LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A total of four former Aggie greats - Shirley Anku (women's track & field), Simone Bock (women's tennis), Neil McCarthy (men's basketball head coach) and Amber Simpson (volleyball) - are set to be the latest group of individuals inducted into the US Bank/NM State Athletics Hall of Fame as new Mexico State athletics announced its 2021 class Thursday afternoon.
Those four individuals are set to be formally inducted via a virtual induction ceremony. The date and time for that ceremony will be announced at a later date.
"I couldn't be happier to recognize and honor our former student-athletes with their induction into the US Bank/NM State Athletics Hall of Fame," Director of Athletics Mario Moccia stated. "It's unfortunate that we won't be able to hold an in-person induction ceremony due to COVID-19, but it was important to us to keep one of NM State's best traditions alive in order to honor some of our best and brightest."
Shirley Anku | Women's Track & Field | 1997-01
Until the Aggies' field events star arrived in Las Cruces, no NM State women's track & field student-athlete had ever made the cut for the NCAA Championships. By the time her record-breaking career was in the books, not only had Anku, who hailed from Accra, Ghana in Africa, shattered a number of program bests, she had become the first Aggie to compete on the sports' biggest stage.
Before punching her ticket to the national meet, Anku claimed an individual Big West Conference Indoor title in the triple jump during the 2000 season. Her championship jump of 42' 5 1/4" was impressive, but was less than four inches shy of the national qualifying mark.
That narrow miss fueled her through the 2001 outdoor season where she hit the qualifying mark with a triple jump of 43' 6" at the UTEP Spring Invitational. Headed into the national title meet in Oregon, Anku was ranked 12th nationally.
On June 1, 2001, Anku leaped her way into NM State immortality by putting forth a 40' 3 1/4" effort on her second triple jump try at the NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Anku posted a 16th-place finish in the event
To this day, Anku holds the program record in a pair of events: the indoor high jump (1.72 meters set in 2001) and the outdoor triple jump (13.13 meters set in 2001).
Where are they now? | Anku serves as the senior digital business strategist for Pulsa Ghana, a subsidiary group of Ringier Digital Publishers Africa. Pulse is Africa's leading innovative media company which specializes in digital marketing, television and social media content which reaches the entire continent.
Simone Bock | Women's Tennis | 1996-98
To this day, Simone Bock remains one of the best women's tennis players to ever compete for the Aggies. Through the late 1990s, the Wuerzburg, Germany, product was a dominant force in both singles and doubles action for NM State.
With the Aggies competing in the Big West Conference at the time, Bock became known as one of the best in the league. All told, she amassed three All-Big West First Team Singles honors and another three All-Big West First Team Doubles citations while competing alongside Michelle Scott and Tamie Hooper. Bock remains one of just 21 women's tennis players in the history of the Big West who have earned three All-Big West First Team singles awards.
Not just a standout on the court, Bock secured CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American honors in 1998. An international business major, Bock maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout her entire collegiate career. Bock becomes the first women's tennis player in NM State history to be inducted into the US Bank/NM State Athletics Hall of Fame.
Where are they now? | Bock serves as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the BNP Paribas Germany. BNP Paribas is a French international banking group headquartered in Paris, France, but has offices throughout Europe as well as subsidiaries in Africa and the United States.
Neil McCarthy | Men's Basketball head coach | 1986-97
While the Aggie hoops squads of the late 1960s and early 1970s exemplified greatness to longtime NM State followers, Neil McCarthy helped a new generation of Aggie faithful build fond memories of their own during his highly-successful tenure as the team's leader.
Beginning with an 11-win improvement from the previous season in his inaugural 1985-86 campaign, McCarthy's ability to recruit and put highly competitive basketball teams on the floor of the Pan American Center was evident.
The 1988-89 season saw the Aggies rack up a 21-11 record which featured a trip to the NIT. It was NM State's first postseason bid since making the cut for the NCAA Tournament in the 1978-79 campaign and started the program's decade-long run as a dominant force both in the Big West Conference and the national scene.
Over the next nine years, McCarthy led the Aggies to four Big West Conference regular season titles, a pair of Big West Conference Tournament titles and five trips to the NCAA Tournament. The two-time Big West Coach of the Year (1989 and 1990) led the Aggies to a trio of triumphs over nationally-ranked squads during his tenure, but none of those was more memorable than the one on January 8, 1990, when NM State knocked off defending national champion and seventh-ranked UNLV 83-82 on a last-second shot inside the Pan Am Center.
Through his 12-year span at the helm of the program, McCarthy amassed 226 wins - the second-highest all-time total behind only the late Lou Henson.
Where are they now? | McCarthy retired from college basketball following the Aggies' 1996-97 season.
Amber Simpson | Volleyball | 2004-08
One of the most dominant front-row players to ever put on an NM State uniform, Amber Simpson concluded her career with an extensive amount of individual and team accolades to her credit.
Bursting onto the scene in the Aggies' 2005 campaign, Simpson became the first player in program history to earn the title of WAC Freshman of the Year in addition to a spot on the All-WAC Second Team.
A three-time All-WAC First Team selection (2006, 2007 and 2008), Simpson also earned WAC All-Tournament team honors three times (2006, 2007 and 2008) as well as Academic All-WAC citations on three separate occasions (2005, 2007 and 2008). Through her career, the Aggies went an impressive 105-26 overall which included a 54-10 showing in WAC action. With Simpson on their side, the Aggies advanced to the NCAA Tournament on three occasions and moved on to the second round in 2008 after taking down St. Mary's, 3-1, in the opening round.
The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) recognized Simpson's greatness, too, and awarded the Quincy, Ill., product Honorable Mention All-American status (2006), All-West Region honors (2006) and Honorable Mention All-Region laurels (2007 and 2008).
To this day, Simpson ranks among the top 10 in the history of Aggie volleyball in a number of statistical categories including kills (eighth, 1,292), hitting percentage (second, .344), total blocks (first, 574), block assists (first, 515) and blocks per set (third, 1.25).
Where are they now? | Amber Lizarraga is a Financial Institutions Examiner with the State of Nevada Financial Institutions Division.
For complete coverage of Aggie athletics throughout the remainder of the 2020-21 academic year and beyond, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow NM State on Facebook (NM State Athletics), Twitter (@NMStateAggies) and Instagram (@NMStateAggies).
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