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Sports

Joe DeSantis Inducted Into Fairfield County Sports Commission's Hall of Fame

DeSantis starred at Fairfield in the late 1970s and is the Stags' second all-time leading score

Former Fairfield University basketball standout Joe DeSantis has been named one of six members of the Fairfield County Sports Commission's Hall of Fame class for 2011.

Two Hall of Famers were selected in each of the three Hall of Fame wings: professional, Jackie Robinson; amateur, James O’Rourke, and community service, J. Walter Kennedy.

In the professional category, Stamford's Bennett Salvatore is joined by Bridgeport's John Bagley.  In the amateur wing, the selections are DeSantis and Ceci Hopp St. Geme (Greenwich). The community service inductees are Charlie Bentley (Bridgeport) and Loeffler (Westport).

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The Sports Commission announced its Hall of Fame inductees on Thursday. The newly elected Hall of Famers will be honored during an induction ceremony at the Commission’s seventh annual Annual Sports Night awards dinner Oct. 17 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich.

Here is information on each inductee from the Fairfield Sports Commission:

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DeSantis

DeSantis ranks as one of the top players in Fairfield basketball history. A four-year letterman from 1975–79, he completed his collegiate career with 1,916 points, then the school’s all-time leading scorer and now currently second. He averaged 18.4 points per game for his career and his 667 assists are also second on the Stags’ career list.

DeSantis tops the Stags’ record book for career free-throw percentage at .849. In the 1977-78 season, DeSantis led the Stags to one of their best seasons ever with a 22-5 record and an NIT appearance.

He was drafted by the Washington Bullets in the second round of the 1979 NBA Draft before playing in Venice, Italy, for one season. The Bronx, N.Y. native completed his professional playing career in the Continental Basketball Association.

In 2004, DeSantis was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. The Tolentine High graduate also had an accomplished coaching career with 26 years of Division I experience. He played a crucial role in elevating the Quinnipiac program from the Division II level to a respected Division I mid-major during his 11-year stint as head coach.

The Trumbull resident kept close ties with his alma mater, gaining his first coaching experience as an assistant at Fairfield from 1981–88 and is now the radio color commentator for Stags basketball games.

Loeffler

Loeffler was the legendary soccer coach at Staples High, but his impact on soccer there and across the country was more than just as a mere coach. Loeffler came to Staples in 1952 and originally coached basketball (12 years), baseball (11 years) and track because the Westport school did not have a soccer team.

He founded the program in 1958 and shaped it over his 20 years as head coach into one of the nation’s finest. When he retired in 1978, he had amassed a then national high school record 314 wins and was twice named National Soccer Coach of the Year. Staples won 13 FCIAC titles, including five in a row, and seven state championships with five of those coming consecutively from 1969-73.

The respect he commanded in the Staples soccer community, which knew him as Mr. Loeffler, not Albie, was also felt nationally as Loeffler was one of the pioneers of soccer officiating at both the scholastic and collegiate levels for 13 years. He worked five NCAA Division I finals, including the first one, and was part of the referee duo of the first two-man system in college soccer.

Loeffler, who passed away at the age of 93 in September 2009, also was involved in writing the national soccer officials handbook. He is a member of the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame as a referee and was one of the inaugural 13 members of the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in 1999.

Salavatore

Heading into his 30th season, Salvatore is one of the premier officials in pro basketball. He has worked 25 NBA Finals games, 228 playoff games and over 1,650 regular season games.

The Stamford Catholic graduate began his NBA officiating career in 1981, after spending two years working in the CBA and 10 years of high school basketball. Salvatore has two All-Star game credits (1993 & 2002) on his resume, and worked international tournaments for the NBA in Germany (’93), Mexico (’97) and China (’04).

A three-sport scholastic athlete, Salvatore was an all-state quarterback in 1967. He is the son-in-law of the late NFL Hall of Famer Andy Robustelli, also a Stamford native.

Bagley

Bagley played 11 seasons in the NBA, the first five with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who made him their first draft pick and the 12th overall in 1982. When the 6-foot point guard was traded to the New Jersey Nets in 1987, he left as the Cavs’ all-time and single season assist leader, as well as averaging a team record 9.4 assists in 1985-86.

The former Harding great played two seasons with the Nets, averaging a career-high 12.0 points per game in his first year, and then spent three years with the Boston Celtics before ending his career in Atlanta in 1993.

Hopp St. Geme

One of the best female distance runners in U.S. history, Hopp St. Geme has been a top level competitor for more than 30 years. She made her name as a scholastic star at Greenwich High, winning the National Cross Country championship in 1980 and following up with a National title in the 3,000 meter run as a senior. She still owns four FCIAC outdoor records and two state milestones.

Hopp St. Geme continued her success as a collegian at Stanford, by winning the NCAA 3,000 run as a freshman in 1982 with a time of 8:57, still an American Junior record. In 1992 & 1996 she qualified for the Olympic Trials in three events, while winning the USA Track & Field national championship in the 5,000 meters event in 1994.

Hopp St. Geme, who graced the cover of Runner’s World magazine seven times, remains one of the top female Masters runners and is active in 5K runs. She has been the assistant cross country and track coach for the past nine years at Corona del Mar High in Newport Beach, Cal.

Bentley

For 33 years, Bentley has been the head coach of one of the country’s top high school basketball programs at Harding High, where he coached Bagley. During his tenure the Presidents have made 14 state title game appearances, winning nine championships, including five straight from 1983-87.

He also has won 16 conference crowns, 11 in the MBIAC and five FCIAC. His total of 645 victories is second all-time in the state. Bentley’s accomplishments have been recognized numerous times in his illustrious career, including being named to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame (2003), awarded a Gold Key by the state sports writers’ alliance (2007) and election to the Connecticut High School Coaches Association HOF (2009). He also was the longtime cross country coach at Harding

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