By Any list or form of power rankings is completely subjective and up for debate. It’s what makes these discussions so polarizing, as people value different aspects of individual careers when comparing them.
Before going into my list, I’ll lay out the parameters I set before constructing. This is solely based on each athlete’s playing career at LBSU, there are no coaches or former athletes that are better known for their coaching careers.
All players listed must be members of the Long Beach State Hall of Fame. This immediately disqualifies players like 1998 NFL MVP and Super Bowl XXXII MVP Terrell Davis.
Recently graduated men’s volleyball libero Mason Briggs very well has the résumé to be considered, but is not yet a member of the LBSU Hall of Fame, so he will have to wait for the one-hundredth anniversary special for his spot on the coveted unofficial top 10 list.
10. Erin Jones-Wesley – Softball
Jones-Wesley has her name written all over the LBSU softball record book. She sits atop the program leaderboard in both wins with 84 and strikeouts with 728 in four seasons. She tossed three no-hitters while leading The Beach to a pair of Big West titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
9. Evan Longoria – Baseball
Manning the hot corner on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field for the Dirtbags for two seasons, the third baseman slashed .336/.419/.506 with 16 home runs and 73 RBI. In 2006, he finished as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the best player in college baseball, and was named Big West Co-Player of the Year.
Longoria became the highest-drafted Dirtbag in school history when he was selected third overall in the 2006 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
8. Antoinnette White – Women’s Volleyball
The 1991 AVCA Player of the Year is one of four women’s volleyball players at Long Beach State to have her number in the rafters at the Walter Pyramid. White was a member of the first NCAA championship-winning team in 1989 and holds the single-season record for service aces in a season with 91 in 1990.
7. Lucious Harris – Men’s Basketball
Harris finished as LBSU and the Big West Conference’s all-time leading scorer with 2,312 points. He also holds the single-season LBSU scoring record with 739 points. The offensive powerhouse led the then-named 49ers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 16 years after being voted Big West Tournament MVP in 1993.
6. Brent Hilliard – Men’s Volleyball
During Hilliard’s tenure at Long Beach State, he led the 49ers to a National Championship victory in 1991, beginning a three-year stretch of being named First-Team All-American. 1992 was his best season, earning National Player of the Year honors. Hilliard sits atop both the LBSU and NCAA record books with 3,034 kills, and in 1991 he set an NCAA record with 821 kills.
5. Hannah Grady – Women’s Tennis
Grady dominated the competition during her four-year career at LBSU. She is the only athlete in Big West history to win Conference Player of the Year four times and stands alone as the only player in LBSU history to receive multiple invitations to individual NCAA championships. After her career, a court at the Rhodes Tennis Center on CSULB’s campus was named in her honor.
4. Tara Cross-Battle – Women’s Volleyball
Cross-Battle was one of three former LBSU players named as the six greatest collegiate athletes of all time in 2001. She was a four-time All-American and was named the AVCA Player of the Year twice while leading LBSU to its first NCAA championship in 1989.
3. Jered Weaver – Baseball
As the all-time ace of the Dirtbags, Weaver put up video game numbers on Friday nights on the Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. Weaver holds the LBSU and Big West conference record in both wins (37) and strikeouts (431). He also sits atop the list in starts (55), innings pitched (370), strikeouts in a game (17) and consecutive wins in Dirtbag history.
The 14 consecutive wins he compiled started his historic 2004 season, where he led the country in wins (15) and strikeouts (213) on his way to becoming the first ever Dirtbag to take home National Player of the Year honors.
2. Danielle Scott-Arruda – Women’s Volleyball, Basketball and Track & Field
Not only did Scott-Arruda earn All-Big West honors on the hardwood, averaging over 17 points per game and leading the conference in rebounding, but she also competed in several events at the Big West Championships for Track and Field.
However, it was volleyball where Scott-Arruda truly left her mark at LBSU. Anchoring the middle, Scott-Arruda was named an AVCA All-American three times, finishing off her career as the 1993 AVCA Player of the Year and helping the 49ers secure their second NCAA title. Scott-Arruda led LBSU to three consecutive trips to the Final Four.
1. Misty May-Treanor – Women’s Volleyball
The No.1 spot belongs to one of the true icons of her sport. Not only is May-Treanor the greatest athlete in LBSU history, but her status as the greatest of all time in women’s volleyball is hard to dispute.
The accolades May-Treanor accumulated during her four years at LBSU are remarkable. She began her LBSU career winning Big West Freshman of the Year, and followed up her tremendous first season with three Big West Player of the Year awards and earned All-Big West First team honors four times.
The two-time AVCA Player of the Year led LBSU to its first undefeated season in 1998 (36-0) that ended with the then-49ers winning their last women’s volleyball NCAA title to date. May-Treanor is the recipient of the 1998 Honda Broderick Award, given to the best female collegiate athlete across all sports.
“Antoinnette White, Tara Cross, Danielle Scott, those are players that I idolized, and they’re the reasons why I wanted to go to the school. So it’s special to be up there with them,” May-Treanor said.
May-Treanor is second all-time in collegiate women’s volleyball in assists (5045) and aces, (160) as well as third in digs (1277). She tallied a career-high 87 assists in a single match. Her post-LBSU career is as decorated as anyone. May-Treanor is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and FIVB champion in beach volleyball.
