Phoenix Hall of Famer Pam Roecker ‘83, (Communications) was inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame, May 31, 2023, with prestigious company, including longtime Badgers men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan. The dinner banquet and awards ceremony was held at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.
Roecker, the Regis College Dean of Athletics, was one of five people selected for induction. Roecker was a three-sport athlete at Madison LaFollette High School, where she won nine varsity letters in tennis, basketball and softball. Her softball team won the Big 8 Conference championship and became a WIAA State finalist. During the tennis season, she was a City Doubles champion and was a First Team All-City selection, advancing into the WIAA State Tournament. She was all-city and all-conference in basketball, helping her team advance to the WIAA State Tournament. In s stellar four-year career at UW-Green Bay, she was a 1000-point scorer and remains the all-time leader at UW-Green Bay in assists in a single game, assists in a season, and assists for a career.
“It was an honor to be inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame, and my opportunity at UWGB was definitely an integral part of the athletic, academic and professional career that was recognized,” Roecker said.
After coaching in the college ranks a number of years, she moved to the administrative side of collegiate athletics full-time at Emmanuel College from 2003 to 2015. She was AD at Gann Academy in Waltham from 2015-2017 and took over as Dean of Athletics at Regis College in May of 2017, where she remains. For the last 20 years, Roecker has been a regional TV and Web broadcaster for college basketball games on ESPNU, ESPN+, ESPN3, Fox, MSG Network, and CBS Sports Network. She has also been a guest speaker at basketball camps throughout the Northeast.
Roecker was inducted along with Gary Buss, an all-conference football player at the University of Wisconsin; Michelle Jesperson, an All-American swimmer at Stanford University; Doug Parrish, who played football at UC-Berkeley and the Canadian Football League; and Bo Ryan, legendary men’s basketball head coach at three different colleges within the University of Wisconsin system, including UW-Madison from 2001 to 2015.
The Madison Sports Hall of Fame Club began in 1963 to recognize and honor great athletes and sports figures from Madison, Wis. The group hosts weekly luncheon meetings from August through May and holds the induction ceremony every year. Over 200 individuals have been previously inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame. Go to madisonsportshalloffame.org to find out other information about the club.
