Utah Valley University athletes have always been elite athletes that can compete with the nation’s best at any moment. Matt Gay, Ronnie Price, Noelle Pikus-Pace, and Wesley Silcox are all household names when talking about Utah Valley University athletics.
Matt Gay is a Pro Bowl placekicker for the Los Angeles Rams who contributed mightily to the Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl win. Before kicking in the NFL Gay was a goal-scoring forward for the Wolverines men’s soccer team. Gay’s best season as a Wolverine came in 2014 as Gay scored 7 goals and assisted 4 more.
“My life has unfolded in ways that I never could’ve imagined. To be back where my soccer dreams were so close, but to be back for a completely different sport, it’s a blast. It makes you think, wow, how did I get from here to there?” said Gay in an interview reflecting on his time at UVU just before Super Bowl LVI. After his time as a Wolverine, Gay transferred to the Univeristy of Utah to persue football.
Ronnie Price was a guard for the men’s basketball team for the 2002-05 seasons, and currently holds the UVU record for career scoring (22.2) and is second on UVU’s all-time scoring list with 1,245 points.
Price was also voted to the NCAA All-Independent Team in 2004 and 2005 and was named NCAA Division I Independent Player of the Year in 2005. After his time at UVU Price went undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft but was signed by the Sacramento Kings making him the first Wolverine to go straight to the NBA. After 12 successful seasons in the NBA Price returned to UVU to join the men’s basketball coaching staff, where he is currently coaching. Price was introduced in the UVU Hall of Fame in 2010.
Noelle Pikus-Pace was a track star during her time at UVU. Pikus-Pace was a first-team All-American in 2003, the year she won the national championship in discus. Along with being a track star, Pikus-Pace was a world class athlete at skeleton sledding. Pikus-Pace won the silver medal for the United States in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi.
Along with an olympic medal, Pikus-Pace won the gold medal in skeleton at the 2007 and 2013 World championships. Pikus-Pace was introduced to the UVU hall of fame in 2012, and now raises her family locally.
Wesley Silcox was a pioneer for UVU rodeo. Silcox has had a successful bull riding career. Silcox’s career is headlines with his wins in the 2007 Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association World Champion and 2010 PRCA Xtreme Bulls Tour. Silcox’s latest win came in 2017 where he won Montana’s Biggest Weekend and the Evanston Cowboy Days Inc.
Many more professional athletes have made their rounds through UVU and many more will make their way through. To support UVU’s current athletic programs visit gouvu.com.
