Sports

	Thanks Mom Roadrunner Anita Maxwell and her mother Minnie Mitchell of Dallas were honored before Maxwell's final home game against Hawaii in March. (photo by Dennis Daily)

Former Roadrunner becomes alumna but parting is such sweet sorrow

Roadrunner star Anita Maxwell, '96, bid farewell to NMSU with the same grace and style she showed on the basketball court.

The 5-11 senior forward, who graduated with a business degree in May, planned to pursue a job in business. She was uncertain of the role sports held in her future.

But if the past is any indication, Maxwell will be successful in any endeavor she chooses. She leaves behind a legacy that filled the NMSU's women's basketball record book and included being named the Big West's Player of the Week 13 times. She was the first player to have 2,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 300 steals in NCAA history. But Maxwell downplays her success.

"I can't really say what my greatest moment was -- I'm not like that," she said. "Every game was important to me. There wasn't one win that was more important than another."

Some of her fondest memories are of summer basketball camp.

"It was really flattering when the little kids would come out to basketball camps because they were such fans, and they were so nice," she said.

She was a role model to the children, as others were for her. A support system helped her succeed in studies as well as sports. Her family played a key role in her success. At an early age, uncles encouraged her to participate in sports. Today, her mother is her biggest fan.

The support she received on campus was just as important, Maxwell said. Professors were understanding of her basketball schedule and coaches were the voices of reason, she added. Roadrunner Head Coach Mike Petersen said Maxwell's respect for him is reciprocated.

"She's the best women's player I've ever coached," Petersen said. "There will never be another Anita Maxwell at New Mexico State."

"I'm really going to miss the people I've met here," she said. "From the people I've met during practice to the ones I met just walking down the International Mall -- I'd really like to thank them for their support."

To future women basketball players getting ready to attend college, Maxwell suggested researching prospective colleges, setting up their own personal support systems and just plain working hard.

"If you work hard in basketball, how can you not succeed?" she said.

Leslie Thwaits

Maxwell set the record straight

- All-time leading scorer in NMSU's Big West Conference history, 2,553

- Kodak Honorable Mention All-American, three consecutive seasons

- United Press International Honorable Mention All-American

- Big West Player of Year, three seasons

- Big West Player of the Week, a record 13 times

- All-time conference leader in steals, 333

- First player (men's or women's) to have 2,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 300 steals in NCAA history

- All-time leading rebounder at NMSU, 1,166

Hall of Famers make Aggie history

Aggies Henry Apodaca, Jim Bradley and Judy Phillips were inducted into the 1996 NMSU Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame.

Apodaca, '81, was NMSU's starting shortstop in baseball from 1978-81. During his four-year career, he set the school record by collecting 260 base hits. In 1978 he was among the top 50 hitters in the country and he remains ranked among the leaders in nearly every NMSU category. Apodaca lives in Las Cruces with his wife Rhonda and son Derek Mikal.

Bradley, '55, was one of NMSU's top football running backs of his era and still holds the NMSU school record for the longest run from scrimmage. In 1973 Bradley became NMSU's 21st head coach and coached the Aggies for five seasons with a 23-31-1 record. Bradley returned to Las Cruces in 1994 after coaching at Roswell, N.M. As head coach at Mayfield High School, he led the Mayfield Trojans to the state semifinals in 1994 and a state title in 1995.

Phillips, ex. '88, was the starting point guard on two Roadrunner basketball teams that advanced to the NCAA tournament. Phillips was a four-year letterwinner for the Roadrunners and a three-year starter from 1984-88. She was one of the six finalists for the Naismith Award given to the nation's top woman basketball player under 5 feet 6 inches. She remains the most accurate free throw shooter in school history.

Leslie Thwaits

When former Aggie Basketball coach Lou Henson '55, '56, retired as head coach at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in February, he recommended that former NMSU standout Jimmy Collins replace him.

That didn't happen, so Collins, 48, was hired as the new basketball coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Collins was an Illinois-Champaign assistant and recuiter since 1983. He played on Henson's Final Four team at NMSU in 1970, then played with the Chicago Bulls and the ABA Caroina Cougars.

Henson predicted that Illinois-Chicago soon would have one of the best programs in the region.

Henson, who coached the Aggies from 1966-75, led them to the Final Four in 1970. He was head coach at Las Cruces High School from 1956-62, where he had a 145-23 record.

Henson said he would remain at Illinois as a part-time assistant director. Henson has a record of 422-220 at Illinois and 213-161 in the Big Ten. He ranked third among Big Ten coaches and seventh among active NCAA Division I coaches for number of wins.