FARMINGTON, Utah — Idaho Vandal legend and former Coeur d’Alene High star John Friesz was named a member of the inaugural class of the Big Sky Hall of Fame, the conference announced Wednesday.

Friesz was Idaho’s first Walter Payton Award Winner, doing so after a magical 1989 season that also earned him Coaches’ Choice 1-AA Player of the Year, Football Gazette National Offensive Player of the Year and consensus first team All-America. That season, the Vandals swept the Big Sky to win their third consecutive conference championship.

Friesz was Idaho’s first inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame when he joined the 2006 class. He twice led the nation in passing and was also a first team All-America selection in 1988. He earned second team honors in 1987. Friesz was three times selected as the Big Sky Player of the Year.

He went on to be drafted in the sixth round of the 1990 NFL Draft, by the San Diego Chargers. He enjoyed an 11-year career, playing for four franchises, and was inducted into the inaugural Idaho Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.

Also part of the inaugural hall of fame class is former Idaho State pole vaulter, Stacy Dragila, wife of former Post Falls High track standout Ian Waltz.

A pioneer in the sport of women’s pole vault, Dragila placed second in the heptathlon at the 1995 Big Sky Conference championships. Dragila won the gold medal in the inaugural women’s pole vault at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She is a four-time world champion, nine-time U.S. outdoor champion, eight-time U.S. indoor champion. Dragila would go on to break the world record 10 times. In 2014, Dragila was elected into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. The native of Auburn, Calif., was inducted into the Idaho State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. She currently resides in Boise.

The hall of fame class was voted on by a committee of 15 members spanning all 11 full-time Big Sky institutions.

The award ceremony for the hall of fame class will take place on Saturday, March 14 in Boise, on the final day of the Big Sky Basketball Championships. Tickets to the event will go on sale in early January.

In the future, a maximum of eight student-athletes shall be selected including at least one male student-athlete, one female student-athlete and one coach or administrator. No more than two non-student athletes in any given year will be accepted into the Hall of Fame. No more than one member of each annual class will represent any current institution.

The 2020 Big Sky Hall of Fame class (in alphabetical order) consists of:

- Jared Allen — Idaho State, Football, 1993-96

- Shannon (Cate) Schweyen — Montana, Women’s Basketball, 1988-92

- Angela Chalmers — Northern Arizona, Women’s Track & Field, 1982-87

- Dave Dickenson — Montana, Football, 1992-95

- Stacy Dragila — Idaho State, Women’s Track & Field, 1993-96

- Jack Friel — Big Sky Conference, Commissioner, 1963-71

- John Friesz — Idaho, Football, 1986-89

- Milton “Dubby” Holt — Idaho State, Track & Field/Administrator, 1963-79

- Damian Lillard — Weber State, Men’s Basketball, 2008-12

- Lopez Lomong — Northern Arizona, Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field, 2005-07

- Ron Mann — Northern Arizona, Cross Country/Track & Field Coach, 1980-04

- Ellie Rudy — Montana State, Women’s Track & Field, 2004-08

- Robin Selvig — Montana, Women’s Basketball, 1978-2016

- Jan Stenerud — Montana State, Football, 1964-66/Skiing, 1962-64

The Hall of Fame eligibility criteria includes:

- An alumnus/alumna is eligible only if he/she has participated in two full seasons of competition at a Big Sky member institution and should have made outstanding contributions or offered extraordinary service to athletics at the institutional, conference and national level.

- An alumnus/alumna is eligible at any time beginning five years after completing their collegiate eligibility.

- Coaches who have made outstanding contributions or offered extraordinary service to Big Sky athletics shall be eligible for recognition into the Hall of Fame after service of three full years.

- Coaches must have completed their tenure as coach or have been out of the conference for at least five years.

- Administrators who have made outstanding contributions or offered extraordinary service to Big Sky athletics shall be eligible for recognition into the Hall of Fame after service of three full years and are immediately eligible.