Minnesota’s M Club announced its next hall of fame class last Wednesday.
The 2018 class is highlighted by a former running back, a player from the women’s basketball team that went to the Final Four and a letterwinner in two sports.
The nine former student athletes will be inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame in September.
A year after her former collegiate and professional teammate Lindsay Whalen was inducted, Janel McCarville made it to the class in 2018. This year marks the second consecutive year a player from the 2004 Final Four team was inducted.
McCarville was the Big Ten freshman of the year in 2002-2003. She was first-team all-Big Ten for three years after that and finished her career at Minnesota at fifth all-time in scoring. After her time with the Gophers, the Stevens Point, Wisconsin native was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft in 2005 to the Charlotte Sting. She later found her way back to Minnesota to team up with Whalen again with the Minnesota Lynx in 2013.
The lone football player to be inducted this year will be Laurence Maroney, a former running back for the Gophers.
Maroney spent his three seasons with Minnesota from 2003-05 and went on to be a first-round pick in the NFL to the New England Patriots.
In his first season with the Gophers, Maroney averaged nearly seven yards per carry in 162 attempts. His carries and total yards increased in both of his next two seasons — all in one less game each year. He had over 1,100 yards in every season and finished his career with 32 rushing touchdowns.
Maroney finished his time with the Gophers as the program’s all-time second-leading rusher with 3,933 yards.
Another former player managed to letter in two sports on campus. Chris Paulos played both softball and field hockey and lettered in each sport from 1976-1978.
Paulos was the most valuable player for the field hockey team three times. She finished as the field hockey program’s all-time leading scorer. She was added to the softball program’s hall of fame in 1989.
Current associate head coach for the men’s golf team Justin Smith will also be inducted. Smith was a member of the same team as a golfer from 2001-04, winning a national championship with the team in 2002.
