(Lewiston, ID) – Lewis-Clark State College will have three Warrior legends honored this spring as part of the NAIA Hall of Fame Class of 2024. Sam Atkin, Denny Grubb and Brian Orr will all be enshrined in Kansas City among some of the greatest contributors to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
“National recognition of these three LC State athletics leaders is a tribute to their outstanding achievements, dedication and contributions to excellence,” LC State President Cynthia Pemberton said. “It is certainly unusual, if not unheard of to have three individuals selected in the same year to the NAIA Hall of Fame; and one more example of the exceptional legacy of accomplishment that is a hallmark of LC State athletics. Congratulations to coach Brian Orr, LC alum Sam Atkin, and Mr. Denny Grubb. We couldn’t be more proud!”
SAM ATKIN – Cross Country/Track & Field | 2011-16
Atkin, a 2021 LC State Hall of Fame inductee and two-time Olympian for Great Britain, is the first Warrior representative from cross country or track and field to earn a spot in the NAIA Hall of Fame.
“Honestly, it’s a reflection of my team’s hard work to get me to where I am today,” Atkin said. “Parents, the Collins family, coaches and friends. My success so far is because of their continued help and support. It is an honor to be put into the NAIA Hall of Fame among other outstanding inductees over the years.”
Atkin is the most decorated runner ever at the LC State with 10 NAIA All-American honors in cross country as well as both indoor and outdoor track. He’s the only male athlete in school history to win national titles in distances over 800m.
Atkin came to LC State from Lincolnshire, England and competed for the Warriors during 2011-16. In cross country, he finished second at the national meet in 2013 to earn All-American honors and still holds the school record for the fastest Warrior time in any cross country meet with a 23 minute, 25 second run over 8 kilometers. He was named the Frontier Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week seven times during his career and twice won the NAIA National Runner of the Week honor.
In track, Atkin won two NAIA indoor and outdoor titles. He won the 3,000m indoor title in both 2013 and 2016, and was second in 2015. He also was a member of the distance medley relay team that took third indoor nationals in 2016. At the NAIA outdoor meets, he won the 5,000m in both 2014 and 2016 and placed third in 2013. He also was third in 10,000m in 2016.
Since graduation in 2016, Atkin has excelled at the international level. He competed at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, became the British Champion in the 10,000m and set the UK record for the indoor 3,000m. Atkin has competed at the Indoor European Championships and was ranked in the top 10 in the world in the indoor 5,000m.
Atkin still trains with LC State coach Mike Collins and ingrained himself into their family.
“To have such an honor as induction into the Hall of Fame is incredible,’ coach Mike Collins said. “I think at times we lose sight with Sam and all that he has accomplished because he is part of our family, so normal and unassuming. We take for granted how unique and special his accomplishments are. To see that he is being recognized at such a high level makes me very grateful to have been a small part of his career. Athletes and people like this often come along only once in a lifetime, if even that, so have been privileged to see all of this, a part of the struggles and triumphs is something I will hold dear for a lifetime. Sam is a special young man and has earned all the recognition he is receiving. He is an ambassador to the sport and of LC State.”
DENNY GRUBB – Meritorious Service
It is thanks to Denny Grubb that the NAIA Baseball record books exists and that every possible factoid is known and documented. Grubb, who became the first LC State Athletics Hall of Fame’s member selected under the category of “Special Contributor,” began serving LCSC in 1977 and has practically never stopped. 2024 marked his 47th year at LC archiving and keeping stats. Grubb has covered more than 2,500 Warrior home athletic events and has served as the official scorer and statistician for the NAIA World Series since 1984.
“Wow. Thank you to the NAIA and LC State,” Grubb said. “This is such an honor to receive this award. Since 1977, it has been my pleasure and goal to help improve and update the NAIA and LC State with statistics. I thank the NAIA for allowing me to be the official scorer for the NAIA World Series since 1984, and to the Warriors for the opportunity to serve in many different positions for nearly 50 years.”
Grubb, a graduate of Lewiston High School, is the unofficial historian and the NAIA Baseball encyclopedia. When anyone needs info on NAIA Baseball, Denny has the answer. He has provided the national office and competing schools with countless amounts of records, fun facts and anything anyone would ever need to know. He has statted nearly 600 of baseball games for the NAIA World Series.
The majority of Grubb’s work has been done on a volunteer basis. All of the history and records on the LC State website were his doing prior to 2010, and he assists in record keeping in present day. He is a resource, even today, for the national office and schools around the country and he does it purely because he enjoys it. All of the Series archives that are available are largely due to Grubb. In 2022, LC State dedicated the baseball press box the “Denny Grubb Press Box.”
“Denny’s archives run extraordinarily deep and throughout the years, he has taken it upon himself to create what is now the official records of the NAIA Baseball World Series,” former NAIA Director of Communications Brad Cygan said. “If you want to know when the last time a player attempted a squeeze bunt in game three of the series, Denny can likely take a few moments to look that up, along with just about any other statistic. While that may sound trivial to some, it has provided countless SIDs and coaches an insight that is just not available elsewhere, allowing them to do their jobs at a higher level and serve our student-athletes better. His impact is tremendous and his value to the World Series is beyond estimation.”
BRIAN ORR – Women’s Basketball Coach | 2001-23
Orr is the first NAIA Hall of Fame inductee from LC State Women’s Basketball after more than 20 years at the helm of the Warrior women.
“More than anything, this honor is the result of being lucky enough to coach women’s basketball at Lewis-Clark State College,” Orr said. “The way this community embraces the college is amazing, and the support our women’s basketball program received from our Scholarship Club members played a big part in our ability to recruit quality student- athletes. It also helped to have one of the best college basketball facilities in the Northwest. But the bottom line is coaches don’t receive accolades without having talented players, and along with several outstanding assistant coaches, I was blessed with the opportunity to coach really good players. I want to thank those players and coaches, the NAIA, along with Dr. Niel Zimmerman and Richard Hannan for giving me a chance, and a special thank you to (former AD) Gary Picone, for his mentorship and support.”
The all-time winningest coach in Lewis-Clark State College Women’s Basketball history, and one of the preeminent coaches in the NAIA during his tenure, Orr’s Warrior teams made 19 trips to the NAIA national tournament, including eight straight from 2005 to 2012, and seven of his last eight seasons. Orr led the Warriors to the national title game in 2017 before losing to Oklahoma City 73-66. His Warrior teams reached the round of 16 11 times in 15 appearances, and have three NAIA National Quarterfinal finishes (2008, 2016 and 2019). The Warrior women upset Carroll College at home when LC hosted the 2021 Opening Round to punch their ticket to the Round of 16.
Orr led LC State to back-to-back Cascade Conference regular-season titles in the program’s first years in the conference. LC won five Frontier Conference regular season titles, seven Frontier Conference tournament titles, and played in 13 Frontier Conference Championship games in Orr’s 19 seasons in the Frontier. He led his team to three straight regular-season conference championships from 2006-08, and back-to-back titles from 2016-2017. His 20-year conference record of 227-84 (.730) has earned him five Frontier Conference Coach of the Year awards. He picked up his first Cascade Conference honor in 2021 to bring his total to six.
On December 10, 2005, with a victory over Warner Pacific College, Orr won his 100th contest, a milestone that was achieved faster than any previous LC basketball coach. He hit the 200-win milestone in one of the Warriors’ most memorable games when they defeated Westminster 79-78 in the championship game of the Frontier Conference Tournament in Salt Lake City in 2009. The leader of the Warrior women reached the 500-win mark on Feb. 5, 2022 with a 71-67 victory over Eastern Oregon.
The Frontier Conference semifinal game on March 3, 2017 was the setting for Orr’s His 400th career win, a 85-46 drubbing of Montana Tech. The Warrior coach averaged more than 24 wins per year over his 22 seasons, and won 21 or more games 19 times.
Orr coached 26 All-Americans, including current head coach Caelyn Orlandi. Under his guidance, Orlandi was named the 2023 WBCA NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year ahead of taking over the program for her mentor.
“When Brian retired a season ago, at that point in my life, I had spent over a third of my life with him,” Orlandi said. “To have been coached by one of the best coaches ever, and then to learn from him as his assistant coach, I can’t imagine being delt a better hand. I was able to learn from a NAIA Hall of Fame coach and I would imagine there are not a lot of individuals who can say that. To put into words the impact he has had on the game is hard to describe, but I know that his legacy as a coach will always be a part of LC State and I will always honor the tradition of excellence that he instilled in all the teams he has coached. I can’t think of a more deserving coach. I am a firm believer that if you love the game, the game will love you back, and I know that the game of basketball loved Brian. Congratulations Coach.”
