News
July 21, 2015Fred Shear and Kristrin Bernert Join MAAC Hall of Fame Honor Roll
Siena Basketball greats Fred Shear ‘73 and Kristin Bernert ’96 have been named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Hall of Fame Honor Roll Class of 2015-16. The duo will be enshrined in “The MAAC Experience” exhibit at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Oct. 17 in Springfield, Mass.
One of just four players in Siena Basketball history to have his number retired, Shear holds the program’s all-time highest career scoring average (20.3) while ranking fourth in rebounds per game (9.5). He was the first two-time All-American in Siena history, earning Associated Press Honorable Mention honors in both 1972 and 1973.
Despite playing just three varsity seasons due to the NCAA freshman rule at the time, Shear still ranks 13th all-time in program history in scoring (1,400) and 15th in rebounding (658). He is the only player in program history to have averaged at least 19.5 points per game in three consecutive seasons and was the first person to be inducted into the Siena Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility (1978).
The captain of legendary head coach Bill Kirsch’s first Siena team, Shear reached the 1,000 point mark in fewer games (52) than any player in program history and held Siena’s career scoring record for 14 years (1973-87) prior to the induction of the three-point line.
Shear has his No. 50 retired and hung from the Times Union Center rafters on Dec. 29, 2012. The local product is also an inductee to the Waterford-Halfmoon High School Athletic Hall of Fame and Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bernert ranks tied for eighth in Siena Women’s Basketball history with 351 career assists. A native of Stow, Ohio, she appeared in 106 games making 59 starts at the point for the Saints from 1992-96.
As a sophomore during the 1993-94 season, Bernert started 21 games at point guard and ranked second on the squad in both assists (100) and three-point field percentage (.371) in leading the Saints to a 24-4 record which included a 13-1 mark in the MAAC and the program’s first conference regular season championship.
Bernert excelled in the classroom as well where she was a multiple time MAAC All-Academic Team selection and was named to the GTE/CoSIDA District II Academic All-America First Team following her senior season. She graduated with her B.A. in Psychology from Siena College in 1996 and earned her M.A. in Sports Management from The Ohio State University in 1998.
Bernert has enjoyed a highly successful professional career working for the WNBA. For the past four years she has served as the Senior Vice President of Business Operations for the New York Liberty. From 2008-10 she was the President of the Los Angeles Sparks and from 2002-05 was the Vice President of Business Operations for the Detroit Shock.
Bernert also worked for the NBA for three years, serving as the league’s Vice President for Team Business Development. She began her professional career working for the Cleveland Indians and in the athletic departments at Ohio State and Bowling Green.
This season marks the fifth year that the MAAC Hall of Fame Honor Roll has been in existence. Every year, each MAAC member institution honors one male and one female from its basketball family as part of the induction class.
A dinner event will be on Saturday, October 17, at the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Court of Dreams to recognize the Honor Roll inductees. Each honoree will also be profiled in the game program for the 2016 MAAC Basketball Championships, and will also be featured in a video display at “The MAAC Experience.”
Siena’s previous MAAC Hall of Fame Honor Roll honorees are Dinny Cahill ’75 and Liz Lops 94 (2011-12), Bruce Schroeder ’92 and Val (Higgins) O’Dell ’92 (2012-13), Billy Harrell ’52 and Lisa (Serafino) Ruggiero `94 (2013-14), and Doug Poetzsch ’85 and Lily Grenci ‘13 (2014-15).
