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Every Thursday, FullertonTitans.com will feature a member of the 2015 Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame class, the sixth in its history. Today, the focus is on Neale Stoner. Athletics Director at Cal State Fullerton from 1972-79, Stoner oversaw the department’s transition to Division I and hired Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame coaches Augie Garrido, Bobby Dye, Nancy Dunkle and Lynn Rogers.

Stoner oversaw the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Department from August 1972-Septemper 1979, and during that seven-year span, the Titans transitioned from the College Division (Division II) to Division I while continuing to develop championship programs.

During his time at Fullerton, Stoner hired the legendary Augie Garrido, and the baseball program quickly became successful winning six consecutive conference championships from 1974-79, making two College World Series appearances, its first in 1975 – the Titans first year at the Division I level – and the second in 1979 when the squad captured the baseball program’s first of four national titles. Fullerton has now made 37 appearances in the NCAA Tournament at the Division I level.

In addition, Stoner hired men’s basketball coach Bobby Dye, who led the Titans to their first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance during the 1977-78 season. Dye manufactured six consecutive winning seasons from 1973-79 -- a mark that remains the best in school history, and he led Cal State Fullerton to a tie atop the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA, later known as the Big West Conference) standings in 1976 -- the school’s first conference title in men’s basketball in only the program’s second year in the league and at the Division I level. However, the most memorable moment from Dye’s era was the Titans’ remarkable run through the NCAA Tournament in 1978, leading an unheralded “Cal State Who” squad into the finals of the NCAA West Regional in Albuquerque, N.M.

The men’s soccer team advanced to four straight (1972-75) NCAA Tournaments (3 College Division, 1 Division I), including finishing as the runner-up in the title game in 1973.

Gymnastics brought Fullerton considerable fame. Former men's Coach Dick Wolfe won his third College Division NCAA title in 1974, while Lynn Rogers began the women's program in 1976, clinching the national title in 1979.

Additional accolades included the men’s cross country team placing third at the 1972 NCAA Championships in the College Division while the women’s fencing team won a national title in 1974. In addition, the men’s water polo squad finished third at the NCAA championships in 1974 after winning the PCAA title.

A 1962 graduate Orange County State College (Cal State Fullerton), Stoner went on to receive his master’s in education from Cal Poly in 1975.

Stoner played two years (1961 & 1962) on both the men's basketball and tennis teams at Cal State Fullerton. During the 1961 campaign, he averaged 13.9 points per game and scored 418 points total for the season and shot 84% from the free throw line.

He took his first full-time position in athletics as assistant athletics director and head basketball coach at UC San Diego. He went on to coach basketball at Cal Poly from 1969-72 before returning to his alma mater as athletics director.

Stoner left Cal State Fullerton in the fall of 1979 and accepted a position as athletics director at the University of Illinois until 1988.

Later in his career, Stoner played a major role in the re-birth of both the San Diego State men's and women' golf programs in 1993 by securing funding sponsorship from the Aldila and Callaway corporations.

While serving as SDSU's men's golf coach through the 2000 season, Stoner led a dramatic resurgence in the once-dormant program. In 1999, he was rewarded for his hard work as the Aztecs advanced to their first NCAA Championship since 1984.

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