Bowling Green State University Athletics
Brian Leaver: 2006 BGSU Hall of Fame Inductee
September 02, 2006 | General
Sept. 2, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University Athletics Hall of Fame will welcome nine new members next Friday (Sept. 8). The 2006 class will be inducted during a formal dinner on the BGSU campus.
The class of 2006 includes Sara Collas '90 (women's cross country/track and field), Carlyn Esslinger '96 (volleyball), Steve Klein '98 (men's soccer), Brian Leaver '95 (football), Carla Marshack '92 (women's tennis), Jim McDonald '59 (men's basketball), Megan McGuire '91 (women's basketball and volleyball), Vince Palko '95 (football) and Andy Tracy (football and baseball).
The official induction ceremony will take place Friday evening (Sept. 8) in the grand ballroom of BGSU's Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The social hour begins at 6:00 p.m., with dinner served at 7:00 p.m. and the program starting shortly thereafter.
In addition, the class will be introduced at halftime of next Saturday's (Sept. 9) BGSU-Buffalo football game at Doyt Perry Stadium. The game begins at 3:00 p.m. and is designated as Hall of Fame Day.
Tickets for the Sept. 8 dinner are $35 ($30 for Varsity BG members), and advanced reservations are required. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Falcon Club office at (419) 372-7100. Football game tickets can be purchased through the ticket office by phone, at 1-877-BGSUTICKET, or on the web at www.BGSUFalcons.com.
The public is invited to attend the induction dinner. Reservations are encouraged, but walk-ups are welcomed as well.
The following is the fourth of a nine-part series that takes a look at this year's inductees...
BRIAN LEAVER (football; 1991-94)
Leaver, a native of Sarasota, Fla., was an All-American kicker who left BGSU with several career records. During his Falcon tenure, he set school career marks for points (247) and extra points made (115) and attempted (118), while tying the school record for field goals made, with 44. Leaver shared the place-kicking duties as a freshman in 1991, kicking four PATs in the Falcons' California Raisin Bowl win that year. He became a starter as a sophomore on the 1992 Las Vegas Bowl-winning squad, with the decisive points in victories over Central Michigan and Toledo that fall.
Leaver led the team in scoring both in that '92 season and in 1993, and blossomed into a first-team All-America pick by both the Associated Press and Football News as a senior. That December, he appeared on the Bob Hope Christmas Special as a member of the AP team. Leaver, who led the MAC in field goals per game (tie-third in the country) and was second in the league in scoring (fourth in the nation)that year, was a first-team choice to both the All-MAC and Academic All-MAC teams. He finished second in the balloting for the Lou Groza Award in that 1994 campaign, and played in the Kelly Tires Blue-Gray All-Star Football Classic. Leaver still ranks among the top-three on the BGSU career lists for points scored, PATs made and attempted and field goals made.
Leaver currently lives in his hometown, where he is a licensed Florida general contractor. He also is Senior Vice President and part-owner of Tandem Construction in Sarasota. In June, he and his wife, Katherine, celebrated 10 years of marriage. The couple has two children; a daughter, Hayes (6) and a son, Andrew (4).
