It is often a dream athletes have that largely goes unfulfilled. But for a select few, on Saturday night that dream was realized.
The Clovis West High School Golden Eagles welcomed four new members into its Hall of Fame at the program’s annual Hall of Fame Blitz Dinner and induction ceremony at the Clovis Veteran’s Memorial District.
Inducted were players from three different eras of Golden Eagles football, including Vince Wesson from the 1980s, Brad Bell from the 1990s and Kendall Brock from the 2000s.
Also inducted were the 2010 California Interscholastic Federation Central Section champion Golden West Eagles.
Bell, a defensive linemen, reflected on what it meant to be inducted.
“That’s just a league of elite athletes,” Bell said. “That is not a stage that I ever felt I would find myself on.”
Bell played football and wrestled at Clovis West from 1987-1990. That football season he was recognized as an All-Valley player and team MVP. He also finished second in the state wrestling tournament with a record of 53-1 throughout the season.
He was also honored as the Clovis West Bnai Brith candidate.
Bell went on to become a scholarship football player at Fresno State, where he played linebacker, reporting to camp on his 18th birthday. Despite being outweighed by as much as 50 pounds by larger offensive tackles, Bell transitioned to defensive line after learning the entire defense.
As a junior, Bell started in the Bulldog’s victory in the 1992 Freedom Bowl vs USC and led the team in tackles that same season. As a senior, Brad was named First Team All-PCAA and was the Bulldog’s co-MVP with former Bulldog and NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer.
Bell graduated from Fresno State and received an opportunity to coach varsity at Buchanan High School. Two weeks into spring ball, Brad got a calling for pastoral ministry.
He received his master’s degree at the Dallas Theological Seminary and is the founding and lead pastor of The Well Community Church, a multi-site Christian movement he started in 2002 to make a difference in the community.
Another Golden Eagle great, Kendall Brock, was extremely grateful for the honor of induction.
“It’s kind of cheesy, but I remember growing up as a kid and I said ‘man, I want to be like the greats at Clovis West’…when they called me, I couldn’t turn it down,” Brock said.
Brock’s career at Clovis West was filled with accomplishments, both personal and team-wise.
Brock played at Clovis West from 2007-2010, when he was part of the 2008 and 2010 Tri-River Athletic Conference and Central Section championship teams.
In 2008, Kendall was named first team All-Conference as a running back. In 2009, he was named TRAC player of the year and first team All-Valley. As a senior in 2010, Kendall was honored as the TRAC player of the year, Valley player of the year, first team All-State and third team All-American. He holds 12 school rushing records for games, seasons and career, capped off by the longest kickoff return in school history of 99 yards.
After high school, Kendall received a full athletic scholarship to play running back at the University of Nevada, Reno where he played as a true freshman under College Football Hall of Fame head coach Chris Ault. During his time at Nevada, Kendall appeared in 42 games and rushed for 917 yards and ten touchdowns. He also had 36 receptions for 294 yards and 3 touchdowns and set the Nevada career kickoff return record with 70 returns for 1,503 yards.
After his college career in 2015, Kendall began coaching wide receivers at Spanish Springs High School, then Willamette University in 2016 and 2017, and in 2018 moved on to Ventura College where he currently coaches running backs and is the run game coordinator.
In 2018, Ventura college finished as the number one team in southern California community colleges, the number two team in California and the number five team in the nation.
Vince Wesson played football, basketball and baseball at Clovis West from 1978 to 1982. During his senior season, he was named Clovis Kiwanis Defensive Player of the Game after intercepting two passes in helping the Eagles to their first ever win over Clovis High.
That same year, he was honored as a first team all-league defensive back in football and was named first team all-metro in all football, basketball and baseball. After graduation, Vince was selected to play in the City-County all-star games in all three sports as well.
In 1982, Vince went on to become a scholarship football player at Fresno State where he played wide receiver. During his Bulldogs career, Vince caught game-winning touchdowns against Oregon, Bowling Green and Arizona.
Wesson was also a part of two PCAA championship teams in 1982 and 1985. In 1984 he was named PCAA player of the week after catching the game-winning touchdown versus Arizona and the same year became the only player in Fresno State history to throw for two touchdowns and catch two touchdowns in a game versus Utah State.
Since his playing days, Vince has been heavily involved with local sports media. He has served as a KMJ radio analyst for Fresno State football games and wrote a sports column for the Clovis Independent newspaper.
Vince currently does color commentary on KFRE Channel 59 Friday Night Lights and writes an annual report of the top high school football players in the Central Section.
Along with the induction ceremonies, Clovis West held a silent and live auction, respectively, where the program raised $6,350 in total on five auction items, including VIP graduation seats, an Eagle for a Week experience for any 3rd-7th grader, a beach resort vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, two special seats at a Clovis West game and two tickets for the Ohio State at Nebraska college football game this season in the second row at the 50 yard line.