Gonzaga University Athletics

There was a common belief among those who played either with or against Mel Ingram, as well as those who recorded his exploits: Ingram was the finest all-around athlete to ever compete for Gonzaga University. Certainly, his awards here from 1924 to 1928 support that position. Ingram, from Aberdeen, Wash., lettered four times in football, four in track, four in baseball and “only” three times in basketball. A back injury his senior year deprived him of a fourth basketball letter. He was a breakaway back in football at barely 160 pounds, a star guard on the basketball court, a superior sprinter in track and a far-ranging outfielder in baseball, perhaps his best sport. Ingram played professional baseball briefly, but elected to coach, first at Wallace, Idaho, and eventually at Grants Pass, Ore., which he made a perennial high school power. Ingram was inducted into the Inland Empire Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.