BY TROY JOHNSON
Staff Writer
On a day that could determine the postseason prospects of its basketball teams, it's fitting that Columbus State University will honor two of its best basketball players.
Former men's star Robert Heard and women's star Reagan Housch Fields, who helped their programs achieve unprecedented success, will headline the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame's 10th induction class today.
The four-member class will be inducted this afternoon during a luncheon at the Frank G. Lumpkin Center as part of CSU's homecoming weekend.
The other inductees are softball record-setter Nathalie Fradette and baseball star Brandon O'Hearn.
Heard played for the Cougars from 1976-78 and led them to their first NCAA Division II regional tournament in his senior season. After averaging 18.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game as a senior, Heard was selected by the Denver Nuggets in the sixth round of the NBA draft. Later, he served as a graduate assistant coach to Frank "Sonny" Clements at then-Columbus College.
Heard finished his college career as the school's most accurate shooter, connected on 57.2 percent of his shot attempts.
Housch, the first inductee who played her entire career at CSU after it achieved university status, set a single-season school record by scoring 552 points in the 1998-99 season and set Peach Belt Conference career record for 3-point shooting percentage (40.4). Her career also coincided with CSU's development into a national power. The Lady Cougars went 50-13 during her two seasons and reached the NCAA Division II tournament in 1998.
O'Hearn, a right fielder and pitcher from 1994-96, excelled in both capacities with the Cougars. He earned NCAA Division II All-America and Co-Player of the Year honors as a junior, batting .377 with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs and recording a 1.27 earned run average and NCAA-best 13 saves as the team's closer. O'Hearn bypassed his senior year after the Cincinnati Reds selected him in the 38th round of the major league draft. He finished his college career with 27 homers and 137 RBIs.
Fradette achieved success on a global scale, leading the Canadian national team in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and playing for its 1998 world championship team. Last year, at 34, Fradette earned a spot on the Canadian National Women's Baseball Team.
Her three-year career at CSU produced a lengthy list of individual records, including Peach Belt Conference standards for single season and career batting average (.543 in 1999 and .432 career). As a pitcher, Fradette went 57-12 with an .096 ERA, two no-hitters and a perfect game.