FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- The Fairmont State University Department of Athletics and the Fairmont State Athletic Association announced the 2024 Fairmont State Athletics Hall of Fame Class on Friday (Aug. 2).

The Class of 2024 includes Perry Baker (Football), Matt Bingaya (Men's Basketball), Tara Black (Softball), Joe Lambiotte (Coach/SID), Bruce Schaefer (Swimming), Brad Butcher (Emeritus, Men's Basketball), Duane Cochran (Meritorious Service) and Bill Smarr (Letter Winner of Distinction, Football).

The Fairmont State Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Friday, October 4 in the Falcon Center Gym 1. The social hour begins at 5 p.m. with the dinner and induction ceremony to follow at 6 p.m. Tickets and table sponsorship can be purchased by visiting the Fairmont State Foundation's website.

"We are excited to welcome the newest members to the Fairmont State Hall of Fame," said Fairmont State Director of Athletics Greg Bamberger. "This group's achievements from the playing surface to off it and post-graduation serve as an inspiration to us all that success is attainable through perseverance and passion. We are excited to celebrate each inductee's remarkable journey and the legacy they have built within Fairmont State Athletics."

The Fairmont State Athletic Association is a group designed to unite alumni, letter winners, friends, fans and corporate sponsors to help support the competitive success of Fairmont State Athletics.
 
Perry Baker (Football, 2006-11)
Perry Baker finished his career at Fairmont State totaling over 1,500 receiving yards with 19 touchdowns. Additionally, he garnered 367 rushing yards and three more touchdowns. He earned First Team All-WVIAC and Second Team All-Region.

Post-graduation, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011 before playing with the Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League in 2012-13. In 2014, Baker decided to play professional rugby in the World Rugby Seven Series and has been a member of the United States Men's Sevens team. Part of the national team, he has competed in three Olympics: Rio (2016), Tokyo (2021) and Paris (2024).

Matt Bingaya (Men's Basketball, 2013-17)
Matt Bingaya ended his time at Fairmont State as a member of the 1,000-point club with 1,229 total points. For his career, he ranks fifth in field-goal percentage with 58.9-percent (465-789). In 2016 and 2017, he was named First Team All-MEC.

Bingaya was voted a consensus first team All-American after leading the Falcons to the NCAA National Championship Game in 2017. Bingaya earned first team All-American honors from D2CCA, NABC, Basketball Times and the D2 Bulletin. Along with being a consensus first team All-American, Matt was also voted the Mountain East Conference player of the year, D2CCA Atlantic Region Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Bevo Francis National Player of the Year award.

Tara Black (Campbell) (Softball, 2003-06)
Tara Black was a standout for the Fairmont State softball team. Following her career, Black ranked fifth in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage and second in doubles, hits and runs scored. Earned First Team All-WVIAC and Academic All-District honors while being named the Colebank Award recipient in 2006.

During her senior season, Black batted .404 with nine home runs, 46 RBI, 61 hits, 37 runs and 15 doubles. In her career, she played 171 games as a second baseman and catcher and totaled 14 home runs, 115 runs, 46 doubles and slugging percentage of .532

Black was also named WVIAC All-Tournament Team and two-time Second Team All-WVIAC. She was also a three-time WVIAC Scholar-Athlete as she graduated with a 3.7 GPA as an education major.

Joe Lambiotte (Coach, SID)
Joe Lambiotte served as the sports information director from 1980-85. During his time, Joe was a three-time WVIAC Football SID of the Year and two-time WVIAC Basketball SID of the Year. His basketball media guides finished second, sixth and ninth in the NAIA while his football media guides finished sixth, third and eighth.

While serving as the sports information director, he also coached the women's basketball team from 1980-84 where he complied an 87-43 record. The team won its first-ever title in 1984 when he was named WVIAC Coach of the Year. Over that span, the team had two 20-win seasons with also the first All-American in women's basketball history (Vicki Huffman).

In 1985, he took over the men's basketball program through 1989 with an overall record of 61-52. In the 1987-88 season, the team went 20-9 and coached First Team All-WVIAC honorees Elvin Addison and Brian Tristani.

Bruce Schaefer (Men's Swimming, 1972-76)
Bruce Schaefer was one of the pioneers for Fairmont State swimming as he was the first NAIA qualifier in school history. Over his time, Schaefer was a four-time NAIA National qualifier and was a holder of various records at Fairmont State.

Following the 1972-73 season, Schaefer was named the Most Valuable Swimmer and in 1975 he won four WVIAC Championships (50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Breaststroke and 800 Free). After graduation, he went on to a successful coaching career and as a head coach he coached an Olympic trial finalist and several other qualifying trial swimmers.

Schaefer also coached two Junior National Champions and several Senior National qualifiers including a finalist. As an assistant coach, he worked for Solotar Swim in the Washington D.C. area which has produced an Olympic Gold Medalist and a world record holder.

Brad Butcher (Emeritus, Men's Basketball, 1971-74)
Brad Butcher finished his time at Fairmont State as a member of the 1,000-point club with 1,068 total points. He also ranks fifth in career free throw percentage with .815 and holds the sixth-highest single-season free throw percentage with .848 in 1973.

He was a member of the 1974 WVIAC All-Tournament Team and helped lead the Falcons to four-straight regular season titles including a pair of WVIAC Tournament titles.

Duane Cochran (Meritorious Service, Class of 1986)
Duane Cochran has served Fairmont State University Athletics in various capacities for the past 39 years. As a senior in 1985 he was named a student assistant in the sports information office and the following year was hired as the assistant sports information director a position he held for two years.

In 1986, he was hired as a sportswriter for the Times West Virginian covering high school sports and the following year became the beat writer for Fairmont State University Athletics – a position he held for 33 years. During much of that time, Cochran served as a volunteer statistician for FSU football.

In 2008 and 2009 he served as the color analyst on FSU football radio broadcasts alongside Joe Sengewalt and in 2010 joined the athletic department again for a 10-year stint as a feature writer for the school's athletic website FightingFalcons.com. In 2015, Cochran returned to the radio booth as the football color analyst with Travis Jones and in the fall of 2019 also joined Jones as a color commentator for men's basketball. He continues to serve in both of those capacities as well as doing the FSU men's basketball and football radio shows with Jones.

Cochran also has served for the past eight years as the music coordinator for Fairmont State's Acrobatics and Tumbling Team. In addition, he did the music for four Mountain East Conference A&T Championships and the 2024 NCATA National Championship which was hosted by Fairmont State University this past spring.

Bill Smarr (Letter Winner of Distinction, Football, 1992-95)
Bill Smarr was a letter winner every year as a member of the Fairmont State football team. During his senior season, he led the team in tackles with 96. Overall, he ranks third all-time with 16 interceptions.

After graduating with a degree in Biology with a minor in Criminal Justice, Smarr began to work as a police officer in Morgantown before becoming a Special Agent in both the Pittsburgh and Houston Offices. In 2004, he joined the Presidential Protective Division and served in that position for four years. Later in 2011, he was the Supervisory Criminal Investigator for Armored Transportation and coordinated global transportation preparation, operations and actions for the President and First Family.

In 2013, Smarr continued to work with the United States Secret Service as a Resident Agent in Charge in the Charleston, West Virginia area before moving to the Houston Field Office as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge. While in Houston, he also served as the Deputy Special Agent in Charge before becoming the Special Agent in Charge and Senior Executive Service in the Dallas District.

In addition to the newest class, Fairmont State will recognize the golden jubilee of the conference championships of the 1973 and 1974 football teams, the 1973-74 men's and women's basketball team and the 1973-74 wrestling team. As part of the recognition at the Hall of Fame dinner, the teams will also be recognized at the Fairmont State football game against West Virginia State on Saturday, October 5.