Long-time coach and administrator Richard "Dick" Hannan will be the 2018 recipient of the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award as part of the 18th class of inductees into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 22, 2018. Hannan was recently notified of the honor, and was recognized at Eastern's basketball game versus Montana State on Feb. 17.
 
A native of Spokane and North Central High School, he played for W.B. "Red" Reese at Eastern in 1960 and 1961 before receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1963 and 1969, respectively. He went on to spend nearly 50 years as a collegiate coach and administrator, much of it in the Inland Northwest.
 
His stops included Columbia Basin College, Lewis-Clark State, Weber State and Southwest Texas State, then concluded his career as commissioner of the Great Northwest Conference for more than 10 years. His former fellow coach and boss at CBC, Hall of Famer Larry Hattemer, helped with the recognition of Hannan on Feb. 17.
 
While at Lewis-Clark State in nearby Lewiston, Idaho, Hannan won 212 games in 15 seasons as basketball coach, including five seasons with 18 or more wins and a school-record 21 victories in 1985-86. As an administrator, he played a critical role in bringing the NAIA World Series to Lewiston and helped keep the championship baseball tournament there for eight-straight tournaments (1984-1991).
 
The Service and Contribution award was created in 2007 to recognize extraordinary achievements and contributions by individuals with a past association with the Eastern athletic department. This award, selected by the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Executive Committee, seeks to honor individuals who have contributed not only to EWU, but to other outside endeavors such as education, community service and coaching.
 
John Lothspeich was given the first award in 2007, and others honored include Chuck Randall (2008), Jim Wasem Sr. (2009), Ernie Afaganis (2010), Arthur C. "Woody" Woodward (2010), Jon Heimbigner (2012), Vic Wallace (2013), Lawson & Ruth Van Kuren (2015), Michael & Katherine Roos (2016), Lt. William "Bink" Wall (2017) and Ron Swords (2017). In addition, a group of six individuals -- H. George Frederickson/Ken Dolan/Russ Hartman/Jim Kirschbaum/Ron Raver/Bill Shaw -- were recognized in 2011 for their tireless efforts in the 1970's and 1980's in helping Eastern achieve NCAA Division I status and become a member of the Big Sky Conference. And in 2016, the former fund-raising arm of Eastern Athletics – the Eagle Athletic Association (EAA) – was recognized.
 
Previously, men's basketball player Alvin Snow was announced as a member of this year's class of inductees, as well as Kim Maxwell-Dempsey and the 1998 and 1999 Eastern Volleyball teams she played on. More individual honorees will be announced later this winter and spring. The induction breakfast and ceremony is expected to start at approximately 8 a.m. on Sept. 22 at Reese Court in Cheney, and the public is invited to attend at a cost of $20 per person. Guests must register via a link that will be available later in July at http://goeags.com/HOF. Inductees will also be honored at halftime of EWU's football game against Cal Poly later that day (kickoff is TBA).
 
Established in 1996, the Hall of Fame currently consists of 83 individuals and 15 teams. In addition, there have also been 19 individuals and one organization honored as recipients of the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award. All of the inductees and induction classes may be viewed at: http://goeags.com/HOF.
 
 

Richard "Dick" Hannan
2018 Recipient of Eastern Athletics Service & Contribution Award

Hannan played basketball for Eastern in 1961 and 1962, and received his bachelor's degree in social science/history in 1963 and his master's degree in guidance and counseling in 1969. He went on to spend nearly 50 years of service as a collegiate coach and administrator, much of it in the Inland Northwest. Most recently, Hannan was the Commissioner of the Great Northwest Conference for 10 1/2 years, starting with the NCAA Division II league's inception in 2001. During his tenure, GNAC teams earned 53 national Top 10 finishes in 13 different sports including national championships in men's soccer (Seattle University in 2004) and women's soccer (Seattle Pacific in 2008). Hannan also oversaw the increase of sponsored sports in the conference, which went from 12 to 16 with the addition of men's and women's indoor track and field in 2004, men's golf in 2007-08 and women's golf in 2010-11. Among his other accomplishments was the development of a television package with Fox Sports and later ROOT Sports, helping the conference become one of the very few Division II leagues nationwide to have a Weekly Basketball Game-of-the-Week televised on a major cable network. He also brought national recognition to the conference and the region by working with the NCAA and the Spokane Sports Commission to bring the 2011 and 2013 Division II West Regional and National Division II Cross Country championships to Spokane. The Spokane native attended North Central High School and Columbia Basin College before playing for the legendary William "Red" Reese at Eastern. Hannan continued his playing career with the Spokane-based Vaughn Realty AAU basketball team he helped organize. He played on the 1968 team which advanced to the title game of the National AAU Championship where it lost to the Armed Forces 73-69. After he graduated from Eastern, the Spokane native taught and coached at North Central High School in Spokane between 1963 and 1967. Hannan coached basketball at Columbia Basin College for the next seven years (1967-74), helping the Hawks win the Northwest Community Colleges title in 1972. Hannan then served as the athletic director and head basketball coach at Lewis-Clark State between 1974 and 1989. He won 212 games in 15 seasons as basketball coach, including five seasons with 18 or more wins. His 1985-86 squad equaled the school record of 21 victories. As an administrator, he played a critical role in bringing the NAIA World Series to Lewiston and helped keep the championship baseball tournament there for eight-straight tournaments (1984-1991). Lewiston, Idaho, became the tournament's home again from 1995-1997 and annually since 2000. He later served as the athletic director at Weber State University (1989-91) and at Southwest Texas State University (1992-96) prior to returning to Lewiston as LCSC's interim athletic director for the 2000-01 school year. During his tenures as AD, he doubled and even tripled athletic department revenues. Besides coaching and teaching, he also taught classes at CBC and LCSC, and master's level courses at Southwest Texas (now known as Texas State). He has been inducted into four halls of fame already. Columbia Basin College inducted him most recently in 2017, and L-C State inducted him as an administrator and coach in 2013. The Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) inducted him in 1994 for his contributions as a player and coach at CBC. He was also inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1991 for meritorious service, including his role in hosting the NAIA World Series. Hannan and his wife, Nancy, have been married for 56 years (57 in summer of 2018). They have three adult children, Gregory, Molly (Akey) and Douglas, and five grandchildren. Greg played for him at L-C State, and his son-in-law is former University of Idaho head football coach Robb Akey.