Former Lakeland High star Pruitt tabbed for North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame

COEUR d’ALENE — Three former college football players and one former college athletic trainer are the 2023 inductees into the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame, NIAHF officials have announced.

Former Lakeland High and North Texas defensive lineman Sky Pruitt will be joined by three with University of Idaho ties — receiver Kasey Dunn and offensive lineman Rick DeMulling, and former UI trainer Barrie Steele.

The four will be inducted during the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet, which is set for Saturday, April 8 at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Tickets for the banquet, which also features the North Idaho High School Awards, are $36.50 each and can be purchased online either by going to https://ci.ovationtix.com/35849/production/1154078 or at www.nihof.org and clicking on “Purchase Tickets” button lower on the page. Tables for eight can also be purchased for $325 for general admission or $375 reserved. Scott Green, president at the University of Idaho, will be the featured speaker.

Current and former student-athletes from North Idaho high schools and colleges also will be honored that night. The finalists for each award will be announced in mid-March. Each student-athlete nominated for an award that night can obtain a free ticket to the banquet. Information on how to obtain that ticket will be announced at the same time as the finalists.

Pruitt was a standout athlete at Lakeland High where he lettered four years in football and wrestling, and also one year in track and field.

In football Pruitt was a two-time all-state selection on offense and a first-team all-state selection on defense his senior year. Playing both on the offensive and defensive lines, Pruitt made 66 tackles during his senior year and also had seven sacks and a fumble recovery.

Pruitt left his mark in wrestling as well where he was a three-time state champion at the Class 3A level during 2000-02. He was the first Lakeland wrestler to win three state titles and is only one of three to accomplish the feat.

Following high school, he went on to play football at the University of North Texas, where he lettered three seasons as a defensive lineman and played in three bowl games.

Following football he was accepted into the University of Montana Doctor of Physical Therapy program. After graduation he worked in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley in a rural outpatient clinic before joining the North Idaho Physical Therapy clinic in Post Falls in 2013 while also providing inpatient care at Northwest Specialty Hospital. He later moved to the Rathdrum clinic in 2015.

Pruitt and his wife Susan have a son and daughter and live outside of Rathdrum.

A 1992 UI graduate, Dunn was a standout receiver for the Vandals from 1987-91. He was a three-time All-American who ended his career with school records in receptions (268), yards (3,847) and was second in touchdowns (25). At the end of his career, his reception total and receiving yards ranked second all-time in the Football Championship Subdivision, trailing only Jerry Rice.

Dunn, who came to UI from North Kitsap High in Washington, led the nation in both receptions per game (8.0 avg.) and receiving yards per game (105.8 avg.) as a junior in 1990. He ranked No. 3 nationally with 85 catches as a senior. The Vandals claimed three Big Sky Conference titles during his playing career and went 24-12 overall.

Dunn went on to play professionally with British Columbia (1992) and Edmonton (’93) of the Canadian Football League, and with Houston in the National Football League. He then started a successful coaching career with stops at Idaho (1993 and ’95), San Diego (1994), New Mexico (1996-97), Denver Broncos (1997), Washington State (1998-2002), Texas Christian (2003), Arizona (2004-06), Baylor (2007), Seattle Seahawks (2008-09) and Southern Mississippi (2010).

In 2011, Dunn was hired as wide receivers coach at Oklahoma State University and has been with the Cowboys since. He currently is the offensive coordinator/associate head coach/wide receivers coach. In 2017, he was honored by both 247Sports and FootballScoop as the Wide Receivers Coach of the Year for college football. He has had at least one All-Big-12 receiver every year but one while on the OSU staff.

DeMulling came to Idaho from Cheney High where he was a three-sport standout in football, basketball and baseball. He made his presence felt immediately at Idaho and earned four All-Big West honors during his playing days (1997-2000). The four-year starter was a three-time All-Big West first-team selection and he was a part of the 1998 Vandal squad that won the league title and then defeated Southern Mississippi in the Humanitarian Bowl, which was Idaho’s first bowl victory at the D1 level.

DeMulling was drafted in the seventh round with the 220th overall pick in the 2001 draft by the Indianapolis Colts and became a regular starter during the 2002 season. That year, the Colts went 10-6 in Tony Dungy’s first year as coach and lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs. The Colts went 12-4 the following year and lost to New England in the AFC championship game. The Colts again went 12-4 in his final year and lost in the division playoffs.

DeMulling became a free agent following the season and signed with the Detroit Lions where he played for two seasons. The team won a combined eight games in those two seasons. After being signed and then released by the Colts, he signed with Washington in 2007 where he finished his playing career that season.

DeMulling worked for a couple of real estate companies in Indianapolis following retirement and then got into the insurance business. His true passion, however, lies with his community. In 2019, he sold his nice home on seven acres and moved into an impoverished area of downtown Indianapolis to make a positive spiritual impact in the community. He also has been an assistant high school football coach.

Both Dunn and DeMulling had their playing careers helped by Steele, who spent 33 years as the head athletic trainer and director of sports medicine for the Vandal athletic department.

Steele graduated from Washington State University in 1979 and worked there as an assistant trainer until accepting the UI position. He also earned a master’s degree from UI.

In addition to overseeing all aspects of UI’s athletic training room and the strength and conditioning and equipment room staffs, Steele served the athletic training profession in many capacities, including on the National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Directors, NATA BOD liaison to JRC-AT/CAATE, president of the Northwest Athletic Trainers' Association, and liaison to the Idaho Board of Medicine; State Board of Athletic Trainers.

Steele was inducted into the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2011, a year after the organization honored him with a Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award.

Steele is a native of Pasco, Wash.

Steele, Dunn and DeMulling are all members of the UI athletic Hall of Fame.

For more information on the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame or the banquet, contact Rick Rasmussen at [email protected] or 208-699-7495.