by the San Diego Padres in the second round (59th overall). He made his Major League debut on April 1, 2013, as the team’s Opening Day second baseman. In 2013, Gyorko finished sixth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, leading all qualifying Major League rookies in home runs (23), extra-base hits (49), total bases (216), on-base percentage (.301), slugging (.444) and OPS (.745). He also ranked among rookie leaders in several other offensive categories, including RBIs (2nd, 63), doubles (3rd, 26), runs scored (3rd, 62) and hits (5th, 121).
Gyorko played in 364 games with the Padres in three years, accumulating 309 hits in 1,307 at-bats, including 49 home runs, 58 doubles, one triple and 171 runs batted in. He led the Padres in home runs (49), runs batted in (171), hits (309), doubles (58) and walks (96) from his Major League debut in 2013 through 2015. Gyorko set the San Diego Padres single-season home run mark by a second baseman in 2013, when he swatted 23, becoming the first rookie to lead the Padres in home runs. He is San Diego’s all-time leader for home runs by a second baseman with 40. Gyorko posted a .992 fielding percentage at second base his rookie season, the highest ever in MLB by a rookie second baseman.
Gyorko was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2015. He hit 61 home runs with the Cardinals (2016-18), second most behind infielder Matt Carpenter during that time. Gyorko became the first player in Cardinals franchise history to start and homer while playing at all four infield spots in 2016. Also in 2016, he hit a career-high 30 home runs with only nine doubles to become one of just two players in Major League history with 30 or more homers, fewer than 10 doubles and 400 at-bats or less, joining Mark McGwire (2000, STL).
In 2019, Gyorko was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, playing in 24 games. In early 2020, he signed a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers with a club option for 2021.
In May 2020, Gyorko completed his Regents Bachelor of Arts degree from WVU.
He and his wife, Karley, have twin boys, Brody and Kadin, and a daughter, Brooklyn. The family resides in Morgantown.
Dick Leftridge, an outstanding fullback from 1963-65, was the first Black student-athlete to sign a grant-in-aid for a football scholarship at WVU in February 1962 and remains the highest WVU player selected in the NFL Draft (third overall pick and first skill position player in 1966).
A native of Hinton, West Virginia, Leftridge and Roger Alford broke the color barrier for Mountaineer football and the Southern Conference in 1963.
After a year on the freshman team in 1962, he became the team’s leading rusher as a sophomore and had another fine season in 1964, gaining 534 yards on 125 carries, helping West Virginia to a 7-4 record and a berth in the Liberty Bowl to play Utah. He ran for 73 yards in the loss to Utah and also had an outstanding game against Pitt on regional television.
A 6-foot-2, 230-pounder, Leftridge and Garrett Ford Sr. teamed up to form one of the most formidable backfield tandems in 1965. As a senior, Leftridge ran for 774 yards and scored nine touchdowns in helping the Mountaineers to a 6-4 record. The two combined to run for more than 1,800 yards and 18 touchdowns as one of the East Coast’s best backfield tandems. Their combined figures that year compared favorably to Syracuse’s outstanding tandem of Floyd Little and Larry Csonka, which combined to run for 1,860 yards and scored 18 touchdowns that year.
Leftridge’s best game was against George Washington when he rushed 19 times for 160 yards. The Mountaineers earned Southern Conference championships in 1964 and 1965.
He finished his WVU career rushing 348 times for 1,701 yards and 21 touchdowns. He was named the state’s Amateur Athlete of the Year and was the first Black player to play for the South team in the North-South Shrine Game in Miami. He was a three-year letterwinner and is a member of the WVU All-Time Team (1960-69).
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected him as the third overall pick and the first running back taken in the 1966 NFL Draft. He played one season for the Steelers in 1966.
Leftridge died Feb. 27, 2004, just weeks before his 60th birthday. He is survived by his wife, Wanda, and children, Richard Jr., Jeri and Jeffrey, and seven grandchildren, Zachary, Joshua, Ashton, Kazimire, Hailee, Jeffrey Jr. and Storm.
John McGrath
John McGrath served as the WVU men’s soccer coach from 1969-95 and is the program’s all-time winningest coach with 202 victories.
In his 27 seasons, McGrath led the Mountaineers to five NCAA Tournament appearances, including three consecutive NCAA appearances from 1971-73.
The Mountaineers returned to the NCAA Tournament in 1981, falling one goal short of reaching the national semifinals. In 1992, after winning the Atlantic 10 Championship, West Virginia earned its fifth NCAA appearance under McGrath.
His final record stood at 202-181-45, making him the only coach in program history with more than 200 wins. McGrath totaled 17 winning seasons and eight 10-win campaigns.
McGrath took over the Mountaineers in their ninth season as a varsity program in 1969. He coached six players who combined for nine career All-America selections (Joe Okhakhu, Dennis Almeida, Manny Matos, Jack Cardosa, Jon Capon and Ashy Mabrouk) and 17 all-region honorees. West Virginia was an independent during his first 18 seasons at the helm, before joining the Atlantic 10 in 1987 and the Big East in 1995.
McGrath also served as a professor in the then-West Virginia School of Physical Education (now College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences). He assisted in establishing WVU’s Athletic Coaching Education (ACE) program, served as an advocate for technology in the curriculum, leader of WVU’s ACE online master’s degree program and organizer of ACE’s internship placement program. McGrath retired in 2004.
Prior to his arrival in Morgantown, McGrath taught physical education classes at Bemidji State College, Keystone Junior College, Springfield College and SUNY Cortland. He served as an assistant freshman basketball coach at Springfield, assistant basketball and track coach at Bemidji State, assistant soccer and baseball coach at SUNY Cortland and head soccer, basketball and baseball coach at Keystone for two years. His soccer record at Keystone was an impressive 17-1-1 with his 1964 squad finishing fourth in the National Junior College Championships.
Originally from Bloomfield, New Jersey, he earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Springfield College in 1964 and a master’s degree in physical education administration from Bemidji State in 1965.
McGrath has earned numerous awards throughout his career: Bloomfield Athletic Hall of Fame, John Lobel Award and was named the WVU School of Physical Education Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 1990.
McGrath and his wife, Carolyn, have two children – Cherylen Joan St. John and John Ryan McGrath. He has three grandchildren – Grant St. John, Riley McGrath and Aiden McGrath.
Tony Robertson was a 1,000-point scorer in just two seasons of men’s basketball from 1976-77, registering 1,026 points before heading to the NBA.
Robertson averaged 18.0 points for his career, including 17.9 points as a junior and 18.1 points as a senior. His 18.0 career points average ranked seventh in school history. Robertson started all 57 games as a Mountaineer, averaging 32.6 minutes per game.
For his career, the Detroit native shot 49.4 percent from the field (53.0 percent as a junior), averaged 4.2 rebounds per game and 3.4 assists per game.
Robertson had a career-high 34 points against Richmond on Feb. 25, 1976, posted a career-high 12 rebounds against New Hampshire on March 1, 1976, had a career-high 10 assists against Richmond on Feb. 25, 1976 and recorded seven steals against Virginia Tech on Dec. 1, 1976.
Robertson was named to the Eastern 8 All-Conference First Team and Eastern 8 All-Tournament Team in 1977.
He was taken in the fourth round of the 1977 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and was traded to the Atlanta Hawks. Robertson played for the Hawks in 1977-78 and Golden State Warriors in 1978-79. He played in 75 career games, scoring 373 points for Atlanta in 63 games and 36 points for Golden State.
Robertson came to WVU from Eastern Arizona Junior College, where he averaged 23 points a game as a sophomore and 21 points a game as a freshman.
He is married to Terri Helm-Robertson, who attended WVU and is from Rand, West Virginia. Robertson is the son of the late Willie and Dorothy Robertson, who he cites as encouraging him to attend WVU.
Robertson and his wife have two children, Toni and Xavier, and two grandchildren, Keith Jr. and Peyton.
John Rost was the first multiple National Champion in rifle at WVU and earned seven All-America honors from 1979-82.
The Cincinnati native became WVU’s third rifle National Champion when he captured the air rifle event at the 1981 NCAA Championship. A year later, he repeated as National Champion in the same event.
Rost captured seven All-America honors, earning smallbore accolades in 1979, and both air rifle and smallbore honors in 1980, 1981 and 1982.
The Mountaineers posted a 34-1 record during his career with three NCAA runner-up finishes. Rost was a two-time team captain and voted as the team’s most valuable shooter as a junior and senior.
He represented the United States in the men’s 10-meter air rifle event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles where he placed sixth
Rost traveled internationally with the United States Shooting Team, winning awards during and after college. He elected to give a career in banking his full-time attention after competing in the Olympics.
Rost graduated from WVU in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in finance. He is currently senior vice president and head of commercial lending at LCNB National Bank.
He has been married to his wife, Linda, for 38 years. They have two married daughters and live in Loveland, Ohio.
Clara Grandt earned four All-America honors in three different sports during her cross country and track career from 2005-10.
Grandt became the third female WVU runner to earn three All-America honors in three sports in the same season.
The West Union, West Virginia, native started her senior season by earning her first career All-America honor in cross country when she led the Mountaineers to a sixth-place finish at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships and was the first Mountaineer runner to cross the finish line in 13th place.
Then, at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Grandt finished 11th in the 5,000-meter run to earn All-America honors. She capped her WVU career at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships with her fourth career All-America honor, finishing fourth in the 10,000-meter run.
Grandt earned her first All-America citation and became WVU’s 24th track and field All-American when she finished fourth in the 10,000-meter run at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
She opened her WVU career with the Mountaineer cross country team by winning the 2006 WVU Open in her first collegiate race. Grandt began the 2007 track season with a win in the mile run at the Holiday Classic. She helped WVU win the 2007 Big East Cross Country Championships by finishing eighth overall and was the second WVU finisher in sixth place at the 2007 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional.
Grandt was named to the USA Cross Country team in 2009 and captured first-place honors at the NACAC Cross Country Championships. She set a new meet record in the 10K at the 2008 ECAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Grandt took eighth place with a time of 28:22 at the 2008 United States World Cross Country Trials.
In 2009, Grandt set the WVU school record in the 10,000 meters with a time of 33:16.96. She won the 2009 Big East Championship in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:07.55.
In 2010, she won the Big East Championship in the 10,000 meters with a time of 33:31.80, and she finished in first place (34.29) in the 10K at the NCAA Regionals in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Grandt was a three-time selection to the NCAA All Mid-Atlantic Region and a three-time selection to the All-Big East Team. She was the 2009 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year.
Since the conclusion of her WVU career, Grandt is a three-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon (2012, 2016 and 2020) and was a member of the USA Half-Marathon Championship team in 2014. In the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, she placed seventh and served as an alternate for the United States that year. She has won the Pittsburgh Marathon twice (2014 and 2015) and was the first American to finish at the 2013 Chicago Marathon, placing fifth overall in 2014. That year, she became the first American woman to win the Pittsburgh Marathon since 2009.
Grandt starred at Doddridge County High, where she holds the state Class A record in the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters.
Grandt graduated from WVU with a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology and a master’s degree in sport management. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree from WVU in athletic and sport education while serving as a graduate assistant for the WVU cross country and track and field teams. In addition, Grandt owns her own private coaching business, while running as a professional for Mizuno and Saucony for seven years and working at Healthworks in aquatic therapy.
She is married to Jason Santucci.
Tom Shafer earned All-America honors and was a two-time selection to the All-Southern Conference First Team during his Mountaineer baseball career from 1960-62.
Hailing from Morgantown, Shafer primarily was a pitcher but also played first base and outfield. He earned All-Southern Conference First Team honors in 1961 and 1962, while being named an Amateur Baseball Federation Second Team All-American in 1961. Shafer became the first WVU baseball player (along with teammate Ed Tekavec) to be selected as an All-American for baseball only.
On the mound, Shafer pitched 20 straight scoreless innings, 27 straight innings without giving up an earned run and 23 consecutive innings without walking a batter. As a junior in 1961, he posted a 6-2 record on the mound with an ERA below 2.00 and had a 9-2 record as a senior in 1962 with an ERA also below 2.00.
He held the school’s ERA record upon graduation for 125 or more innings pitched at 1.69. He is sixth all-time in strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 3.01 average. Shafer also is sixth all-time in single season victories with nine, pitching in an era when the team only played 30 games a season.
For his career, he earned 17 victories on the mound while striking out 204 and allowing 41 earned runs in 218.1 innings pitched. At the plate, he had six career home runs with 27 RBIs and led the team with four home runs in 1962.
The Mountaineers won Southern Conference titles in 1961 and 1962, advancing to the NCAA District III playoffs both seasons.
In 1962, Shafer was named the Atlantic Coast Athlete of the Year by Coach and Athlete Magazine. He was signed by the New York Yankees and advanced to Triple-A with the Toledo Mud Hens. Shafer’s career was cut short by arm injuries.
He graduated with honors from WVU in the College of Engineering and is credited as the person responsible for the interlocking baseball WV emblem that the program used from 1962-2010.
Following his baseball career, Shafer served as an officer in the US Army, completing his tour of duty as an artillery captain. After early engineering jobs in the glass, steel and consulting fields, Shafer’s career evolved into information systems. He spent more than 20 years with Martin Marietta and then Lockheed Martin after a corporate merger. Shafer retired as vice president of information systems, supporting key national government defensive, civil and aerospace programs and agencies.
He resides in Warrenton, Virginia, with his wife of 50-plus years, Roberta. They have a daughter, Suzanne, and grandchildren, Jack and Lily.
Ron Wolfley was one of the top fullbacks to play at West Virginia, helping usher in the Don Nehlen era at WVU from 1981-84.
The native of Orchard Park, New York, helped the Mountaineers to three straight 9-3 seasons and an 8-4 record as a senior to amass a four-year mark of 35-13.
WVU played in four straight bowl games during that time, winning three of them (1981 Peach, 1983 Hall of Fame and 1984 Bluebonnet). Wolfley helped pave the way to four straight years in the national rankings, finishing in the top 20 in each of those years. He is the school’s seventh all-time leading rusher among fullbacks with 1,296 yards on 340 carries and 10 touchdowns.
Serving as captain as a senior in 1984, Wolfley led the Mountaineers in rushing with 475 yards on 127 carries. He had three catches for 55 yards and a touchdown and tied the team lead in touchdowns with five. That season, Wolfley had a season-high 19 carries for 88 yards against Maryland and had 40 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown in one of the greatest wins in school history over Penn State.
As a junior in 1983, Wolfley was the second-leading rusher with 485 yards on 122 carries and four touchdowns. He had a season-high 114 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown against Boston College. Wolfley posted 84 yards on 18 carries against Pitt. In 1982 as a sophomore, he was the second-leading rusher on the team with 355 yards and two touchdowns.
Wolfley was drafted in the fourth round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Known as a fearless special teams player, he earned four NFL Pro Bowl honors from 1986-89. Wolfley played two seasons for the Cleveland Browns from 1992-94 and returned to St. Louis with the Rams for a final season in 1995. He is the only player to have played in St. Louis for the Cardinals and the Rams. For his career, Wolfley finished with 263 yards on 86 carries and two touchdowns to go along with 26 catches for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
Wolfley is the younger brother of former NFL offensive lineman Craig Wolfley (Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings), and older brother of former Mountaineer offensive lineman Dale Wolfley.
He was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. He co-hosts a morning, drive-time radio show in Phoenix, and serves as the color analyst for the Arizona Cardinals radio network with veteran sportscaster Dave Pasch.
Wolfley lives in Phoenix with his wife, Stephanie, and two children, Savannah and Vedder.