CHENEY, Wash. — Three Eastern Washington University All-America football players and three other individuals will join the 2004 football team as this year's inductees into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame. The six individuals and team will be honored on Oct. 10 at EWU as part of the 22nd class of inductees.
 
The football players include quarterback Erik Meyer (2001-2005) and his favorite target, running back turned wide receiver Eric Kimble (2001-2005). The pair hooked-up a total of 201 times for 3,169 yards and 35 touchdowns in four seasons, breaking more than a dozen school records each and making their way up Big Sky Conference and NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) career listings.
 
Meyer and Kimble were a part of the 2004 Eagle squad, coached by Paul Wulff, which shared the Big Sky regular season title with Montana and went on to defeat No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Southern Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (then I-AA). The Eagles lost their first two games of the season, but won nine of their next 10 to finish the year 9-4 overall and 6-1 in the league.
 
Meyer and Kimble were both two-time All-Americans, as was running back Jesse Chatman (1998-2001), who rounds out the trio of football players to be inducted. Chatman led FCS in rushing with 2,096 yards as a junior in 2001, then elected to skip his senior season to pursue his professional football dreams and eventually played seven seasons in the National Football League.
 
The other inductees include men's basketball coach Steve Aggers (1995-2000), track and field standout Nancy Kuiper (1990-91) and women's basketball point guard Nancy Sugarman (Taucher), who was at Eastern from 1988-92.
 
Aggers helped re-build Eastern's basketball program, guiding the Eagles to their first-ever Big Sky regular season title in 2000. Kuiper, a four-time Big Sky champion in the shot put and two-time champ in the discus, was Eastern's first-ever female representative at the NCAA Championships, both indoors and outdoors in 1991. Taucher earned first team All-Big Sky Conference honors in both 1991 and 1992, finishing her career with 1,105 points and 341 assists while playing all 109 Eastern games from 1989-92, including starts in her last 95 contests.
 
The induction ceremony will take place on Oct. 10 in conjunction with Eastern's Homecoming football game versus Northern Colorado. Time and details for the ceremony will be announced, but is expected to take place in the late morning at the Pence Union Building's Nysether Community Room on the EWU campus in Cheney. More information, including cost and a link for guests to register, will be available this summer at http://GOEAGS.COM/HOF.
 
Established in 1996, the Hall of Fame will now consist of 110 individuals and 20 teams following this year's induction class, the 22nd all-time. In addition, there have also been 20 individuals and one organization honored as recipients of the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award.
 
A 15-member selection committee votes on candidates placed forward by the executive committee, which makes the final determinations of selection classes. All of the past inductees and induction classes may be viewed on the EWU Hall of Fame page,
 
2026 Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Class of Inductees
 
Steve Aggers – Coach/Basketball (1995-2000)
Jesse Chatman – Athlete/Football (1998-2001)
Eric Kimble – Athlete/Football (2001-2005)
Nancy Kuiper – Athlete/Track & Field (1990-1991)
Erik Meyer – Athlete/Football (2001-2005)
Nancy Sugarman (Taucher) - Athlete/Basketball (1988-1992)
2004 Football Team – (9-4 overall & 6-1 in the Big Sky Conference/Champions; Coach Paul Wulff)
 
 
Steve Aggers – Coach/Basketball (1995-2000)
The head coach of Eastern's first-ever Big Sky Conference men's basketball champions, Aggers finished his five-year tenure at Eastern Washington with a school-record 51 victories, with 41 of them coming in his last three seasons at the helm. He also finished with the most Big Sky wins (32), including 29 in the final three seasons and the school's first-ever Big Sky men's basketball regular season championship in the 1999-2000 season. Aggers earned Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in both the 1999-2000 and 1997-98 seasons, becoming the first coach in school history to receive that that accolade since EWU joined the league in 1987-88. In addition, in 2000 Aggers earned prestigious National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District Coach of the Year accolades encompassing several states in the Western U.S. In all, Aggers was 51-82 overall and 32-46 in the Big Sky in his five seasons at the helm, but in the final three seasons Eastern won over 50 percent of its games overall (41-40) and over 60 percent in the league (29-19). An astounding number of milestones and records were attained in the 1999-2000 men's basketball season, including the premier achievement of being the school's first-ever Big Sky Conference champion in men's basketball. The Eagles capped a five-year revival of EWU's basketball fortunes by setting a school record with 12 Big Sky victories to share the regular season title with Montana.
 
Jesse Chatman – Athlete/Football (1998-2001)
Nicknamed "Eight Ball" while wearing the No. 8 jersey and rolling over opposing defenses, Jesse Chatman was a first team NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (then I-AA) All-America running back in 2001 when he rushed for more than 2,000 yards for Eastern. Chatman finished fourth in 2001 in the voting for the Walter Payton Award given to the top player in FCS, and he was selected by the Football Gazette as its FCS Offensive Back of the Year. He broke five Big Sky Conference records and 19 school marks during his three seasons as an Eagle, and was the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2001. At the time, his 2,096 rushing yards in 2001 (190.6 per game) ranked as the fourth-highest in FCS history. He had five games in 2001 with at least 200 rushing yards, and set EWU game records of 298 yards (versus Sacramento State), six touchdowns (Cal State Northridge) and 38 points (CSN). He helped EWU lead the nation in total offense (514.5) and scoring (41.9) per game. Chatman then elected to skip his senior season to pursue his NFL dreams and eventually played in 58 regular season games in seven seasons in the National Football League, primarily for San Diego (2002-2004) and the Miami Dolphins (2005, 2007). Chatman rushed for 951 yards (4.5 per carry) and four touchdowns, and caught 39 passes for 281 yards. Chatman was selected by the Eastern Athletic Department to the "100 for 100" All-Time Football Team, which was honored on Sept. 27, 2008, to commemorate Eastern's 100th year of football. A public vote selected him as the top running back in school history. Chatman finished his career with school records of 4,173 rushing yards, 53 touchdowns and 322 total points.
 
Eric Kimble – Athlete/Football (2001-2005)
A unanimous NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (then I-AA) All-American in both 2004 and 2005, Kimble was a record-breaking wide receiver and running back for Eastern. He earned first team All-Big Sky honors twice after earning second team honors as a sophomore receiver in 2003, and played as a running back for the Eagles as a freshman. Kimble finished with 46 touchdown receptions in his career to rank only behind the 50 the legendary Jerry Rice had at Mississippi Valley from 1981-84 on the FCS career list. Kimble broke the Big Sky Conference career reception yards record with a total of 4,140 yards that at the time ranked fourth in FCS history, and his 253 catches ranked eighth all-time in FCS and was second in Big Sky history. Kimble broke nine career records and four single season marks at EWU, including the single season receptions record with 87 in 2005, breaking his own record from the season before of 83.  Combined with his yardage on rushes and returns, Kimble finished with 5,934 career all-purpose yards to rank fifth at the time in Big Sky history and as a school record for 11 years.

Nancy Kuiper – Athlete/Track & Field (1990-1991)
Becoming the first Eastern female athlete to compete in the NCAA Track and Field Championships, Nancy Kuiper qualified both indoors and outdoors in 1991 to cap a record-breaking career. She was a four-time Big Sky champion in the shot put and two-time champ in the discus, winning a pair of titles at EWU after transferring from Boise State where she won four championships. She was the Field Athlete of the Meet in 1991 outdoors when she won the league's shot put and discus titles for EWU with efforts of 50-11 and 153-1, respectively. Kuiper sat out the 1990 season at EWU because of NCAA transfer rules that were in effect in that era. In winter of 1991, she had a school-record and personal-best throw of 50-11 to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. But a jammed finger on her throwing hand hampered her in the post-season, and she placed second in the Big Sky with a throw of 48-9 1/4. She went on to place 12th nationally with a mark of 47-2, but had she thrown her career best she would have placed seventh and earned All-America honors. Outdoors, she matched her 50-11 best from the indoor season to set a school record in winning the Big Sky title despite extremely windy and stormy conditions at the championship meet in Bozeman, Mont. That mark broke her own Big Sky meet record of 47-4 set in 1988 while she was at BSU, plus qualified her for a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. She placed 13th with a throw of 47-3, but had she achieved her career best, she would have placed ninth. Her twin 50-11 performances stood as school records indoors and outdoors for 20 years until they were broken in 2011. Both also ranked in the top six all-time in Big Sky history at the time. Outstanding academically, she was EWU's female recipient of the prestigious Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete Award following the completion of her collegiate eligibility in 1991. She graduated from Eastern in 1992 with her degree in physical education.
 
Erik Meyer – Athlete/Football (2001-2005)
The first of four Eagles to win the coveted Payton Award, Meyer was a two-time All-American at EWU (2004 and 2005) and was named the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a junior and senior. Meyer won the 2005 Walter Payton Award, presented at that time by The Sports Network to the top player in NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA). Meyer became just the 12th player in FCS history to throw for at least 4,000 yards in a single season (he finished with 4,003 in 2005). He also had 30 touchdowns, just five interceptions and a passing efficiency rating of 169.3, which at the time ranked only behind his 2004 mark of 171.4, a school record for 19 years. With a completion percentage of .657, 10,261 yards, 84 touchdowns and just 17 interceptions in 42 career games, Meyer broke the FCS record for efficiency rating by quarterbacks with at least 400 completions with a rating of 166.47. One of his teammates at Eastern – and his favorite receiver target -- was fellow two-time All-American Eric Kimble. The pair hooked-up a total of 201 times for 3,169 yards and 35 touchdowns in four seasons. Meyer and Kimble broke more than a dozen records each as they re-wrote Eastern's record book and made their way up Big Sky Conference and NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) career listings. Meyers' professional playing career started when he signed a free agent contract with Cincinnati of the NFL in 2006, and included honors in 2013 as MVP of the Arena Football League and in 2015 as ArenaBowl Player of the Game. He accounted for 13,197 yards and 337 touchdowns in his six-year career in the AFL, including five seasons from 2010-14 playing for the Spokane Shock and one season for the San Jose SaberCats in 2015. Meyer was selected for induction into the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame in 2024, just the second such honor for an Eastern football player. He was honored in the third class of inductees, with the ceremony taking place in Spokane on July 20, 2024. Meyer followed his Big Sky honor by being inducted into the La Mirada (Calif.) High School Athletic Hall of Fame in the spring of 2025. Meyer was selected by the Eastern Athletic Department to the "100 for 100" All-Time Football Team, which was honored on Sept. 27, 2008, to commemorate Eastern's 100th year of football. Fans voted him as the top quarterback in school history. As part of the celebration for the 50th anniversary of the Big Sky Conference in the 2013-14 school year, he was selected as No. 12 on the list of the league's 50 Greatest Male Athletes.
 
Nancy Sugarman (Taucher) - Athlete/Basketball (1988-1992)
Taucher earned first team All-Big Sky Conference honors in both 1991 and 1992, and became just the second player in EWU basketball history to have at least 1,000 points and 300 assists in their careers. She played in every game for Eastern from 1989-92, a total of 109 games that included starts in her last 95 contests. Taucher's career total of 341 assists ranked fourth in school history at the time and her 1,105 career points were seventh Her percentages of .332 from the 3-point line and .717 from the free throw line ranked third and fourth, respectively. Besides her all-league honors as a junior and senior, all four seasons she earned Big Sky Conference All-Academic honors (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992). Taucher averaged a school-record 38.67 minutes per game in 1991. She became the third Eagle to have had 400 points and 100 assists in the same season (1991), and in 1992 she averaged 13.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists to become the fifth player to have averaged 10/4/3 in the same season.
 
2004 Football Team – (9-4 overall & 6-1 in the Big Sky Conference/Champions; Coach Paul Wulff)
After an 0-2 start, Eastern won eight of its last nine regular season games to capture a share of the Big Sky Conference title and advance to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) Playoffs for the fourth time. In the first round of the playoffs, Eastern defeated No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Southern Illinois 35-31. After bowing out in the quarterfinal round with a 35-34 setback to Sam Houston State in the first-ever home playoff game at Woodward Field (eventually to become Roos Field), the Eagles finished the year ranked eighth in the final FCS poll -- its highest finish since 1997. Quarterback Erik Meyer was the Big Sky Conference MVP, and was one of five Eagles to earn All-America honors. He earned third team and honorable mention All-America accolades a season prior to winning the Walter Payton Award given to the top player in FCS. Offensive tackle Michael Roos was a unanimous All-America selection, earning first team honors from four organizations and second team accolades from one other, and being named the Offensive Lineman of the Year by I-AA.org. Wide receiver Eric Kimble earned a pair first team All-America honors, and also earned a pair of second team nods. In addition, running back Darius Washington and offensive guard Rocky Hanni were third team All-Americans. On All-West Region teams, Meyer Roos, Kimble and Meyer were first team selections, Hanni was on the second team and linebacker Joey Cwik was selected to the third team. A total of 24 Eagles were honored by the Big Sky, including head coach Paul Wulff as the league's Coach of the Year and Hanni as Newcomer of the Year. Eastern's triumphs in 2004 included a comeback 51-44 victory at Montana State on Nov. 13 that clinched the regular season league title and a playoff berth. Eastern's other five league victories came by a combined 31.0 points per game with wins of 44, 35, 31, 25 and 20. Eastern came three points from an unbeaten league season, falling at home 31-28 to Big Sky co-champion Montana, which would go on to finish the season as the FCS runner-up. EWU's three Big Sky Conference championships in fall 2004 (football, volleyball and soccer) was the first time a school has ever won all three titles since the league added women's soccer in 1998.