The Santa Barbara Basketball Court of Champions has announced former Westmont coaches and student-athletes will be among 17 inductees comprising the class of 2015. Former coaches Chet Kammerer and Randy Pfund will be inducted alongside former student-athletes Ron Shelton and Tugce Canitez.
This year's inductees join John Moore and Kirsten Moore, current head coaches for Westmont Men's and Women's Basketball respectively, who were inducted into the Court of Champions last year in its inaugural class.
Kammerer coached Westmont Men's Basketball for 17 years from 1975 to 1992, accumulating a record of 357-158 (.693). During that span he led the Warriors to five NAIA National Championship appearances. During the 1984 campaign, the Warriors reached the semifinals for the first time in school history.
Kammerer left Westmont in 1992 to join Pfund on the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff. In 1996, he began scouting for the Miami Heat where he currently serves as the vice president of player personnel. After the remodel of Murchison Gymnasium in 2008, the floor was named "Kammerer Court" in his honor.
After graduating from Wheaton (Ill.) in 1978, Pfund joined Kammerer as an assistant coach at Westmont. In 1986, Pfund was hired by the Los Angeles Lakers as assistant coach and then served as head coach for the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons. In 1996, he served as general manager of the Miami Heat until he retired in 2008.
Shelton ('67) played both basketball and baseball for Westmont in the 1960s. During his three-year Warrior basketball career, Shelton tallied 1401 points, which ranks 11th on Westmont's career scoring list His 18.7 career points-per-game average places him fifth in the record books.
Shelton played minor league baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization before becoming a writer/producer for a number of successful sport-themed movies including: Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump, Blue Chips, Ty Cobb, Tin Cup, Best of Times, Play it to the Bone, The Great White Hype and Jordan Rides the Bus.
Canitez ('13) played two years for Westmont Women's Basketball and led the 2012-13 team to the NAIA National Championship. The native of Izmir, Turkey was named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association NAIA Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013 as well as the NAIA Player of the Year in 2013.
Canitez dominates the Westmont record books. She holds the career records for scoring average (20.3 points per game), free throws made (423), rebounds (783) and rebound average (11.5).
Canitez currently plays professional basketball Fenerbahce of the Turkish Women's Basketball League and is a member of the Turkish National Team. In 2012, while a student at Westmont, Canitez represented her country at the Summer Olympic Games in London.
Among the other inductees is Gerry Karczewski, father of the current Westmont basketball player by the same name. Karczewski played at San Marcos High School with Westmont assistant coach Jeff Azain.
