NU Honors Hall of Fame Inductees
KIRKLAND, Wash. - Former NU Athletic Director and coach, Kristi Brodin, former coach and current professor LeRoy Johnson, former outstanding Eagle basketball player John Brown and the history making NU women’s basketball team of 1987-88 were all inducted into the Northwest University Athletics Hall of Fame last night in front of a capacity crowd at the NU Hall of Fame Banquet and Sports Benefit held on the Kirkland campus.
Brodin began her career at Northwest U. in 1970 after graduating from Seattle Pacific University as a P.E. major and two-sport athlete. Kristi coached women’s basketball and volleyball at NU and won five NCCAA national basketball titles in seven years with the first one coming in 1988. Her volleyball teams qualified for the national tournament three times, placing third in 1989 and second in 1993. She was named national Coach of the Year in 1989. She left coaching in 1998 and also served as the NU athletic director for six years until 2009.
Dr. LeRoy Johnson has been a part of the Kirkland campus since 1967 when he joined the faculty and NU and served 16 years as an assistant basketball coach. After leaving his coaching duties, Dr. Johnson continued to teach at NU and became the public address announcer and the Faculty Athletic Representative in 1984 and has served as the FAR for all sports since. Johnson has been a devoted Eagle for 44 years.
John Brown was a men’s basketball player at NU from 1972-74. John came to Northwest College from Ketchikan, Alaska via Seattle, Univ., and played on the men’s basketball team from 1972-1974. Scoring over 1,000 points and averaging 20.5 point per game. He was named one of the top two best players in the Pacific Northwest College Conference. John led the team to the conference championship and to a National Little College Athletic Association tournament in Ohio his last year playing at Northwest.
After his playing days were over, John then coached the Eagles from 1982 until 1989 when he decided to move back to Ketchikan, Alaska.
John was the first inductee into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame and selected by Sports Illustrated as one of the top 100 high school basketball players of all time after he led his team to four straight Alaska High School State Titles from 1964-1968.
The 1988 NU women’s basketball team brought the first national championship to the school. The team consisted of only six players for the entire season which culminated with their winning the NCCAA Division II Women's national basketball title. This was before athletic scholarships at NU. They played a largely NAIA schedule that in those days consisted of teams like SPU, Seattle U, Central Washington, Simon Fraser, Whitworth, PLU, etc., so their season record was not great (13-17), but it prepared the team for their trip to nationals where they had the opportunity to play against other smaller institutions like themselves. The result was a national championship for these courageous, disciplined, and committed young women and for Northwest.
Members of the team coached by Kristi Brodin were: Aiyanna Marcus Curtis, Chris Montgomery Anderson, Deborah Stamper Davis, Becky Capps, Shelly Schu Beach, and Rachelle Jorgensen Limewood. Kari Brodin (Kristi’s sister), Rachel Elenbaas Olson and Lynnette Murrell Landis were assistant coaches on the team.