Wabash College Athletics

Tom Bambrey, it is high time that your name goes on the wall and your contributions recognized through your inclusion in the Wabash Athletics Hall of Fame. While you were a very fine runner for Coach Owen Huntsman – winning four letters and for a time holding a relay record – your greatest contributions to Wabash are for your leadership of athletics-related initiatives as the College’s Dean of Students from 1997 until 2008.
 
President Andy Ford entrusted you with oversight of the Athletics Department, which had previously been a part of Academic Affairs. You developed the current structure in Athletics, which greatly increased the recruitment role of coaches and furthered the professionalization of the staff.
 
Prior to your arrival, most head coaches had secondary responsibilities in another sport, and there were far fewer assistant coaches. Recruiting was a part-time thing, done largely at nights and on weekends. You changed all that and we continue to reap the benefits of your wisdom.
 
You were also integral in the hiring of some of the most successful coaches in Wabash history, including Chris Creighton and Erik Raeburn in football, Brian Anderson in wrestling, Roger Busch in cross country, and Clyde Morgan in track and field. That collection of five coaches helped Wabash become a regular in the NCAA football playoffs, a top-five national wrestling program, a perennial conference track and field champ, and never-before achieved levels of individual national championship success. In addition, you oversaw construction of state-of-the-art baseball and soccer stadiums with Goodrich Ballpark and Fischer Field being dedicated on your watch.
 
You stepped away from your role as Dean of Students in 2008 and, naturally, served as Director of Athletics for another three years until your retirement in 2011. Under your leadership, the department experienced unbelievable levels of success in all sports – from big John Holm’s home-run hitting to the arrival of Kevin McCarthy and Jake Waterman as national champion distance runners and including the baseball team’s first-ever NCAC Championship.
 
For a generation of Wabash men, you will always be known as Dean Bambrey, but tonight we acknowledge your myriad contributions to strengthening Wabash’s Athletics Program. And we are proud to induct you in the Wabash Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
Tom Bambrey, you are Some Little Giant!