TOWSON, Md. - An enthusiastic crowd that included nearly 30 Hall of Famers were on hand as Mike Arbutina, '96, Gordy Combs, '72, Barry Stitz, '92 and Liane Williams, '99 were inducted into the Towson University Athletics Hall of Fame at the Ballroom of the West Village on Friday evening.

In addition, the 1989-90 and 1990-91 Tiger men's basketball teams were honored as Teams of Distinction and senior Erika Griffith of the cross country and track teams was named as the winner of the Doc Minnegan Scholarship.

With 13 members of the Tigers' back-to-back NCAA Tournament teams in attendance, a six-minute highlight video was shown. Included in the video were highlights of the Tigers' East Coast Conference championship game wins over Lehigh in 1990 and Rider in 1991 and their NCAA Tournament games against Oklahoma and Ohio State.

"Those were very special teams," recalled Coach Terry Truax. "I used to hear that some people criticized me for having a double-standard. Actually, I had 13 standards and I tried to treat every player the way they needed to be treated.

"Back in 1990, when I was asked what kind of team I had, I wish I had been smart enough to tell people to check back in 20 years," he added. "Now, I can answer that question. There are three things about those teams. First of all, they always went to class. Secondly, they all played hard. Lastly, all of them earned degrees from Towson and have gone on to be successful in life."

Devin Boyd, Larry Brown, Mike Colclough, Mark Edwards, Scott Heidler, Chuck Lightening, Patrick Manning, Myron Ray, Craig Valentine, Lewis Waller, Kelly Williamson and Assistant Coach Darryl Bruce were all in attendance.

A four-year starter at linebacker, Arbutina finished his career as the second-leading tackler in school history. Named as the Tigers' Defensive Player of the Year twice, he made 361 tackles in his career.

"The three things I learned while playing football at Towson were pride, dignity and respect," Arbutina said. "I am grateful to Coach (Phil) Albert and Coach Combs. They turned me around as a person."

An all-conference performer for the Tigers' soccer team, Stitz led the Tigers to back-to-back East Coast Conference titles in 1989 and 1990. After an eight-year career playing for the Baltimore Blast, he became the head soccer coach at Archbishop Curley High School. He is also a member of the Maryland State Soccer Hall of Fame.

"I am very honored to be part of the Towson Hall of Fame," said Stitz. "My coach, Frank Olszewski, has been so important to me. He has been a coach, a friend and a mentor."

A record-setting gymnast for the Tigers, Williams finished her career with more than 1500 points. Honored as the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Rookie of the Year in 1996, she led the Tigers to three NCAA Southeast Regional appearances and two USA Gymnastics NIT championships.

"I am so honored to be part of the Hall of Fame," she said. "When I came to Towson, I was a bit of a diva and I had no concept of what it was like to be part of a team. My years at Towson were so important and I really grew up as a person."

A part of the Tiger football team for 39 seasons, Combs contributed to the program as a player, an assistant coach and head coach. The Tigers' head coach from 1992 to 2008, he led the Tigers to 92 victories.

"During my years as the head coach at Towson, I was very fortunate to have 'Coach A' and Coach (Carl) Runk as people to advise me," said Combs. "I was an assistant coach for 'Coach A' for 19 years and I learned so much about football and life from him."

Combs will serve as the Tigers' honorary captain for the Homecoming football game against Colgate on Saturday night.

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