Weber State University Athletics
Weber State to retire the jersey of Bruce Collins
12/17/2015 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weber State Athletics will retire the jersey of former Wildcat men's basketball standout Bruce Collins. His jersey number 22 will be retired during Weber State's home game on Feb. 13, 2016 against Portland State. He will join Willie Sojourner as the only Weber State men's basketball players to have a jersey retired.
Collins played four years of basketball at Weber State from 1976-80. He still ranks as Weber State's all-time leading scorer and holds four school career records. During his four years with the Wildcats, Collins led Weber State to two Big Sky Championships, three Big Sky Tournament titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. He earned first team All-Big Sky honors three times, one of just five Weber State players ever to do so. In his four seasons with the Wildcats, Collins helped lead Weber State to a 90-30 overall record.
He started all 120 games of his career, a WSU record. His 2,019 career points still rank as the most in Weber State history and rank him second in scoring in Big Sky Conference history. He is one of just three players in conference history to reach 2,000 career points. Collins is also Weber State's career leader in field goals made (823) and field goals attempted (1,692). He ranks fourth in career rebounding and fifth in career free throws made.
“This honor means the world to me and I still can't believe it. I'm in awe,” Collins said. “To have my name associated with Weber State is incredible. When I went to Weber I was just trying to make the team. I didn't even know if I would start. To now have this honor is really a dream to me.”
Collins, nicknamed “Hi-C”, came to Weber State out of Rock Springs, Wyo., but was lightly recruited out of Rock Springs High School, despite being named the Wyoming 3A MVP. He only had three Division I school recruit him out of high school and chose to join coach Neil McCarthy at Weber State.
As he came to Ogden for the start of the 1976-77 season, he joined three other freshmen that would form one of the strongest groups of players in school history. Joining Collins that season was another player from Wyoming in 7-0 center Richard Smith from Green River. Mark Mattos came in as a point guard from Santa Barbara, Calif., and David Johnson joined Weber State as a 6-8 forward from Loomis, Calif. Those four players, who would become known as “McCarthy's Kids”, would play four seasons together and combined to appear in 437 games for the Wildcats. They won two Big Sky titles, three Big Sky Tournament titles, went to three NCAA Tournaments, and formed a strong bond that continued long after their careers ended.
As he returned for his sophomore season, Weber State moved into the brand new 11,500 seat Dee Events Center in November 1977. As a sophomore he led the Wildcats in scoring in 15 of the 29 games and led the team in rebounding 14 times. He finished the year averaging 18.8 points and 8.3 rebounds a game and earned first team All-Conference honors. The Wildcats finished 19-10 that season but won the Big Sky Tournament for the first time in school history and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, in what would be the first of three straight appearances, where they fell 73-52 to Arkansas.
The following season the Wildcats finished 25-9 and captured the conference title with a 10-4 record. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and beat New Mexico State 81-78 in overtime in the first round, before losing to Arkansas in the second round.
Collins' senior season of 1979-80 is one of the best seasons in Weber State history. The Wildcats finished 26-3 and captured another Big Sky title, finishing 13-1 in league play. Weber State had an 18-game winning streak during the season, still a school record, and was ranked as high as 15th in the nation in the AP polls, the only season in school history Weber State has been nationally ranked. The Wildcats hosted Lamar in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Dee Events Center but lost 87-86.
After his Weber State career came to an end, Collins was drafted in the second round (33rd overall) of the 1980 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. He went on to play three seasons of professional basketball in Asia.
After retirement he returned to Wyoming and has worked for many years for the city of Rock Springs in a family recreation center. He also has continued to do basketball camps for boys and girls helping with the fundamentals of basketball.
“We are very excited to honor Bruce Collins by retiring his jersey at Weber State,” said WSU Director of Athletics Jerry Bovee. “He was a terrific player who started every game he played. To still rank as the all-time leading scorer after all these years is very impressive. He was a major part in helping build the Weber State basketball program into what it is today and he's very deserving of this honor.”
Collins was previously inducted into the Wyoming Sports Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was named to the Weber State 50th Anniversary Team and was named the 44th best male athlete in Big Sky Conference history.