Six New Members Inducted Into Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Six Lehigh standouts were formally inducted into the Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame as the Lehigh Athletics Partnership hosted the 23rd Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony on Friday, September 1 at Wood Dining Room in Iacocca Hall.

Inducted as part of Lehigh's Hall of Fame Class of 2023 were former baseball standouts Lee Butz '55 and Mitch Smith '79; women's lacrosse great Lauren Dykstra '11; men's basketball legend CJ McCollum '13 and a pair of outstanding Lehigh football coaches in Kevin Higgins and the late Andy Coen.

The Lehigh Athletics Department reviewed and revised its Hall of Fame process in 2019 and inducted a class in September of that year. The September 1 induction marks the second of three that will be inducted between May 2023 and May 2024 as Lehigh returns to holding regular annual Hall of Fame election and induction ceremonies.

Former coach and administrator Judy Turner Baxter was elected as part of the class inducted in May 2023 and was scheduled to be inducted on September 1, but was unable to attend and will now be part of the May 2024 induction class.

Click on the inductee's name below to view the full biography.

LEE BUTZ '55
Butz was one of the top pitchers for the Brown and White under head coach Tony Packer. The Allentown native also played some third base during his time at Lehigh but made a name for himself on the mound.
In his junior season of 1954, Butz pitched to a miniscule 1.17 earned run average, which still stands as a Lehigh single-season record for pitchers who have thrown a minimum of 30 innings. Butz helped pitch Lehigh to a 9-6 record. He earned three victories for Lehigh that season and was recognized as one of the team's outstanding pitchers for the season. Following his graduation from Lehigh and a stint in the Army, Butz entered a long career in the construction industry for his father Alvin's general contracting firm. He now serves as Chairman of the Board for Alvin H. Butz, Inc. has worked on virtually every building and facility on Lehigh's Asa Packer and Goodman Campuses.

ANDY COEN
Coen spent 19 seasons coaching football at Lehigh, including 13 as the Mountain Hawks' head coach. He won a school-record 85 games as Lehigh's head coach from 2006-2018 and guided Lehigh to five Patriot League championships, leading Lehigh football's resurgence in the 2010s. Coen went 85-64 in 13 seasons with the 85 career victories tying Bill Leckonby for the most in the long and distinguished history of Lehigh football. Under Coen's leadership, Lehigh won Patriot League championships in 2006, 2010, 2011, 2016 and 2017. Coen won Patriot League Coach of the Year honors in 2010 and 2016 and was a three-time finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, given to the top coach in the FCS. Coen stepped away from his head coaching position at the end of the 2018 season, following a diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease. He passed away on April 15, 2022.

LAUREN DYKSTRA '11
Dykstra is regarded as perhaps the finest all-around player in Lehigh women's lacrosse history. She was Lehigh's first four-time, first-team All-Patriot League honoree. The 2011 graduate garnered four different Patriot League major awards in her four seasons for the Mountain Hawks. A Mendham, N.J. native, Dykstra still holds the school and Patriot League record with 257 career goals. She ranks second in Lehigh history with 302 career points. As a senior, Dykstra received three major awards at Lehigh's year-end Student-Athlete Awards Convocation: The Graduating Female Athlete Award (since renamed in honor of Karen Adams), the Sportsmanship Award and the Mary O. Hurley Leadership Award given to the outstanding senior female leader. She capped her stellar career by earning IWLCA All-America honors.

KEVIN HIGGINS
Higgins spent seven seasons as head coach for the Brown and White, leading Lehigh football's resurgence in the mid-1990s, and 13 seasons overall on the football coaching staff. Higgins won four Patriot League titles in his seven seasons as head coach and was on staff for the first five of Lehigh's league-leading 12 Patriot League championships. A three-time Patriot League Coach of the Year, Higgins won his first title with the Mountain Hawks in 1995 and then capped his time at Lehigh with three-consecutive Patriot League crowns in 1998, 1999 and 2000. In his final three seasons leading the Brown and White, Higgins led Lehigh to a 34-4 record that included undefeated regular seasons and 12-game winning streaks in both 1998 and 2000.

CJ McCOLLUM '13
McCollum graduated as the Patriot League's all-time leading scorer and ranks second on Lehigh's career scoring list. A two-time Patriot League Player of the Year and three-time first-team all-league honoree, McCollum led the Mountain Hawks to Patriot League titles in 2009-10 and 2011-12, and scored a game-high 30 points as No. 15 seed Lehigh beat Duke 75-70 in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. In June 2013, McCollum became Lehigh's first-ever NBA draft pick after being selected 10th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. McCollum is entering his 11th professional season. He played nine seasons with Portland, winning the NBA's Most Improved Player award following the 2015-16 season; and is entering his third season with the New Orleans Pelicans. He also currently serves as President of the National Basketball Players Association.

MITCH SMITH
Smith was a workhorse on the mound and is the most accomplished pitcher in terms of statistics in Lehigh baseball history. A four-year standout, Smith led Lehigh in innings pitched in all four seasons in the Brown and White. Smith graduated in 1979 as Lehigh baseball's career leader in wins (24), strikeouts (262), complete games (23), innings pitched (335) and appearances (52). He continues to sit at the top of Lehigh's career list for innings pitched and complete games and is now second in wins and strikeouts. Smith's sophomore campaign was one of the finest in program history. Smith threw a record 93 innings and went 7-3 with seven complete games and 85 strikeouts, while maintaining a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4:1. His 1.74 ERA during the 1977 campaign remains the fourth-lowest single season mark in Lehigh baseball history.

Gallery: (9-1-2023) Hall of Fame Induction, 9/1/23

The Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame induction is sponsored by the Lehigh Athletics Partnership.

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Six New Members Inducted Into Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame

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