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Mike Nesbitt

Recognized Among the Greats at the 2019

AZ Sports Hall of Fame Induction

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (November 1, 2019) – Already a Northern Arizona University Athletics legend, Mike Nesbitt officially took his place among the state's biggest sports names on Friday. Nesbitt was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, becoming the first Northern Arizona member of the Hall of Fame.

Joining Nesbitt in the 49th Hall of Fame class were five-time boxing champion Michael Carbajal, Arizona Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall, Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, former Phoenix Suns forward Tom Chambers and the late Dick Tomey, the former head football coach at the University of Arizona.

Nesbitt was selected into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, founded in 1957, via the public vote. In order to be a candidate for the Hall of Fame, an individual must have merited recognition and distinction in sports and brought fame and honor to the state through outstanding sporting accomplishments or contributions.

Nesbitt spent 36 years as NAU's head athletic trainer and was previously inducted into the NAU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992. He was named the Arizona Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Arizona Medical Association in 1982 and was recognized as a Distinguished Faculty Member by the NAU Alumni Association three years later.

He served as the president of the Arizona Athletic Trainers Association from 1977-83 and was a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association Board of Directors for the Rocky Mountain Region for nearly two decades. He was also the longtime Awards Chairman of the Arizona Medical Association (sports medicine section) and was the chairman of the Big Sky Conference's Sports Medicine Council from 1982-89.

Nesbitt remains a big part of the NAU Athletics Department as he is wrapping up his second season in which he's driven the Lumberjack football team's equipment truck to every road game.