When De La Salle lines up its annual inductees in its Athletic Hall of Fame, it will be hard-pressed to find a more accomplished or more revered group than the inductees of 2019.
Current head football coach Justin Alumbaugh is among those getting inducted on Sunday, Sep. 22, two days after his Spartans host Buchanan-Clovis on the gridiron. But the normally low-key Alumbaugh is excited about this group of inductees due to a couple of his former players, most notably the late Terrance (TK) Kelly. Kelly and Parker Hanks were both integral members of the 2003 football team which pushed the De La Salle winning streak to 151 games, playing alongside each other as part of a feared linebacking corps.
"I love it, going in with Terrance. It's really an awesome thing," Alumbaugh said.
Hanks was a three-year starter in both football and baseball, where he was a first-team all-state selection behind the plate. Kelly, of course, was murdered just two days before he was scheduled to leave for the University of Oregon, where he was headed on scholarship.
Alumbaugh is also getting inducted as a dual-sport athlete, having received all-state honors in both football and baseball during his playing tenure at De La Salle. He graduated in 1998, having been a member of the football program at a time when it broke the national record for consecutive wins, and as a three-year varsity player in football, was a sophomore on the 1995 team which is being inducted in its entirety.
The 1995 team was the group which broke the existing California record at the time for consecutive wins. The Spartans tied the state record of 47 wins during a 55-0 drubbing of Liberty, a game in which the author of this article was unable to drive home after the game following a massive hit from Spartan defensive end Mawuko Tugbenyoh, who added insult to injury by forcing a fumble with the hit, then scooping the loose ball and scoring. That team also featured explosive back Leon Callen, who would go on to play at the University of Arizona, while Tugbenyoh played at UC Berkeley and later in the XFL.
One week after tying the state record against the Lions, De La Salle posted win number 48, a new state record, with a 41-8 win over James Logan. The Spartans would go on to beat a USA Today-ranked Pittsburg team, 35-14, for the NCS title.
1994 graduate Robert 'Bam' Portis is also being inducted. Portis was another dual-sport standout for the Spartans, excelling at running back and cornerback, while covering the outfield and pitching on the diamond. His name still evokes memories among those in the East Bay of a physically mature athlete racing around the bases on the diamond, and leaving defenders grasping at air on the football field. He went on to play at the University of Colorado, and was a member of the East Bay Cream of the Crop.
Other inductees include the 2006 golf team, which edged Cathedral Catholic-San Diego for the CIF championship, the first in school history. Another highly decorated inductee is 2002 graduate Brian Bacharach, who was a two-time All-American in water polo while at De La Salle, and then was a four-year letterman at UC Berkeley.
Boys volleyball athlete Matthew Boelk graduated in 2000 after leading the Spartans to their first three NCS titles, including a 33-1 mark in his senior year. He was named one of the Contra Costa Times' Top 100 athletes in 2000, and played on scholarship at UC Santa Barbara. The final individual inductee is Brother Raymond Michael Saggau, who is being inducted as a contributor. Saggau spent over two decades working on the De La Salle campus in various roles, and also worked at multiple other Catholic institutions.
