Weber State University Athletics
Amber Henry and Willie Sojourner named to Big Sky Hall of Fame
5/21/2026 12:00:00 PM | Women's Cross Country, Athletics, Men's Basketball, Women's Track & Field
Henry (women’s track and field/cross country) and Sojourner (men’s basketball) will be inducted into the Big Sky Hall of Fame in July.
Two Weber State legends are receiving more honors.Â
Weber State women's track and field and cross country legend Amber Henry and men's basketball legend Willie Sojourner will both be inducted into the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame.Â
Henry was a three-time All-American and 11-time Big Sky champion in her career with the Wildcats from 2010-14.Â
Sojourner was a standout for the Wildcat men's basketball team from 1968-71 and helped lead Weber State to three Big Sky titles in three seasons, and still ranks near the top in several all-time records.Â
The conference has announced the 2026 Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted on July 25 during the Big Sky Football Kickoff at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Airway Heights, Washington, just outside of Spokane.Â
Henry and Sojourner make seven former Wildcat athletes or coaches inducted in the Big Sky Hall of Fame, joining Damian Lillard, Lindsey Anderson, Chick Hislop, Jamie Martin, and Dick Motta.Â
Amber Henry - Women's Track and Field/Cross Country (2010-14)
A three-time All-American and an 11-time conference champion, Amber Henry was one of the top track and field and cross country athletes in Weber State and Big Sky history. She was also a part of four teams that won Big Sky team championships.Â
A native of Mountain View, Wyoming, Henry competed with the Wildcats from 2010-14. She was inducted into the Weber State Hall of Fame in 2022. She was honored as one of the 25 Greatest Female Athletes in Big Sky Conference history and was a two-time Weber State Athletics Female Athlete of the Year. Â
Henry won the Big Sky title in cross country in 2011 and 2012 and is the only Wildcat women's athlete to win the Big Sky Cross Country title twice. She was part of three Wildcat cross-country teams that won the Big Sky title in 2011, 2012, and 2013. In addition, she competed with the Wildcats twice at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. She was the top WSU finisher at both NCAA meets and earned All-America honors in 2012 after finishing 32nd overall. She is one of just four athletes in Weber State history to earn All-America honors in cross country.Â
On the track, Henry won four Big Sky titles in outdoor track and field, including winning the steeplechase and the 1,500 meters twice each. She also won the 5,000-meter title. In 2012, she won the steeplechase title and then won the 1,500 meters by diving across the finish line, fracturing her collarbone in the process. Â
At the 2013 Big Sky Championships in Portland, she was named the MVP of the meet after winning three Big Sky titles and setting stadium records in all three events, the 1,500 meters, steeplechase, and 5,000 meters. She is one of three Wildcats in history to win three events at the same outdoor meet.Â
Henry earned All-America honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2012 and 2013. At the 2012 meet, she fell during the event and dislocated her elbow, only to get back up, put the elbow back in place, and earn All-America honors.Â
She finished third overall at the 2013 NCAA Championships with a career-best time of 9:43.39. The third-place finish is the second-highest finish by any Wildcat in outdoor track and field history, and she is the only track athlete to earn All-America honors twice in the same event.   Â
In indoor track and field, she won the conference title in the mile twice as well as the 800 meters and 3,000 meters.Â
She finished her career holding three Weber State school records and ranked in the top 10 in several other events. She still holds the WSU school record in the indoor 3,000 meters at 9:13.81, set in 2012. She also set indoor records in the indoor mile and the outdoor 1,500 meters, and is now second all-time in both events.Â
Henry also excelled in the classroom. She was an 11-time Big Sky Academic All-Conference performer. She earned Academic All-District honors twice and Academic All-American honors twice. She graduated from Weber State with a degree in Nursing in 2014. She was also named the Big Sky Scholar Athlete in 2014 and earned the Weber State Career Achievement Award following the completion of her Wildcat career.Â
She was honored as the Big Sky Athlete of the Week 16 times in her career.Â
Willie Sojourner - Men's Basketball (1968-71)
Willie Sojourner was a standout with the Wildcats and one of the top players in Weber State and Big Sky history.Â
He was inducted into the Weber State Hall of Fame in 1990, and in 2014, he was named one of the top 50 male athletes in Big Sky history. In 2015, he became just the second WSU athlete ever and the first men's basketball player to have his jersey retired, and now is a member of the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame. Â
He still leads the Big Sky in career rebounding at 14.1 per game. He still ranks second in Weber State history in career rebounds and eighth in scoring.Â
Sojourner came to Weber State out of Philadelphia, where he was a multi-sport star at Germantown High School. He arrived in Ogden for the 1967-68 season under head coach Dick Motta, but freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball at the time, so he played that season with the Wildcat freshman team.
He then played three seasons of varsity for the Wildcats from 1968-71, and made history that still remains unmatched. In his three seasons, Sojourner led Weber State to three-straight Big Sky Conference titles and three-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.Â
During the 1968-69 season, he joined new Weber State head coach Phil Johnson in leading the Wildcats to one of the best seasons in Big Sky Conference history. He and the Wildcats finished the season 27-3 and were a perfect 15-0 in Big Sky Conference games, just one of two undefeated seasons in conference history. The Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Tournament that season and defeated Seattle in the first round, the first NCAA Tournament win ever for a team from the Big Sky. Sojourner averaged 18.8 points and 13 rebounds per game that season.
He came back for his junior year in 1969-70 and led the Wildcats to a 20-7 record, another Big Sky Championship, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 21.2 points and 15.8 rebounds per game, still the best single-season rebounding average in school history.
As a senior in 1970-71, he again led the Wildcats to a Big Sky title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament as the team finished 21-6. He averaged 17.8 points and 13.6 rebounds per game that season.
In his three seasons, the Wildcats posted a 68-16 overall record and were 39-5 in Big Sky Conference games.
For his career, Sojourner played in 81 career games at Weber State and led the team in scoring and rebounding each season. He earned First Team Big Sky All-Conference honors each season, one of five Wildcats to ever earn First Team honors three times.
He still ranks first in Weber State and Big Sky history in career rebounding average at 14.1 per game. He is still second in Weber State history, and third in conference history in career rebounds with 1,143. He still holds the WSU school record with 25 rebounds in one game. He is also now eighth in school history in scoring with 1,563 points and is sixth in scoring average at 19.3 points per game.Â
Sojourner was not only a star on the basketball court at Weber State. He was a member of the Wildcat track and field team and won three-straight Big Sky titles in the high jump. In 1970, he became Weber State's first Division I All-American in any sport, earning All-American honors by finishing third at the NCAA Championship in the high jump. He was also the first Wildcat to ever reach the seven-foot mark in the high jump.
Following his Weber State career, Sojourner was drafted with the eighth pick of the 1971 ABA Draft by the Virginia Squires. He was also drafted in the second round (20th overall) in the NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He went on to play four years in the ABA, two with Virginia and two with the New York Nets. He played 309 career games in the ABA, the most by any Wildcat in the ABA or the NBA. He played the bulk of his professional career with Basketball Hall of Famer Julius "Dr. J." Erving.
He decided to continue his professional career overseas and went to Italy, where he spent the majority of the rest of his life. He played six more seasons professionally in Italy and had his number retired by his team in Rieti. He later returned twice to Italy as a coach. In 2005, while serving as the coach in Rieti, Sojourner was killed in a tragic one-car accident at the age of 57.
The arena of his former team, Sebastiani Rieti, is named "Pala Sojourner (Sojourner Gym), in honor of their beloved coach.Â
Willie Sojourner traveled quite a path from his beginnings in Philadelphia. From Philadelphia to Ogden, to the ABA, and to Italy, he touched the lives of everyone he met and was a special player to watch. More than any player in the program's early history, Sojourner put Weber State on the map and established its strong basketball tradition.
2026 Big Sky Hall of Fame ClassÂ
Dennis Erickson, Idaho/Montana State (Football Student-Athlete/Head Coach)
Frank Hawkins, Nevada (Football Student-Athlete)
Eric Heins, Northern Arizona (Cross Country/Track and Field Head Coach)
Amber Henry, Weber State (Cross Country/Track and Field Student-Athlete)
Pam Parks, Eastern Washington (Volleyball Coach/Administrator)
Michael Ray Richardson, Montana (Men's Basketball Student-Athlete)
Jackie Ross Mattox, Idaho (Track and Field Student-Athlete)
Willie Sojourner, Weber State (Men's Basketball Student-Athlete)
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Weber State women's track and field and cross country legend Amber Henry and men's basketball legend Willie Sojourner will both be inducted into the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame.Â
Henry was a three-time All-American and 11-time Big Sky champion in her career with the Wildcats from 2010-14.Â
Sojourner was a standout for the Wildcat men's basketball team from 1968-71 and helped lead Weber State to three Big Sky titles in three seasons, and still ranks near the top in several all-time records.Â
The conference has announced the 2026 Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted on July 25 during the Big Sky Football Kickoff at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Airway Heights, Washington, just outside of Spokane.Â
Henry and Sojourner make seven former Wildcat athletes or coaches inducted in the Big Sky Hall of Fame, joining Damian Lillard, Lindsey Anderson, Chick Hislop, Jamie Martin, and Dick Motta.Â
Amber Henry - Women's Track and Field/Cross Country (2010-14)
A three-time All-American and an 11-time conference champion, Amber Henry was one of the top track and field and cross country athletes in Weber State and Big Sky history. She was also a part of four teams that won Big Sky team championships. A native of Mountain View, Wyoming, Henry competed with the Wildcats from 2010-14. She was inducted into the Weber State Hall of Fame in 2022. She was honored as one of the 25 Greatest Female Athletes in Big Sky Conference history and was a two-time Weber State Athletics Female Athlete of the Year. Â
Henry won the Big Sky title in cross country in 2011 and 2012 and is the only Wildcat women's athlete to win the Big Sky Cross Country title twice. She was part of three Wildcat cross-country teams that won the Big Sky title in 2011, 2012, and 2013. In addition, she competed with the Wildcats twice at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. She was the top WSU finisher at both NCAA meets and earned All-America honors in 2012 after finishing 32nd overall. She is one of just four athletes in Weber State history to earn All-America honors in cross country.Â
On the track, Henry won four Big Sky titles in outdoor track and field, including winning the steeplechase and the 1,500 meters twice each. She also won the 5,000-meter title. In 2012, she won the steeplechase title and then won the 1,500 meters by diving across the finish line, fracturing her collarbone in the process. Â
At the 2013 Big Sky Championships in Portland, she was named the MVP of the meet after winning three Big Sky titles and setting stadium records in all three events, the 1,500 meters, steeplechase, and 5,000 meters. She is one of three Wildcats in history to win three events at the same outdoor meet.Â
Henry earned All-America honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2012 and 2013. At the 2012 meet, she fell during the event and dislocated her elbow, only to get back up, put the elbow back in place, and earn All-America honors.Â
She finished third overall at the 2013 NCAA Championships with a career-best time of 9:43.39. The third-place finish is the second-highest finish by any Wildcat in outdoor track and field history, and she is the only track athlete to earn All-America honors twice in the same event.   Â
In indoor track and field, she won the conference title in the mile twice as well as the 800 meters and 3,000 meters.Â
She finished her career holding three Weber State school records and ranked in the top 10 in several other events. She still holds the WSU school record in the indoor 3,000 meters at 9:13.81, set in 2012. She also set indoor records in the indoor mile and the outdoor 1,500 meters, and is now second all-time in both events.Â
Henry also excelled in the classroom. She was an 11-time Big Sky Academic All-Conference performer. She earned Academic All-District honors twice and Academic All-American honors twice. She graduated from Weber State with a degree in Nursing in 2014. She was also named the Big Sky Scholar Athlete in 2014 and earned the Weber State Career Achievement Award following the completion of her Wildcat career.Â
She was honored as the Big Sky Athlete of the Week 16 times in her career.Â
Willie Sojourner - Men's Basketball (1968-71)
Willie Sojourner was a standout with the Wildcats and one of the top players in Weber State and Big Sky history. He was inducted into the Weber State Hall of Fame in 1990, and in 2014, he was named one of the top 50 male athletes in Big Sky history. In 2015, he became just the second WSU athlete ever and the first men's basketball player to have his jersey retired, and now is a member of the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame. Â
He still leads the Big Sky in career rebounding at 14.1 per game. He still ranks second in Weber State history in career rebounds and eighth in scoring.Â
Sojourner came to Weber State out of Philadelphia, where he was a multi-sport star at Germantown High School. He arrived in Ogden for the 1967-68 season under head coach Dick Motta, but freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball at the time, so he played that season with the Wildcat freshman team.
He then played three seasons of varsity for the Wildcats from 1968-71, and made history that still remains unmatched. In his three seasons, Sojourner led Weber State to three-straight Big Sky Conference titles and three-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.Â
During the 1968-69 season, he joined new Weber State head coach Phil Johnson in leading the Wildcats to one of the best seasons in Big Sky Conference history. He and the Wildcats finished the season 27-3 and were a perfect 15-0 in Big Sky Conference games, just one of two undefeated seasons in conference history. The Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Tournament that season and defeated Seattle in the first round, the first NCAA Tournament win ever for a team from the Big Sky. Sojourner averaged 18.8 points and 13 rebounds per game that season.
He came back for his junior year in 1969-70 and led the Wildcats to a 20-7 record, another Big Sky Championship, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 21.2 points and 15.8 rebounds per game, still the best single-season rebounding average in school history.
As a senior in 1970-71, he again led the Wildcats to a Big Sky title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament as the team finished 21-6. He averaged 17.8 points and 13.6 rebounds per game that season.
In his three seasons, the Wildcats posted a 68-16 overall record and were 39-5 in Big Sky Conference games.
For his career, Sojourner played in 81 career games at Weber State and led the team in scoring and rebounding each season. He earned First Team Big Sky All-Conference honors each season, one of five Wildcats to ever earn First Team honors three times.
He still ranks first in Weber State and Big Sky history in career rebounding average at 14.1 per game. He is still second in Weber State history, and third in conference history in career rebounds with 1,143. He still holds the WSU school record with 25 rebounds in one game. He is also now eighth in school history in scoring with 1,563 points and is sixth in scoring average at 19.3 points per game.Â
Sojourner was not only a star on the basketball court at Weber State. He was a member of the Wildcat track and field team and won three-straight Big Sky titles in the high jump. In 1970, he became Weber State's first Division I All-American in any sport, earning All-American honors by finishing third at the NCAA Championship in the high jump. He was also the first Wildcat to ever reach the seven-foot mark in the high jump.
Following his Weber State career, Sojourner was drafted with the eighth pick of the 1971 ABA Draft by the Virginia Squires. He was also drafted in the second round (20th overall) in the NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He went on to play four years in the ABA, two with Virginia and two with the New York Nets. He played 309 career games in the ABA, the most by any Wildcat in the ABA or the NBA. He played the bulk of his professional career with Basketball Hall of Famer Julius "Dr. J." Erving.
He decided to continue his professional career overseas and went to Italy, where he spent the majority of the rest of his life. He played six more seasons professionally in Italy and had his number retired by his team in Rieti. He later returned twice to Italy as a coach. In 2005, while serving as the coach in Rieti, Sojourner was killed in a tragic one-car accident at the age of 57.
The arena of his former team, Sebastiani Rieti, is named "Pala Sojourner (Sojourner Gym), in honor of their beloved coach.Â
Willie Sojourner traveled quite a path from his beginnings in Philadelphia. From Philadelphia to Ogden, to the ABA, and to Italy, he touched the lives of everyone he met and was a special player to watch. More than any player in the program's early history, Sojourner put Weber State on the map and established its strong basketball tradition.
2026 Big Sky Hall of Fame ClassÂ
Dennis Erickson, Idaho/Montana State (Football Student-Athlete/Head Coach)
Frank Hawkins, Nevada (Football Student-Athlete)
Eric Heins, Northern Arizona (Cross Country/Track and Field Head Coach)
Amber Henry, Weber State (Cross Country/Track and Field Student-Athlete)
Pam Parks, Eastern Washington (Volleyball Coach/Administrator)
Michael Ray Richardson, Montana (Men's Basketball Student-Athlete)
Jackie Ross Mattox, Idaho (Track and Field Student-Athlete)
Willie Sojourner, Weber State (Men's Basketball Student-Athlete)
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