Two-Time State Championship Basketball Coach to Lead De La Salle’s 2024 Athletic Hall of Fame Class

Concord, Calif., (August 20, 2024) - De La Salle High School today announced that Frank Allocco, its two-time CIF State Championship-winning basketball coach, will be inducted into De La Salle’s Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2024. Allocco is part of a distinguished group that includes five talented Spartan alumni, two former coaches, and two teams.

This year’s inductees are Richard “Scooter” Barry ’84 (basketball), Matt Biel ’04 (swimming), Damon Jenkins ’03 (football), Rudy Ramirez ’04 (wrestling), and Clayton Tanner ’06 (baseball), head coaches Frank Allocco (basketball) and Scott Hirsch ’82 (water polo/swimming), and the 2009 Wrestling Team and 2010 Football Team. Each honoree is recognized not only for their athletic achievements but also for their outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, as well as their contributions to the community.

“Our Hall of Fame class of 2024 is a shining example of athletic excellence,” said Leo Lopoz, Vice President for Athletics at De La Salle. “Each inductee has earned well-deserved titles, awards, and accolades for their respective sports over the years, and we are honored to have been part of their athletic journey. Now we have the privilege of memorializing and celebrating their hard work and career achievements, both inside and outside of De La Salle.”

The class of 2024 will be formally welcomed into the De La Salle Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 26, at 1 p.m., in the Hofmann Student Center. The event will be open to the public, and registration is available online through the De La Salle Athletic Hall of Fame web page.

About the Inductees:

Richard “Scooter” Barry ’84 (Basketball)

Richard “Scooter” Barry ’84 was a two-year varsity basketball player at De La Salle and was a captain during his senior season. He earned a first-team All-Catholic Athletic League selection by helping the Spartans post a 20-7 overall record during the 1983-84 season.

Following his time at De La Salle, Scooter played at Kansas University (1984-89). He averaged 15 minutes per game for a team that went to the NCAA Final Four in 1987 and was the Sixth Man on the 1988 Division 1 National Championship team. Scooter was named the Midwest Regional MVP after scoring 25 points in a win over a Kansas State squad that featured NBA Hall of Famer Mitch Richmond to advance to the Final Four. As a senior at Kansas, he was a starter for Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams.

In the fall of 1989, Scooter was the last cut of the Boston Celtics before spending two seasons in the NBA’s Developmental League. He played professionally for 17 years in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Australia. Recently, he ran the Barry Basic Training Basketball Camp for two summers at De La Salle and has returned to campus numerous times to participate in the annual basketball alumni game.
 

Matt Biel ’04 (Swimming)

Matt Biel ’04 was De La Salle’s first-ever individual North Coast Swimming championship winner. In 2004 he won the 200 and 500 Freestyle at the NCS Championships. It took 18 years for De La Salle’s swim team to produce another two-time NCS individual champion (Tom Roder ’22). Matt’s high school swimming resume also included being the team captain and top individual point scorer for De La Salle during the 2003 and 2004 NCS Swimming championship meet.

During his senior year at De La Salle, Matt represented the United States in international competition as a member of the US National Junior Team. Later that year, he was recognized as USA Swimming’s Male Pacific Swimmer of the Year. He still holds two school records in the 200 and 500 freestyle. Two months after his 2004 graduation, Matt became the first DLS swimmer to compete in the United States Olympic Trials, competing in the 2004 and 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Matt received an athletic scholarship from the University of Arizona where he was a four-year letter winner. In 2008, Matt was a member of the University of Arizona’s first-ever Division 1 National Championship swim team.

Matt has volunteered, coaching the San Francisco MLK Blue Dolphins, a team comprised of multiracial age group swimmers from the Bayview-Hunters Point District of San Francisco as part of USA Swimming’s Diversity Program.
 

Damon Jenkins ’03 (Football)

Damon Jenkins ’03 was a three-year starter at defensive back for the De La Salle football team from 2001-03, helping the Spartans to three consecutive undefeated seasons. In his senior year, Damon was rated as one of the best cornerbacks in the country and ranked as the 48th-best prospect in the West and 19th-best cornerback in the nation by Rivals.com.

A three-star recruit who committed to play at Fresno State, Damon was a two-time first-team all-BVAL selection, earned top-100 recognition by the Contra Costa Times, and was named an All-State Student by Sports Magazine. At Fresno State, Damon played for the Bulldogs from 2004-07 and, in his 2006 junior season, led the team with three interceptions. He returned one of those interceptions 56 yards for a touchdown against No. 14 Boise State.

Damon is currently in his third season as the head varsity football coach at Kerman High School in Kerman, Calif. Beyond the game of football, Damon serves as a mentor and role model, providing guidance, support, and encouragement to students as they navigate the challenges of adolescence and prepare for their future endeavors. Through his work as a teacher, he aims to impart not only academic knowledge but life lessons that will serve them well beyond the classroom. With dedication, enthusiasm, and a belief in the power of mentorship, he is committed to shaping the leaders of tomorrow and making a positive impact in the lives of my students.
 

Rudy Ramirez ’04 (Wrestling)

Rudy Ramirez ’04 was a four-time varsity letter winner in wrestling at De La Salle and was the individual Bay Valley Athletic League individual champion all four years. Rudy had four top-5 finishes at the North Coast Section Championships, including individual championships in 2003 (112-pounds) and 2004 (119-pounds). Rudy qualified for the CIF Boys Wrestling Championships three times (2002-04). In 2004 as a senior, he finished the year with a fifth place finish at the CIF State meet. He would go on to compete in wrestling at the collegiate level at Fresno State, where he was a member of the wrestling team for the 2004-05 season.

After the Fresno State wrestling program was discontinued following his freshman season, Rudy returned to De La Salle as an assistant coach from 2007-11.
 

Clayton Tanner ’06 (Baseball)

Clayton Tanner ’06 was a two-year starting pitcher for the Spartans in 2005 and 2006, receiving first-team all-league honors in both years. During those two seasons, he posted a 15-5 overall record with a 1.35 earned run average and 167 strikeouts in 124.1 innings pitched. As a senior, Clayton had a 1.39 ERA and a 10-2 record with 106 strikeouts in 65.2 innings pitched, and as a junior, he was 5-3 with a 1.31 ERA and 61 strikeouts.

Following his senior season, he was a First-Team All-BVAL selection, a First-team All-State honoree by Cal-High Sports, a third-team All-American by Baseball America, and ranked as the 99th best prospect nationally by Perfect Game. He turned down a scholarship to pitch collegiately at Pepperdine after the San Francisco Giants selected him in the third round of the 2006 MLB Draft. Born in Mona Vale, New South Wales, Australia, Clayton played for Australia in the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

After his playing days, Clayton began coaching youth players in the Bay Area. Currently, he is the pitching coach for the De La Salle varsity baseball team, which he’s now in his sixth season with the Spartans, and also coaches the DV Oaks developmental baseball program.
 

Frank Allocco (Basketball Coach 1997-2015)

Frank Allocco spent 18 years as De La Salle’s Head Varsity Basketball Coach. During that time, he led the Spartans to 17 league titles, nine North Coast Section titles, three NorCal Championships, and two State Championships. Frank guided De La Salle to a 487-71 overall record while posting a 229-7 record against league competition. Combined with his 167 coaching victories at Northgate High School (1991-97), he was the 27th coach in state history to win 600 games (654-99) – reaching that milestone faster than any coach in the history of California interscholastic basketball competition. Frank ended his 24-year high school coaching career with an 87 percent winning percentage, which was second all-time in California, and he is the only coach in California high school basketball history to win a State Championship at two different schools.

In addition, under Frank’s tutelage, over 60 players moved on to play basketball in college.

In 1981, Frank founded the popular Excel in Basketball summer camp, which serves as a teaching camp for basketball skills and provides a motivational base for thousands of youngsters in California and New Jersey. Impacting thousands of lives, Frank has also provided keynote speeches for businesses, leadership conferences, youth groups, schools, clinics, church groups, and more. Frank currently serves as the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Relations at the University of San Francisco.
 

Scott Hirsch ’82 (Water Polo Coach (1993-2013)/Assistant Swimming Coach 2022-24)

Scott Hirsch ’82 was named the head coach of De La Salle water polo in 1993, and over his first six years leading the program, the Spartans won four league championships. He guided the Spartans to three straight North Coast Section championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002, before capturing another section title in 2004.

In 2006, Scott was selected as the NCS Honors Coach for boys water polo. In his 21 seasons as the head coach at De La Salle, he guided the Spartans to 13 league titles and four NCS Championships. In addition to his time on the pool deck coaching water polo, he also served as an assistant coach for the De La Salle swimming team (2022-24), while serving as the head coach of the Carondelet swimming program in 1986 and again from 1990-99. As the head swimming coach at Carondelet, he guided the Cougars to an NCS Championship in 1998 and was named the NCS Honors Coach for girls swimming in 1999, and also coached Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin.

A 1982 graduate of De La Salle, Scott earned his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from UC Santa Barbara in 1986. He returned to his high school alma mater in the fall of 1989, where he has been teaching Algebra, Calculus, Geometry, and Trigonometry to De La Salle students for the past 35 years. He also spent time as a varsity water polo assistant coach from 2017-19 and a junior varsity water polo assistant coach from 1989-92 and again from 2014-16.
 

2009 Wrestling

During the 2008-09 De La Salle wrestling season, the Spartans posted a 10-0 meet record, which included North Coast Section Duals, East Bay Athletic League, and the NCS Team championships. The 2009 team won the school’s first NCS Championship, sparking the Spartans to win 14 of the last 15 NCS Team Championships. NCS Individual champions were: Vinny Moita (103), Tyler Sheridan (152), and Luke Sheridan (160); while Nick Jansen (171) finished second, Justin Walker (189) and Jordan Felix (215) finished fifth, Alex Abono (125) finished sixth, and Curtis Seigfried (135) finished eighth. Moita, Jansen, and the Sheridan brothers advanced to the state meet, collecting enough points for De La Salle to finish 17th overall. Moita’s third-place finish at 103 highlighted the state finish, while Tyler Sheridan had a seventh-place finish at 152. At the time, the third-place finish by Moita marked the best individual state finish for any De La Salle wrestler in school history and currently ranks tied for the fifth-best finish.
 

2010 Football

The 2010 De La Salle Football team stands as one of the all-time best the school has seen. This team posted a 14-0 record and finished as the No. 1 team in the country by MaxPreps. The Spartans outscored their opponents 656 to 139, winning by an average margin of victory of 46.8 to 9.9 per game. The squad defeated Serra, Saint Mary’s of Stockton, Bishop Gorman, and Servite, which was ranked #1 in the country that season. The 48-8 victory over Servite came in the state championship game, to complete the Spartans’ perfect season, marking back-to-back state titles for De La Salle. The Spartans racked up 527 total yards (475 on the ground) while holding the Friars to 197 total yards. Lucas Dunne did the majority of the damage, rushing for 240 yards in 28 carries and scoring four touchdowns. The team included 16 players who went on to play football in college, including NFL players Austin Hooper and Dylan Wynn. Five others went on to play college rugby and another moved on to track and field in college.

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