WVU Sports Hall of Fame Class Selected
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (July 23, 2022) – Eight outstanding contributors to Mountaineer athletics make up the 32nd class of honorees in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame, Director of Athletics Shane Lyons announced today.
The 2022 class includes Donna Abbott (women’s basketball), Marie-Louise Asselin (cross country/track), Tavon Austin (football), Stedman Bailey (football), Marsha Beasley (rifle), Marilee Hohmann (rifle), Kevin Jones (men’s basketball) and Geno Smith (football). This class brings the total number of inductees to 223.
Induction ceremonies will take place on Saturday, Sept. 17, prior to the West Virginia-Towson football game.
Donna Abbott
Donna Abbott, who played women’s basketball from 1989-92, is one of three players in school history to score more than 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds.
A native of Huntington, West Virginia, Abbott scored 1,656 points during her career as a forward, ranking ninth all-time in school history. She averaged 15.3 points per game during her career, the ninth-best scoring mark in school annals.
Abbott appeared in 108 games with 103 starts and finished her career with 1,020 rebounds. She scored a then-school record 37 points against St. Joseph’s in 1989 and pulled in a career-best 20 rebounds against Rhode Island in 1992.
She produced 25 20-point games, which are tied for the ninth most in school history and had 52 career double-doubles in points and rebounds, the second most in WVU history.
In single-game program history, Abbott holds the fourth-highest scoring performance, with her 34 points against George Washington on Jan. 29, 1990, and boasts the second-highest scoring game on the road, when she tallied 37 points at St. Joseph’s on Feb. 18, 1989. Her 37 points against the Hawks that year also are good for the program’s third-best scoring performance and remains the top offensive outing by a freshman in program history. During the game, Abbott went 12-of-15 (80%) from the field, the second-best shooting percentage by a freshman in a game, and made 13 free throws, the most in a game by a freshman in program history.
Abbott played on WVU’s first two NCAA Tournament teams (1989 and 1992). The 1989 squad won WVU’s first conference tournament title (Atlantic 10) and the 1992 NCAA Sweet 16 team went 26-4, winning the Atlantic 10 regular-season title and posting a school-record 22 straight wins. She helped WVU to an 86-34 (.717) record during her four-year career.
Abbott was named to the 1992 All-Atlantic 10 First Team and the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team in 1990 and 1991. She earned All-Atlantic 10 Freshman Team honors in 1989.
The 1992 team was the first team in school history to finish the year ranked in the Associated Press poll (14th).
Abbott graduated from West Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.
Marie-Louise Asselin
Marie-Louise Asselin earned seven All-America honors (three in cross country and four in track and field) during her decorated running career from 2006-10.
A native of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, Asselin became only one of two WVU runners to earn three All-America honors in cross country when she did so in 2009. Along with teammate Keri Bland, Asselin achieved the honor by finishing in 31st place (20:43) at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The Mountaineers went on to finish sixth as a team, marking the third-consecutive year that WVU finished in the top 10.
Her success continued into the track season as she posted a second-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships (15:50.53) and a second-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (15:53.93). Her indoor 5,000-meter time currently sits as the WVU program record.
In 2008, she helped lead WVU to its most successful season in school history as the Mountaineers finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, first at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals and second at the Big East Championship. She became WVU’s first female Big East cross country champion with a time of 20:10. She placed 17th at the NCAA Championships with a time of 20:27 to earn her second All-America honor.
In the 2008-09 indoor track season, Asselin placed seventh in the 3,000 meters to earn All-America honors and was on the All-America distance medley relay team that finished fourth at nationals.
Asselin earned her first All-America honor as a sophomore in 2007, finishing 17th with a time of 20:39 to become WVU’s third All-American in women’s cross country. She helped WVU to a Big East Championship and a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Asselin took third at the Big East Championship and second at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional race, leading WVU to a second-place regional finish. Asselin and Bland became the first WVU duo to earn All-America honors in the same season.
In addition to her All-America honors, she earned NCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors (2006-09), All-Big East accolades (2007-09), Big East Indoor Outstanding Track Performer (2008) and CoSIDA Academic All-America Second (2010) and Third (2009) teams.
Asselin graduated from WVU with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She worked in the emergency room at WVU Medicine and then as a nurse in the emergency room at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
She currently resides in Burlington, Vermont, with her husband, Donald Bennett, and three children, Leo, Luca and Eloise. The family plans to relocate in the coming weeks to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Tavon Austin
Tavon Austin, a multi-year All-American and WVU’s career leader in all-purpose yards, was considered one of college football’s most explosive all-purpose players from 2009-12.
Appearing in 52 games and starting 38, the Baltimore native was a 2012 first-team All-American (All-Purpose) by the American Football Coaches Association and Associated Press, while becoming the first player in NCAA history to finish with more than 3,000 career receiving yards and rushed for more than 1,000 yards. Austin earned All-Big 12 Conference First Team honors as a kick returner and receiver and was named Co-Special Teams Player of the Year in 2012. He earned the Paul Hornung Award for most versatile player in the nation and the Jet Award Return Specialist winner in 2012. As a senior, Austin earned seven first team All-America honors as an all-purpose player and three second-team honors as a wide receiver.
Austin is the only player in NCAA history to score a touchdown four different ways in one season (catch, rush, kick and punt return). He passed Avon Cobourne and Noel Devine and set WVU’s all-purpose yards record at 7,286 yards. He passed Jock Sanders to establish WVU’s career reception record at 288 and passed David Saunders to become WVU’s career receiving yards leader with 3,413 yards.
He set WVU’s single-game record with 14 catches against Baylor and shattered WVU’s single-game all-purpose yards record with a 572-yard performance vs. Oklahoma (the previous record was Garrett Ford Sr. with 356 yards vs. Pitt in 1965). His 572-yard showing was the best performance in the FBS in 2012 and six yards short of the single-game record. Austin and Stedman Bailey set WVU’s single-season record for pass receptions with 114.
Austin set the WVU single-game rushing record with 344 yards vs. Oklahoma, breaking Kay-Jay Harris’ record of 337 in 2004. With 3,574 all-purpose yards, he set WVU’s single-season record with 2,910 yards. Austin ranks second in career touchdown receptions (29), season touchdown receptions (12) and 100-plus receiving-yard games (13).
He finished the 2012 season ranked second nationally in all-purpose yards, third in receptions per game and 13th in receiving yards. Austin finished his career tied for third in the nation with at least one catch in 42 straight games.
In 2011, he was named a first team All-American return specialist by CBSSports.com and Phil Steele, second team by Yahoo and third team by the Associated Press. Austin was First Team All-Big East and the Big East Special Teams Player of the Year. He led the nation in all-purpose yards (198.0 ypg) and caught an Orange Bowl and BCS record four touchdowns on 12 receptions, also a bowl record in the win over Clemson. His four touchdown catches were a WVU bowl and school record, while his 12 catches tied a school record. Austin tallied an Orange Bowl record of 280 all-purpose yards.
As a sophomore in 2010, Austin was named Second Team All-Big East, finishing the season second on the team with 58 receptions for a team-leading 787 yards. Austin led the Mountaineers with eight receiving touchdowns.
In 2009, Austin was named to the All-Big East Freshman Team by ESPN.com. He led off the Connecticut game with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, then the seventh-longest kickoff return in school history.
Austin finished his career with 29 touchdowns on offense and four on special teams. He scored 242 points during his career.
He was selected in the first round with the eighth pick in the 2013 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Austin played for the Rams until 2017, then Dallas (2018-19), San Francisco (2020), Green Bay (2020), Jacksonville (2021) and Buffalo (2022-present). He has played in 101 NFL games, starting 50. Austin has scored 15 receiving touchdowns, 10 rushing and three punt returns.
Stedman Bailey
Stedman Bailey was a three-year starter at wide receiver who earned All-America honors in 2012 and was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award that year.
The native of Miramar, Florida, played in 39 career games from 2010-12, starting 34. In his final season, he was one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award and was named a first team All-American by the Football Writers’ Association of America, CBSSports.com, Phil Steele and SI.com. He was a second team All-American by Walter Camp and FOX Sports. Bailey earned All-Big 12 Conference First Team honors at wide receiver.
Bailey’s 25 touchdown receptions in 2012 tied for second all-time in FBS history with Randy Moss. At the end of his career, he owned the school record for consecutive 100-yard receiving games (five) and most career 100-yard receiving games (14). Bailey set the WVU career touchdown reception record (41) with five against Baylor and set the Big 12 season record with 25. He finished with a career-best 303 yards receiving in that Baylor contest, including a career-long 87-yard touchdown reception.
He matched WVU’s single-game record with 14 catches against Oklahoma State and finished his career second on WVU’s all-time list with 3,218 receiving yards. Bailey finished second in career receptions with 210.
Bailey concluded 2012 ranked first in the Big 12 in receptions per game (8.8), second in receiving yards (124.8) and third in all-purpose yards (137.0). He finished the season ranked third nationally in scoring, receiving yards per game and receptions and was 25th in all-purpose yards.
Bailey produced 13 catches for 205 yards and four touchdowns against Oklahoma. His 205-yard performance was the fifth-best single-game mark in school history. Bailey finished with 225 yards against Oklahoma State, tied for the second-best mark in school history.
As a sophomore in 2011, he was named Second Team All-Big East and ended the year with 1,279 receiving yards, a WVU single-season mark at the time. Bailey set the school record for consecutive 100-yard receiving games with five. He tallied a then-career long 84-yard touchdown reception against UConn, the fifth-longest scoring reception from scrimmage in school history. Bailey earned All-Big East Freshman honors by ESPN.com in 2010.
Bailey finished his career with 41 touchdowns, scoring 246 points.
He decided to forgo his senior season at WVU and was drafted in the third round with the 92nd pick in the 2013 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. He earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in 2014 after a punt return for a touchdown against Seattle. He played until 2015 and finished with 59 receptions, 843 receiving yards and four total touchdowns.
He graduated from WVU in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies.
Marsha Beasley
Marsha Beasley served as head coach of the rifle team for 16 seasons from 1990 and 2006 and led the squad to eight NCAA titles.
Beasley compiled 14 winning seasons in her first 14 years with the Mountaineers, including nine undefeated campaigns. Her record after 14 seasons was 146-8. Under her watch, WVU won eight NCAA titles, posted one second-place finish and two third-place finishes at the NCAA Championships.
WVU did not sponsor rifle in 2003-04. When the team was reinstated in 2005, Beasley took on the task of rebuilding with a limited budget and no scholarships. Her efforts laid the groundwork for her successor to return WVU rifle to prominence, which the team attained winning the NCAA Championship in 2009.
She guided 28 student-athletes to 119 All-America honors and coached eight individual NCAA champions and four Olympians, including Ann-Marie Pfiffner, who qualified for the 1992 Olympics while a WVU student. Beasley coached the Mountaineers to three Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) tournament titles and five regular-season titles, including four individual GARC champions. In the classroom, 25 Mountaineer student-athletes were named all-academic 55 times by the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA).
Beasley earned numerous coaching awards and honors: 1997 National Coach of the Year for shooting by the United States Olympic Committee, 1993 National Rifle Association Coach of the Year, 1996 West Virginia State Sportswriters Coach of the Year, 1998 West Virginia College Coach of the Year by the West Virginia Girls and Women in Sports Association, 2003 Distinguished Service to Collegiate Shooting Sports honoree and a 2005 Celebrate Women Award honoree by the West Virginia Women’s Commission.
In addition to coaching, Beasley has been a leader in the sport. She wrote the grant request for initial funding and drafted the bylaws to create the Mid-America Rifle Conference (now GARC). She was a staff member at the then-national governing body of shooting (the NRA) and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. She also served 17 years on the Board of the Civilian Marksmanship Program. Beasley is currently serving as a member of the NCAA Rifle Committee.
Since 2016, she has coached rifle at Ole Miss, leading the turnaround of the program and guiding the Rebels to a third-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships. One of her shooters represented the United States in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Beasley was voted Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2021 by the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association.
Beasley is a graduate of East Tennessee State and later earned a master’s degree in sport management at WVU. She competed in smallbore and air rifle while in college. Later as a member of the U.S. National Team, she was a two-time international Gold medalist. During her shooting career, Beasley set 65 national records and won eight national championships.
She is married to Carl Flowers, and they have a daughter, Tavie, a 2021 graduate of the WVU fast-track nursing program, and twin sons, Aaron and Daniel. Daniel graduated from WVU in 2021 with a degree in civil engineering, while Aaron attended WVU for one year before transferring to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he competed in rifle and graduated this past May.
Marilee Hohmann
Marilee Hohmann was the first female athlete to compete on any WVU athletic team in 1961, 11 years before Title IX became federal law.
The Fairmont, West Virginia, native competed on the WVU rifle team from 1961-62, coached by Major Charles Means and Sgt. Charles Haley. She became the first woman ever to compete in an athletic competition at the United States Military Academy at West Point. At the time, the Academy was an all-male institution and a special dressing room arrangement had to be made.
Her exploits as a modern-day Annie Oakley were published in numerous media outlets -- Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and Stars and Stripes, the newspaper that serves the U.S. Military community. During that 1961-62 season, Hohmann had the fourth-highest average, 283, on WVU’s defending national championship rifle squad.
Hohmann attended East Fairmont High, where she was a majorette and Maid of Marion. She captured a national rifle championship at Camp Perry, Ohio, in 1959, at the age of 16. Hohmann was encouraged to shoot competitively by her father, Harold, who had won a national championship in 1958.
At WVU, Hohmann was a member of the Pi Beta Phi women’s fraternity and earned her master’s degree. She taught at Fairmont Senior High and Mannington High before taking a position on the Fairmont State faculty, where she taught speech and communications for nearly 20 years. One of her students was the late WVU football coach Bill Stewart. Hohmann was a member of Governor Jay Rockefeller’s West Virginia Arts and Humanities Commission.
She was married to John Veasey of Fairmont, and they had one son, Chance, who received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in 1990. Hohmann died of cancer in 1986 at the age of 43.
Kevin Jones
Kevin Jones was one of two WVU men’s basketball players to score at least 1,800 career points and grab 1,000 rebounds during his career from 2009-12.
The Mount Vernon, New York, native was named to the John Wooden All-America Team in 2012 and earned second team consensus All-America honors. Jones was a USBWA Second Team All-American, Associated Press Second Team All-American, NABC Second Team All-American, Sporting News Third Team All-American and Basketball Times Third Team All-American. He was named to the All-Big East First Team and was the USBWA District II Player of the Year in 2012. Jones was edged out for Big East Player of the Year in 2012 by Marquette’s Jae Crowder.
Jones scored in double figures in 95 career games and had 33 double-doubles for his career. Starting every game his final three seasons, he finished fifth in school history with 1,822 career points and was fourth in career rebounds with 1,048. Jones joined Jerry West as the only two WVU players to score at least 1,800 career points and grab 1,000 rebounds.
As a senior, he averaged 19.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.9% from the field. Jones became just the third player in Big East history to lead the league in scoring and rebounding in all games. Jones scored double figures in every game as a senior. He finished 11th in Big East history with 560 career rebounds.
Jones had career highs of 30 points against Kansas State in 2011 and 18 rebounds against Kent State in 2011. He helped lead WVU to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including the NCAA Final Four in 2010 and a Big East tournament title in 2010.
As a junior, he started all 33 games and was second on the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game. Jones led the team in rebounding at 7.5 boards per contest. He reached double figures in 23 games and posted eight double-doubles.
In 2010, he started every game and averaged 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Jones was second on the team in 3-point fields made with 42. As a freshman, he played in all 35 games and shot 49.5% from the field, recording eight games in double figures.
Jones left WVU with the most offensive rebounds in school history with 450. He holds the season offensive rebounds mark (141, 2012) and is tied for first in season games played (38, 2010) and season games started (38, 2010). Other top 10 WVU records Jones is a part of include second in career minutes played (4,347), second in career 10-point games (95), second in season 10-point games (33, 2012), second in season offensive rebounds (135, 2010), third in season minutes played (1,265, 2012), fourth in season offensive rebounds (108, 2011), fourth in season minutes played (1,254, 2010), fourth in season 10-point games (31, 2012), fifth in season double-doubles (21, 2012), sixth in career games played (139), sixth in career double-doubles (33), sixth in season field goals made (260, 2012), seventh in season 20-point games (19, 2012), eighth in season rebounds (360, 2012), eighth in career blocked shots (109) and 10th in season scoring (657, 2012).
A Big East Academic All-Star, Jones graduated from WVU with a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies in 2012. He played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2012-13, and was on the Cleveland, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks NBA Summer League teams. Jones has played professionally around the globe since 2014.
Geno Smith
Geno Smith set 33 Mountaineer game, season, class and career records as a quarterback from 2009-12.
As a senior, the Miramar, Florida, native was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and the Maxwell Award. Smith was named to the All-Big 12 Conference Second Team.
In addition to his 33 school records, Smith set six Milan Puskar Stadium records. He established the NCAA season record for the most pass attempts without an interception at 272. Smith recorded the nation’s best passing completion percentage mark since 2000 with a 95.8% (23-of-24) showing in the Kansas win in 2012, also setting a WVU record with 21 straight completions. He finished his career with a school-record 98 passing touchdowns.
Smith set the WVU season records for passing yards (4,385) and touchdowns (42) and career records for total offense (12,004), passing yards (11,662) and pass attempts (1,465). He set WVU records with 45 pass completions for 656 yards and eight touchdowns in the 2012 Baylor win. His passing yards total was the NCAA’s top single-game performance of the year.
He finished his senior season ranked second nationally in completion percentage (71.24), fourth in points responsible for (20.31) and passing completions per game (28.38), fifth in passing, sixth in passing efficiency and eighth in total offense.
In 2011, Smith was named the Discover Orange Bowl MVP after he set five Orange Bowl and four WVU and BCS bowl records, while tying three NCAA all-time bowl records. Smith went 32-of-43 for 407 yards and accounted for seven touchdowns in the 70-33 win over Clemson. His six passing touchdowns set a BCS and Orange Bowl record, while his 407 passing yards, 433 yards of total offense, seven touchdowns responsible for and 42 points responsible for all set Orange Bowl records.
Smith started all 13 games in 2010 as a sophomore and was named All-Big East Second Team. He averaged just one interception every 53.1 attempts and was first in the Big East in pass efficiency and second in passing yards per game, total offense and points responsible for.
Smith was selected as the 39th pick overall in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He played for the Jets until joining the New York Giants in 2017, the Los Angeles Chargers in 2018 and then the Seattle Seahawks from 2019-present.
In the NFL, he has started 34 of 45 games played, throwing for 6,917 yards and 34 touchdowns, while rushing for 701 yards and eight touchdowns. Smith had the most passing yards in a single season by a rookie quarterback for the New York Jets when he accounted for 3,046 yards passing in 2013.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (July 23, 2022) – Eight outstanding contributors to Mountaineer athletics make up the 32nd class of honorees in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame, Director of Athletics Shane Lyons announced today.
The 2022 class includes Donna Abbott (women’s basketball), Marie-Louise Asselin (cross country/track), Tavon Austin (football), Stedman Bailey (football), Marsha Beasley (rifle), Marilee Hohmann (rifle), Kevin Jones (men’s basketball) and Geno Smith (football). This class brings the total number of inductees to 223.
Induction ceremonies will take place on Saturday, Sept. 17, prior to the West Virginia-Towson football game.
Donna Abbott
Donna Abbott, who played women’s basketball from 1989-92, is one of three players in school history to score more than 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds.
A native of Huntington, West Virginia, Abbott scored 1,656 points during her career as a forward, ranking ninth all-time in school history. She averaged 15.3 points per game during her career, the ninth-best scoring mark in school annals.
Abbott appeared in 108 games with 103 starts and finished her career with 1,020 rebounds. She scored a then-school record 37 points against St. Joseph’s in 1989 and pulled in a career-best 20 rebounds against Rhode Island in 1992.
She produced 25 20-point games, which are tied for the ninth most in school history and had 52 career double-doubles in points and rebounds, the second most in WVU history.
In single-game program history, Abbott holds the fourth-highest scoring performance, with her 34 points against George Washington on Jan. 29, 1990, and boasts the second-highest scoring game on the road, when she tallied 37 points at St. Joseph’s on Feb. 18, 1989. Her 37 points against the Hawks that year also are good for the program’s third-best scoring performance and remains the top offensive outing by a freshman in program history. During the game, Abbott went 12-of-15 (80%) from the field, the second-best shooting percentage by a freshman in a game, and made 13 free throws, the most in a game by a freshman in program history.
Abbott played on WVU’s first two NCAA Tournament teams (1989 and 1992). The 1989 squad won WVU’s first conference tournament title (Atlantic 10) and the 1992 NCAA Sweet 16 team went 26-4, winning the Atlantic 10 regular-season title and posting a school-record 22 straight wins. She helped WVU to an 86-34 (.717) record during her four-year career.
Abbott was named to the 1992 All-Atlantic 10 First Team and the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team in 1990 and 1991. She earned All-Atlantic 10 Freshman Team honors in 1989.
The 1992 team was the first team in school history to finish the year ranked in the Associated Press poll (14th).
Abbott graduated from West Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.
Marie-Louise Asselin
Marie-Louise Asselin earned seven All-America honors (three in cross country and four in track and field) during her decorated running career from 2006-10.
A native of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, Asselin became only one of two WVU runners to earn three All-America honors in cross country when she did so in 2009. Along with teammate Keri Bland, Asselin achieved the honor by finishing in 31st place (20:43) at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The Mountaineers went on to finish sixth as a team, marking the third-consecutive year that WVU finished in the top 10.
Her success continued into the track season as she posted a second-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships (15:50.53) and a second-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (15:53.93). Her indoor 5,000-meter time currently sits as the WVU program record.
In 2008, she helped lead WVU to its most successful season in school history as the Mountaineers finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, first at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals and second at the Big East Championship. She became WVU’s first female Big East cross country champion with a time of 20:10. She placed 17th at the NCAA Championships with a time of 20:27 to earn her second All-America honor.
In the 2008-09 indoor track season, Asselin placed seventh in the 3,000 meters to earn All-America honors and was on the All-America distance medley relay team that finished fourth at nationals.
Asselin earned her first All-America honor as a sophomore in 2007, finishing 17th with a time of 20:39 to become WVU’s third All-American in women’s cross country. She helped WVU to a Big East Championship and a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Asselin took third at the Big East Championship and second at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional race, leading WVU to a second-place regional finish. Asselin and Bland became the first WVU duo to earn All-America honors in the same season.
In addition to her All-America honors, she earned NCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors (2006-09), All-Big East accolades (2007-09), Big East Indoor Outstanding Track Performer (2008) and CoSIDA Academic All-America Second (2010) and Third (2009) teams.
Asselin graduated from WVU with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She worked in the emergency room at WVU Medicine and then as a nurse in the emergency room at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
She currently resides in Burlington, Vermont, with her husband, Donald Bennett, and three children, Leo, Luca and Eloise. The family plans to relocate in the coming weeks to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Tavon Austin
Tavon Austin, a multi-year All-American and WVU’s career leader in all-purpose yards, was considered one of college football’s most explosive all-purpose players from 2009-12.
Appearing in 52 games and starting 38, the Baltimore native was a 2012 first-team All-American (All-Purpose) by the American Football Coaches Association and Associated Press, while becoming the first player in NCAA history to finish with more than 3,000 career receiving yards and rushed for more than 1,000 yards. Austin earned All-Big 12 Conference First Team honors as a kick returner and receiver and was named Co-Special Teams Player of the Year in 2012. He earned the Paul Hornung Award for most versatile player in the nation and the Jet Award Return Specialist winner in 2012. As a senior, Austin earned seven first team All-America honors as an all-purpose player and three second-team honors as a wide receiver.
Austin is the only player in NCAA history to score a touchdown four different ways in one season (catch, rush, kick and punt return). He passed Avon Cobourne and Noel Devine and set WVU’s all-purpose yards record at 7,286 yards. He passed Jock Sanders to establish WVU’s career reception record at 288 and passed David Saunders to become WVU’s career receiving yards leader with 3,413 yards.
He set WVU’s single-game record with 14 catches against Baylor and shattered WVU’s single-game all-purpose yards record with a 572-yard performance vs. Oklahoma (the previous record was Garrett Ford Sr. with 356 yards vs. Pitt in 1965). His 572-yard showing was the best performance in the FBS in 2012 and six yards short of the single-game record. Austin and Stedman Bailey set WVU’s single-season record for pass receptions with 114.
Austin set the WVU single-game rushing record with 344 yards vs. Oklahoma, breaking Kay-Jay Harris’ record of 337 in 2004. With 3,574 all-purpose yards, he set WVU’s single-season record with 2,910 yards. Austin ranks second in career touchdown receptions (29), season touchdown receptions (12) and 100-plus receiving-yard games (13).
He finished the 2012 season ranked second nationally in all-purpose yards, third in receptions per game and 13th in receiving yards. Austin finished his career tied for third in the nation with at least one catch in 42 straight games.
In 2011, he was named a first team All-American return specialist by CBSSports.com and Phil Steele, second team by Yahoo and third team by the Associated Press. Austin was First Team All-Big East and the Big East Special Teams Player of the Year. He led the nation in all-purpose yards (198.0 ypg) and caught an Orange Bowl and BCS record four touchdowns on 12 receptions, also a bowl record in the win over Clemson. His four touchdown catches were a WVU bowl and school record, while his 12 catches tied a school record. Austin tallied an Orange Bowl record of 280 all-purpose yards.
As a sophomore in 2010, Austin was named Second Team All-Big East, finishing the season second on the team with 58 receptions for a team-leading 787 yards. Austin led the Mountaineers with eight receiving touchdowns.
In 2009, Austin was named to the All-Big East Freshman Team by ESPN.com. He led off the Connecticut game with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, then the seventh-longest kickoff return in school history.
Austin finished his career with 29 touchdowns on offense and four on special teams. He scored 242 points during his career.
He was selected in the first round with the eighth pick in the 2013 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Austin played for the Rams until 2017, then Dallas (2018-19), San Francisco (2020), Green Bay (2020), Jacksonville (2021) and Buffalo (2022-present). He has played in 101 NFL games, starting 50. Austin has scored 15 receiving touchdowns, 10 rushing and three punt returns.
Stedman Bailey
Stedman Bailey was a three-year starter at wide receiver who earned All-America honors in 2012 and was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award that year.
The native of Miramar, Florida, played in 39 career games from 2010-12, starting 34. In his final season, he was one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award and was named a first team All-American by the Football Writers’ Association of America, CBSSports.com, Phil Steele and SI.com. He was a second team All-American by Walter Camp and FOX Sports. Bailey earned All-Big 12 Conference First Team honors at wide receiver.
Bailey’s 25 touchdown receptions in 2012 tied for second all-time in FBS history with Randy Moss. At the end of his career, he owned the school record for consecutive 100-yard receiving games (five) and most career 100-yard receiving games (14). Bailey set the WVU career touchdown reception record (41) with five against Baylor and set the Big 12 season record with 25. He finished with a career-best 303 yards receiving in that Baylor contest, including a career-long 87-yard touchdown reception.
He matched WVU’s single-game record with 14 catches against Oklahoma State and finished his career second on WVU’s all-time list with 3,218 receiving yards. Bailey finished second in career receptions with 210.
Bailey concluded 2012 ranked first in the Big 12 in receptions per game (8.8), second in receiving yards (124.8) and third in all-purpose yards (137.0). He finished the season ranked third nationally in scoring, receiving yards per game and receptions and was 25th in all-purpose yards.
Bailey produced 13 catches for 205 yards and four touchdowns against Oklahoma. His 205-yard performance was the fifth-best single-game mark in school history. Bailey finished with 225 yards against Oklahoma State, tied for the second-best mark in school history.
As a sophomore in 2011, he was named Second Team All-Big East and ended the year with 1,279 receiving yards, a WVU single-season mark at the time. Bailey set the school record for consecutive 100-yard receiving games with five. He tallied a then-career long 84-yard touchdown reception against UConn, the fifth-longest scoring reception from scrimmage in school history. Bailey earned All-Big East Freshman honors by ESPN.com in 2010.
Bailey finished his career with 41 touchdowns, scoring 246 points.
He decided to forgo his senior season at WVU and was drafted in the third round with the 92nd pick in the 2013 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. He earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in 2014 after a punt return for a touchdown against Seattle. He played until 2015 and finished with 59 receptions, 843 receiving yards and four total touchdowns.
He graduated from WVU in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies.
Marsha Beasley
Marsha Beasley served as head coach of the rifle team for 16 seasons from 1990 and 2006 and led the squad to eight NCAA titles.
Beasley compiled 14 winning seasons in her first 14 years with the Mountaineers, including nine undefeated campaigns. Her record after 14 seasons was 146-8. Under her watch, WVU won eight NCAA titles, posted one second-place finish and two third-place finishes at the NCAA Championships.
WVU did not sponsor rifle in 2003-04. When the team was reinstated in 2005, Beasley took on the task of rebuilding with a limited budget and no scholarships. Her efforts laid the groundwork for her successor to return WVU rifle to prominence, which the team attained winning the NCAA Championship in 2009.
She guided 28 student-athletes to 119 All-America honors and coached eight individual NCAA champions and four Olympians, including Ann-Marie Pfiffner, who qualified for the 1992 Olympics while a WVU student. Beasley coached the Mountaineers to three Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) tournament titles and five regular-season titles, including four individual GARC champions. In the classroom, 25 Mountaineer student-athletes were named all-academic 55 times by the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA).
Beasley earned numerous coaching awards and honors: 1997 National Coach of the Year for shooting by the United States Olympic Committee, 1993 National Rifle Association Coach of the Year, 1996 West Virginia State Sportswriters Coach of the Year, 1998 West Virginia College Coach of the Year by the West Virginia Girls and Women in Sports Association, 2003 Distinguished Service to Collegiate Shooting Sports honoree and a 2005 Celebrate Women Award honoree by the West Virginia Women’s Commission.
In addition to coaching, Beasley has been a leader in the sport. She wrote the grant request for initial funding and drafted the bylaws to create the Mid-America Rifle Conference (now GARC). She was a staff member at the then-national governing body of shooting (the NRA) and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. She also served 17 years on the Board of the Civilian Marksmanship Program. Beasley is currently serving as a member of the NCAA Rifle Committee.
Since 2016, she has coached rifle at Ole Miss, leading the turnaround of the program and guiding the Rebels to a third-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships. One of her shooters represented the United States in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Beasley was voted Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2021 by the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association.
Beasley is a graduate of East Tennessee State and later earned a master’s degree in sport management at WVU. She competed in smallbore and air rifle while in college. Later as a member of the U.S. National Team, she was a two-time international Gold medalist. During her shooting career, Beasley set 65 national records and won eight national championships.
She is married to Carl Flowers, and they have a daughter, Tavie, a 2021 graduate of the WVU fast-track nursing program, and twin sons, Aaron and Daniel. Daniel graduated from WVU in 2021 with a degree in civil engineering, while Aaron attended WVU for one year before transferring to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he competed in rifle and graduated this past May.
Marilee Hohmann
Marilee Hohmann was the first female athlete to compete on any WVU athletic team in 1961, 11 years before Title IX became federal law.
The Fairmont, West Virginia, native competed on the WVU rifle team from 1961-62, coached by Major Charles Means and Sgt. Charles Haley. She became the first woman ever to compete in an athletic competition at the United States Military Academy at West Point. At the time, the Academy was an all-male institution and a special dressing room arrangement had to be made.
Her exploits as a modern-day Annie Oakley were published in numerous media outlets -- Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and Stars and Stripes, the newspaper that serves the U.S. Military community. During that 1961-62 season, Hohmann had the fourth-highest average, 283, on WVU’s defending national championship rifle squad.
Hohmann attended East Fairmont High, where she was a majorette and Maid of Marion. She captured a national rifle championship at Camp Perry, Ohio, in 1959, at the age of 16. Hohmann was encouraged to shoot competitively by her father, Harold, who had won a national championship in 1958.
At WVU, Hohmann was a member of the Pi Beta Phi women’s fraternity and earned her master’s degree. She taught at Fairmont Senior High and Mannington High before taking a position on the Fairmont State faculty, where she taught speech and communications for nearly 20 years. One of her students was the late WVU football coach Bill Stewart. Hohmann was a member of Governor Jay Rockefeller’s West Virginia Arts and Humanities Commission.
She was married to John Veasey of Fairmont, and they had one son, Chance, who received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in 1990. Hohmann died of cancer in 1986 at the age of 43.
Kevin Jones
Kevin Jones was one of two WVU men’s basketball players to score at least 1,800 career points and grab 1,000 rebounds during his career from 2009-12.
The Mount Vernon, New York, native was named to the John Wooden All-America Team in 2012 and earned second team consensus All-America honors. Jones was a USBWA Second Team All-American, Associated Press Second Team All-American, NABC Second Team All-American, Sporting News Third Team All-American and Basketball Times Third Team All-American. He was named to the All-Big East First Team and was the USBWA District II Player of the Year in 2012. Jones was edged out for Big East Player of the Year in 2012 by Marquette’s Jae Crowder.
Jones scored in double figures in 95 career games and had 33 double-doubles for his career. Starting every game his final three seasons, he finished fifth in school history with 1,822 career points and was fourth in career rebounds with 1,048. Jones joined Jerry West as the only two WVU players to score at least 1,800 career points and grab 1,000 rebounds.
As a senior, he averaged 19.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.9% from the field. Jones became just the third player in Big East history to lead the league in scoring and rebounding in all games. Jones scored double figures in every game as a senior. He finished 11th in Big East history with 560 career rebounds.
Jones had career highs of 30 points against Kansas State in 2011 and 18 rebounds against Kent State in 2011. He helped lead WVU to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including the NCAA Final Four in 2010 and a Big East tournament title in 2010.
As a junior, he started all 33 games and was second on the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game. Jones led the team in rebounding at 7.5 boards per contest. He reached double figures in 23 games and posted eight double-doubles.
In 2010, he started every game and averaged 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Jones was second on the team in 3-point fields made with 42. As a freshman, he played in all 35 games and shot 49.5% from the field, recording eight games in double figures.
Jones left WVU with the most offensive rebounds in school history with 450. He holds the season offensive rebounds mark (141, 2012) and is tied for first in season games played (38, 2010) and season games started (38, 2010). Other top 10 WVU records Jones is a part of include second in career minutes played (4,347), second in career 10-point games (95), second in season 10-point games (33, 2012), second in season offensive rebounds (135, 2010), third in season minutes played (1,265, 2012), fourth in season offensive rebounds (108, 2011), fourth in season minutes played (1,254, 2010), fourth in season 10-point games (31, 2012), fifth in season double-doubles (21, 2012), sixth in career games played (139), sixth in career double-doubles (33), sixth in season field goals made (260, 2012), seventh in season 20-point games (19, 2012), eighth in season rebounds (360, 2012), eighth in career blocked shots (109) and 10th in season scoring (657, 2012).
A Big East Academic All-Star, Jones graduated from WVU with a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies in 2012. He played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2012-13, and was on the Cleveland, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks NBA Summer League teams. Jones has played professionally around the globe since 2014.
Geno Smith
Geno Smith set 33 Mountaineer game, season, class and career records as a quarterback from 2009-12.
As a senior, the Miramar, Florida, native was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and the Maxwell Award. Smith was named to the All-Big 12 Conference Second Team.
In addition to his 33 school records, Smith set six Milan Puskar Stadium records. He established the NCAA season record for the most pass attempts without an interception at 272. Smith recorded the nation’s best passing completion percentage mark since 2000 with a 95.8% (23-of-24) showing in the Kansas win in 2012, also setting a WVU record with 21 straight completions. He finished his career with a school-record 98 passing touchdowns.
Smith set the WVU season records for passing yards (4,385) and touchdowns (42) and career records for total offense (12,004), passing yards (11,662) and pass attempts (1,465). He set WVU records with 45 pass completions for 656 yards and eight touchdowns in the 2012 Baylor win. His passing yards total was the NCAA’s top single-game performance of the year.
He finished his senior season ranked second nationally in completion percentage (71.24), fourth in points responsible for (20.31) and passing completions per game (28.38), fifth in passing, sixth in passing efficiency and eighth in total offense.
In 2011, Smith was named the Discover Orange Bowl MVP after he set five Orange Bowl and four WVU and BCS bowl records, while tying three NCAA all-time bowl records. Smith went 32-of-43 for 407 yards and accounted for seven touchdowns in the 70-33 win over Clemson. His six passing touchdowns set a BCS and Orange Bowl record, while his 407 passing yards, 433 yards of total offense, seven touchdowns responsible for and 42 points responsible for all set Orange Bowl records.
Smith started all 13 games in 2010 as a sophomore and was named All-Big East Second Team. He averaged just one interception every 53.1 attempts and was first in the Big East in pass efficiency and second in passing yards per game, total offense and points responsible for.
Smith was selected as the 39th pick overall in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He played for the Jets until joining the New York Giants in 2017, the Los Angeles Chargers in 2018 and then the Seattle Seahawks from 2019-present.
In the NFL, he has started 34 of 45 games played, throwing for 6,917 yards and 34 touchdowns, while rushing for 701 yards and eight touchdowns. Smith had the most passing yards in a single season by a rookie quarterback for the New York Jets when he accounted for 3,046 yards passing in 2013.
