Hall of Fame
Bill Backensto lettered in basketball in 1965-67 and captained the 1966-67 team to the best record ever achieved by a Mid-American Conference team (23-2) at the time, to UT's second ever MAC basketball title, and to the NCAA tournament after considerable national publicity when the team began the season with 14 consecutive wins. He was second-team All-MAC in both 1965 and 1967. Backensto is a member of the 1,000 point club with 1,104 points over his three years at UT. He is currently ranked tenth in points per game in MAC play (16.2). He also was the annual leader in the 1964-65 season in points per game (18.3).
Bill Backensto also lettered in baseball in 1964-67 and captained the team during his senior season. He currently ranks second in strikeouts (100), third in innings pitched (102.1), tied for third in earned run average (1.93), tied for fourth in games started (15), and tied for eighth in wins (8) in the UT history books for his 1967 season. Backensto was also apart of a combined no-hitter vs. Wayne State on April 18, 1967. Over his career, Backensto ranks seventh in earned run average (2.82), tied for seventh in strikeouts (201), eighth in fewest hits per inning (.842), and ninth in strikeouts per inning (.90). He still holds annual records for strikeouts (40) in 1965, victories (5) and strikeouts (61) in 1966 and victories (8), earned run average (1.93), and strikeouts (100) in 1967. He had a career ERA of 2.82 and walked only 0.39 batters per inning in his career.
Backensto was name Academic All-MAC in 1965-67. He graduated summa cum laude from the College of Engineering with a major in engineering physics. He went on to earn his master's and Ph. D. degrees in physics.
