Meet your 2020 Utah State Athletics Hall-of-Fame class
On Sept. 11, Utah State Athletics honored six 2020 inductees into the Aggie Hall of Fame with a banquet at the Wayne Estes Center.
The new inductees include wrestler Russ Paulsen ‘75. basketball player Kendall Youngblood ‘92,basketball player Eric Franson ‘96, volleyball player Zuzana Cernianksa ‘05, football player Donald Penn ‘05, and football player Kevin Robinson ‘07.
The inductee ceremony for the six Aggie legends has been long awaited. The date for the banquet was originally April 10, 2020 but was pushed back due to Covid-19. Here’s a glance at what each athlete accomplished in their time in Logan.
Russ Paulsen, Wrestling (1972-75)
In his four-year career Paulsen compiled a dominant record of 87-13-2. He made two NCAA tournament appearances and entered the 1975 tournament a No. 2 seed. Also in his final year, he earned the Wayne Etes Memorial Award, which went to the top senior student-athlete in any sport on campus.
Kendall Youngblood, Basketball (1989-92)
Youngblood, who was a certified bucket-getter, is just one of five Aggie players to lead the team in scoring for three straight seasons. He averaged 15.5 points as a sophomore, 18.8 as a junior and 17.1 as a senior. He was also an all-Big West Conference selection each of those seasons.
Youngblood is top ten in 11 statistical categories for Aggie hoops. He’s No. 4 in steals (164), No. 5 in assists (389) and No. 8 in points (1,749).
Eric Franson, Basketball (1991,1994-96)
One of the greatest front court players in Aggie history, 6’8 Franson is a three-time all-Big West honoree. His junior season, 18.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game earned him conference player of the year.
Franson is top ten in ten statistical categories for the program. He’s No. 5 in rebounds (885), No. 3 in double doubles (36) and No. 2 in free throws attempted (626).
Zuzana Cernianska, Volleyball (2002-05)
The All-American out of the Czech Republic took the Big West and Western Athletic Conference by storm in the early 2000’s. She was a three-time first team all-conference, the Big West from 2003-04, and the WAC in 2005.
During her four-year career, Cernianska set school records for kills (1,813) and attempts (4,423). She helped lead the Aggies to the NCAA tournament in 2005.
Donald Penn, Football (2002-05)
Penn started 44 straight games for the Aggies along the offensive line. He was the starting left tackle his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, and earned second-team All-WAC honors his senior year. The team captain was a major part of a 2005 Aggie offense that averaged 405.6 yards of total offense per game.
After college, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings, commencing an illustrious NFL career. From 2006-17, he started 170 consecutive games. He was a pro-bowler in 2010, 2016 and 2017. He spent most of his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders.
Kevin Robinson, Football (2004-07)
One of the greatest wide receivers and kick returners in Utah State history, Robinson is No. 2 in Utah State history in all-purpose yards (6,479).
His senior year, he was a first team All-WAC and received All American honors from six different publications. That season, he averaged 193.08 all-purpose yards per game, and finished the season with 2,217 yards, which is No.2 all-time in WAC history.
Robinson was drafted in the sixth round to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2008 NFL draft.