University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

Mike Blair, older brother of Hall of Famer Tim Blair, had an outstanding four-year basketball career as a Blugold from 1983-87, then played one stellar season of football after his basketball eligibility was complete in the fall of 1987. Mike played in 109 career basketball games as a Blugold but enjoyed his best season as a senior when he started all 30 games and shared team MVP honors with Chuckie Graves. That year, the Blugolds won the WSUC championship and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, finishing with a 26-4 record. The 1986-87 season was the first for the three-point field goal and Mike once hit five straight treys in a game, a percentage record that still stands. He averaged 12.3 points a game from his guard position and also averaged 3.8 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game. During his four seasons with the Blugolds, the team compiled a 99-21 overall record. A three-year team captain, Mike was All-Conference, NAIA All-District 14 and NAIA All-American Honorable Mention his senior year. As a football player, he led the 1987 Blugolds in pass receiving with 42 catches for 778 yards and seven touchdowns. In a game against La Crosse, he had 184 receiving yards, one of the best single game totals in school history. Mike earned a degree in Communication Arts from UWEC in 1988 and his education degree in Speech and English in 1991. He earned his master’s in Athletic Administration in 2004 and at the time of his induction was the Dean of Athletics at Eau Claire Memorial High School following a seven-year term as the Athletic Director at Chippewa Falls High School. Mike’s career also included a year as the Blugold assistant men’s coach (1989-90), a year as the Blugold assistant women’s coach (1990-91) with Lisa Stone, a year as head boys’ golf coach at Wausau East High School (1992-93), four years as the head basketball coach at Durand High School (1993-97) and two years as a teacher at Chi-Hi (1997-99) when he also was an assistant boys’ basketball coach and head boys’ golf coach. A Certified Athletic Administrator, Blair is a member of the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association Scholarship Committee. He initiated “Project Redbird” which was a community service program for athletics at Chi-Hi and continued that program at Memorial as “Project Eagle.”