Walter “Hoot” Evers, Basketball • 1940, Track & Field • 1940, Baseball  • 1940

As a sophomore during 1939-40, Walter “Hoot” Evers was the most versatile athlete on the Illinois campus. In baseball, he compiled a .353 batting average and led the Big Ten in total bases, runs, triples, home runs and RBIs. On the basketball court, he was the Illini’s second-leading scorer to fellow hall-of-famer Bill Hapac. And, on the track, coach Leo Johnson pulled Evers off the ball diamond to compete in the Big Ten outdoor meet as a javelin thrower. Despite practicing just one week, “Hoot” placed second at the outdoor championships. At the end of the baseball season, Evers received numerous offers to quit college and play professional baseball, which he turned down. However, in January, 1941, he was declared academic ineligible to continue playing basketball. A week later, Evers signed to play baseball for the Detroit Tigers and enjoyed a long MLB career from 1941-56 with five different teams. He was named an All-Star in 1948 and 1950 and finished 11^th in voting for the 1950 AL MVP. Evers went on to Work for Cleveland as a scout, coach and farm system executive from 1957-70 and as the Tigers’ director of player development from 1970-78. He died in 1991 at the age of 69.