After taking a break from Hall of Fame inductions last year because of COVID-19, Dawson Community College has announced its 3rd class for the Buccaneer Athletics Hall of Fame. Long-time Administrator Paul Fasting; Cross-Country/Track star Clifford Albert Foote; Basketball Coach Dennis Perryman; and Coach Perryman’s 1970-1971 men’s basketball team will be honored at a banquet on January 29th and again during a home basketball game on January 30th. The Hall of Fame is part of DCC’s mission to foster a culture of excellence, and the college is excited to honor the individuals and teams who have achieved excellence in athletics over the past 64 years. Former Montana Tech football coach, athletic director and Montana sports personality, Bob Green, will be the Master of Ceremonies for the weekend.
A committee of six members, made up of former DCC coaches, student-athletes, supporters and administrators, reviewed and deliberated over the nominations and came to the final consensus. DCC Athletic Director Joe Peterson was excited about the newest class of inductees. “We are going to be honoring a running legend who dominated his sport, a coach who won a lot of games and championships while positively influencing many lives, a historic team that is still talked about around town 50 years later; and an administrator who has influenced all of our athletic programs at DCC as much as anyone over the course of almost three decades of service and has a legacy that is still carrying on.”
Anyone interested in purchasing tickets for the Hall of Fame Banquet on the evening of January 29th can do so online at: https://dawsonbucs.com/sports/hof/2021-22/Hall_of_Fame_Banquet_Tickets_2022
or contact Alex Chase Wolff at 406-377-9466 or achase@dawson.edu. Tickets are $40 each. The banquet will be held at Gunner’s Ridge in Glendive, MT. American Bank Center is a partial sponsor of the Buccaneer Athletics Hall of Fame.
You can be a part of honoring these great Buccaneer Legends. Your tax-deductible financial contribution will help to offset the costs of the banquet, travel and other costs associated with our Hall of Fame Weekend. To donate, you can click here: https://dawsonbucs.com/sports/hof/donate
For more information on the Dawson Community College Athletic Hall of Fame, contact Joe Peterson at 406-377-9459 or jpeterson@dawson.edu.
Inductees
Paul Fasting
Fasting spent 27 years in a multitude of positions at DCC. He used his different roles as a way to influence and impact Buccaneer Athletics in many different ways. He served as an assistant men’s basketball coach during the Dennis Perryman era as well as cross country and track coach. Fasting also served as Dean of Student Services, Financial Aid Director, Dean of Instruction and spent many years in the Vice President position. He was instrumental in beginning the baseball and softball programs in 1997; including raising the money, building the facilities and hiring the coaches. He did a lot of recruiting for Dawson athletics through the years and also sold 50/50 tickets for over two decades at home sporting events, raising a lot of money for the athletic department.
Fasting retired in 1999 and resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife Sandy. He has 2 grown sons, Mark and Roger and 4 grandchildren.
Albert Clifford Foote
Foote was a graduate from St. Labre High School in Ashland, MT and ran for the Buccaneers from 1967-1969. He was known as a fierce racing competitor. In Cross Country, he took first place out of 35 runners in the Region XIII meet in Bismarck, ND in 1967 with a time of 15:27 in the 2.7 mile race, finishing 19 seconds ahead of the next closest competitor. He led the team to a Regional Championship in 1967, but they were unable to travel to Nationals because of a lack of funding. He was also a two-time Mon-Dak Conference winner as an individual. In the 1967 Mon-Dak meet, he won it with a time of 15:53, leading Dawson to the title. In 1968, he won the Mon-Dak meet with a time of 15:32, beating out 31 other competitors and finishing 13 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Competing against four-year schools in the Teddy Roosevelt Run in Medora, Foote finished 3rd out of 46 competitors. He also won the Dickinson State College meet in 1967, helping Dawson Junior College beat out Dickinson State and Minot State for the title. In another four-year college event, he won the Eastern Montana Invitational, competing against runners from Eastern Montana College, Rocky Mountain College and Western Montana College on a 2.5 mile course. The Buccaneers won the conference and region championships in 1967 and the region championship again in 1968. It was their last region championship before the program was cut in 1971. Dawson spent 47 years without cross-country and track until it was resurrected again in 2018.
In track, Foote set the Trojan Relay Record for the Junior College Division with a 4:28.9 mile and a 10:12 two-mile run. At the Region XIII Meet in 1968, he finished first in the mile run and helped his 880 yard relay team win 1st place as well. Foote was 1st in every Mon-Dak and Region XIII race he ran in while he competed for Dawson.
Foote passed away on November 14, 2011. He was survived by his wife Althea
Dennis Perryman
Perryman spent 13 years as the men’s basketball coach at Dawson Community College, leading the Buccaneers to new heights. He was born and raised in Wyoming and began at DCC in 1967 as head basketball coach. He also served as director of admissions, financial aid director, housing director and athletic director. His overall basketball record at Dawson was 230-142, leading the Bucs to five Mon-Dak Conference Championships, three Empire Conference Championships, three Sub-Region Championships, and two Region Championships. He was named Mon-Dak Conference Coach of the Year four times. He won conference championships in each of his final four years at Dawson. During his time at DCC, he also had the opportunity to serve as an Olympic basketball coach for the Olympic trials in Colorado Springs for two summers.
He coached 1 NJCAA All-American in Doug Frederick and multiple All-Conference and All-Region players including Frederick, Tim Slabach, Rocco Morro, Jeff Anderson, Keith Heingartner, Dennis Harp, Bob Wurm, Carmen Birdsbill, Randy Lloyd, Ken Groggell, Mark Humes, Bill Stover, Nelson Burrell, Steve Koehnen, Roger Cramer, Brady Pauley, Jim Gray, Jim Kusyner and John Morrison.
His final season at Dawson was one of his best when he led the Buccaneers to a 31-5 record and the #18 ranking in the country. They were regional runners-up. After the 1978-1979 season, Perryman spent a year coaching at Northern Montana College before leading South Plains College in Texas for five years where he eclipsed the 400 win total for his career. After South Plains, Perryman was hired as the athletic director at Garden City Community College. He retired in 2005; and soon after, the GCCC physical education building was named the Dennis B Perryman Athletic Complex. He spent 36 years at the Junior College level. For his many years of service and great success, he was elected into the NJCAA Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
On April 24, 2018, Perryman passed away at the age of 77 at his residence. Coach Perryman was preceded in death by his daughter Wendi. His dear wife Cherie passed away shortly after Perryman’s death. Coach’s legacy includes his daughter Nikki and son Brandy Perryman and his two grandchildren, Gavin and Luke, along with hundreds of players who carry on his legacy.
1970-1971 Men’s Basketball Team
Coach Dennis Perryman led the 1970-1971 men’s basketball team to a 28-8 record, including a 19-1 mark at home and the Bucs led the nation in scoring at almost 100 points per game; and that was before the shot clock or 3-point line changed the game. Before this magical season, the Bucs didn’t draw many local fans to their home games, but that all changed in 70-71 when the Bucs averaged 1,650 fans per game, including 3,100 that showed up to see Dawson beat Miles 118-91 to clinch their first ever Mon-Dak Conference Championship. Bruce Brunetti led the way with 20 first half points and 31 points for the game. A week later, the Bucs beat Miles again to claim the North Sub-Region IX Tournament title behind 6’5 forward Brad Pauley’s 28 points and 20 rebounds.
This special team broke 16 team and individual records at DCC including wins in a season (28), consecutive wins (10), consecutive home wins (15), total points in a season (3577), scoring average (99.2 ppg), total free throws made (674), total number of field goals made (1451) and total rebounds (1882).
Jim Gray and Brad Pauley were named All Mon-Dak Conference. The team MVP was awarded to six players: Pauley, 6’5 forward Jim Gray, 6’1 guard Dexter King, 6’4 forward Rick Thompson, 6’3 guard/forward Mike Grubb and the 5’11 Brunetti.
In that historic season, Pauley set the single season free throw record with 166 and collected the rebounding record as well with 600 for the season. The Glendive native also set the single game record with 32 rebounds. He was Dawson’s leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 16.6 rpg and garnering 1,000 rebounds over his two year career. He also scored over 1,000 points in two seasons at Dawson.
Gray also eclipsed the 1,000 point mark in his two years. Gray shot 52% from the field in the 1970-1971 season and averaged 13 rebounds per game. Playmaking wizard and fan favorite, Brunetti, broke the school record for assists in a game with 13 and assists in a season with 267. Brunetti also led the team in free throw percentage at 76.6% and led the entire Mon-Dak Conference in field goal percentage at 56%. King was their best defender and team captain, averaging 14.3 points per game. Other team members included 6’4 forward Fred Febach, 5’10 guard Wayne Emter, 6’0 guard Bob Anderson, 5’7 guard Todd Dayton, 6’3 forward Larry DeRossett, 6’3 center Larry Fritz, 6’3 forward Rex Humphrey, 6’2 forward Gary Higlin and Dennis Lordemann.
After finishing at Dawson, Pauley transferred to Texas A & M; Gray played at Dickinson State; Grubb at College of Idaho, DeRosset at Spring Arbor; and Brunetti at Winnipeg.