The Varsity “I” Association is excited to recognize its 2015 honorees tonight and tomorrow during Homecoming weekend. The honorees are:
Achievement Award: David Clapp (Baseball ’82)
Merit Award: Jim Wright (Basketball/Track & Field ’54)
Honorary “I” Inductees: Tom Bryan, John & Trixy Corley, Richard “Itch” Jones, and John Stevenson
In line with tradition, the Varsity “I” Association will present its Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a past letterwinner for post-graduate accomplishments to David Clapp.
Clapp is a 1982 graduate of the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. He was also a member of the baseball team, earning a letter in 1979. Clapp had an accomplished Illini career, but his success extended well beyond his tenure as an Illini student-athlete. He has 30 years experience in the aerosol industry, with 28 of those years in food. He helped start Clapp Industries and was appointed controller of the corporation. Clapp was later promoted to Chief Financial Officer of Creative Products, LLC with duties of handling all financial aspects of the company. In addition, he served as Director of Sales and Marketing and Director of Logistics. David stayed on as a Divisional Controller of International Home Foods from October 1997 to July 1999 before leaving to start Full-Fill Industries, LLC, where he currently serves as President.
Clapp and his wife, Lisa, reside in Danville, Illinois, and have four children – Marissa, Brian, Kevin, and Kelsie. Their eldest daughter, Marissa, was also a Fighting Illini student-athlete (Swimming & Diving ’09). David and Lisa are heavily involved in the Danville community and in their local church, and David serves as president of the Bismarck-Henning School Board. In addition to supporting many Illini sports teams, they have purchased premium seating in State Farm Center and are long-time football premium seating season ticket holders. Clapp and his family have also been major financial supporters of Fighting Illini student-athletes through a scholarship endowment and through financial assistance to both the State Farm Center and Memorial Stadium projects.
Varsity “I” also will present the Merit Award to Jim Wright for his loyalty and service to Fighting Illini athletics as a former letterwinner who also served as a staff member for the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. Wright graduated from the University of Illinois in 1954 with a degree in Economics. He earned letters in basketball and track and field while at Illinois. On the basketball court, he was a member of the 1952 Big Ten Champion and Final Four team, playing alongside Illini legend Johnny “Red” Kerr. During his years as a member of the track and field team, Wright was a two-time Big Ten champion pole vaulter and helped lead the Illini to four Big Ten team titles, including back-to-back NCAA runner-up finishes. He went on to earn a master’s degree in education in 1960.
Following his tenure as an Illini student-athlete, Wright continued to stay heavily involved in Illinois athletics. He touched the lives of countless members of the men’s basketball program serving as an assistant coach and head freshman coach from 1958-1972. He assisted head coach Harry Combes until 1967 when Harv Schmidt began his tenure and retained Wright on the staff as an assistant. Since then he has continued to impact Illini student-athletes– both past and present – by serving in a volunteer capacity as a Varsity “I” Class Contact and member of the Varsity “I” Awards Committee.
A native of Lawrenceville, Illinois, Wright currently lives in Urbana with his wife Barbara. They are active members of the community and have been long-time football and men’s basketball season ticketholders while supporting Illini student-athletes through the I FUND.
Along with the Achievement and Merit Awards, the Varsity “I” Association also inducts honorary members for their long-standing loyalty, service and contributions to Illinois athletics. The 2015 Honorary “I” recipients are Tom Bryan of Champaign, Illinois; John & Trixy Corley of Monticello, Illinois; Coach Richard “Itch” Jones of Champaign, Illinois andJohn Stevenson of Champaign, Illinois. Bryan is President of the Bank of Rantoul and has been instrumental in his support of various athletic initiatives including the Memorial Stadium Renaissance, State Farm Center renovation and the I FUND. John Corley is the President of First State Bank in Monticello. He and Trixy have also been instrumental in their support of the Memorial Stadium Renaissance, State Farm Center renovation and the I FUND. Itch Jones is a Hall of Fame baseball coach who impacted the lives of countless Illini student-athletes for the Fighting Illini from 1991-2005. John Stevenson is a Danville native and Champaign resident who has been a volunteer and financial supporter of Illinois Athletics for over 50 years.
Swimming news courtesy of Illinois Swimming & Diving.