Saint Rose Inducts Class of 2009 Into Athletics Hall of Fame
David Alexander - Sports Information
Issue date: 10/28/09 Section: Sports
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The 2009 class includes Anthony "Tony" Franks (men's basketball, 1979-81), Kristiana Kandere (women's basketball, 1994-98), Tara Moore (formerly Peters, women's swimming and diving, 1992-96), and Jesús Valbuena (men's soccer, 1989-92).
The 1998-89 men's basketball squad captured the NAIA District 31 Championship thus becoming the first Golden Knights intercollegiate athletics program to represent Saint Rose in a national championship tournament. Saint Rose advanced with a 97-93 overtime victory against St. Thomas Aquinas in the District 31 title game, before falling 105-97 to Auburn-Montgomery (AL) in a first round national tournament encounter at The Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO. The Golden Knights finished 28-5 overall and set a school record for victories that stood until the 1995-96 and 1996-97 squads recorded 28 and 29 wins respectively.
Anthony "Tony" Franks, who was inducted posthumously, was the team's MVP during both of his years at Saint Rose after transferring from the Junior College of Albany. He stands 19th among the College's top all-time scorers (1,161) and is the sixth leading rebounder (744) although he graduated as the all-time leader in that category. His 647 points as a junior in the 1979-80 campaign represent one of five school records he set that season along with his 420 rebounds (14.5 per-game), 277 field goals, 160 offensive rebounds and 260 defensive rebounds that helped the Golden Knights win a school record 23 games (23-6) and their second of three straight Northeastern Athletic Conference championships.
Kristiana Kandere is simply one of the finest all-around players to ever don a Golden Knights jersey. The Women's Division II Bulletin National Player of the Year as a senior and a two-time, first-team All-American; Kandere led Saint Rose to four consecutive New York Collegiate Athletic Conference titles (NYCAC) and a collective 114-12 (.905) record throughout her career. She was also honored as the NYCAC Player of the Year in each of her last three years, was tabbed the conference's Rookie of the Year in 1994-95 and was a four-time, first-team All-League pick. Kandere was furthermore a four-time Daktronics first-team, All-Region honoree. She still stands as the College's all-time leading scorer (1,975) and rebounder (1,333), and is also first in free throws made (412) and second in blocks (212). A superlative student as well, Kandere was honored as the GTE/CoSIDA National Academic All-American® Player of the Year as senior.
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