Conor Gillaspie is part of the 2016 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The class will be inducted at a banquet on Sat., Jan. 23.

Conor Gillaspie played for the Wichita State baseball team from 2006-08. He was a part of two Missouri Valley Conference championship teams, three NCAA Tournament teams and two Super Regional teams. He finished his career with a .362 batting average, 286 hits, 167 runs, 58 doubles, 15 triples, 24 home runs, 212 RBI and 33 stolen bases.
 
He feels blessed to be part of the 2016 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame class.
 
"It is a good, humbling feeling that you are being inducted with some of the greatest players that ever came out of Wichita State," Gillaspie said. "The list isn't that long and I feel very blessed that I'm in the same category as some of the greatest players who have ever played here."
 
Conor finished his career with All-America honors in 2008 and was a three-time first team all-Valley selection. He was named MVP of the 2008 NCAA Regional and MVP of the 2008 Valley Tournament. He still holds the school record for batting average in a Valley Tournament by hitting .692 in 2008. He hit two home runs in the championship game to lead the Shockers to the title.
 
"Every game at Eck Stadium was exciting," Gillaspie said. "There was a good probability that we were going on to play in Regionals. There were a lot of us that knew it would be our last year and we just wanted to keep playing and competing and try to go to the College World Series. The performance for me in that game was great, but getting to play with all those guys was an absolute blast for me every day I was there. Those are truly the things, as you get older, that you hang on to."
 
The memories that Gillaspie cherishes the most are the friendships and relationships that he made at Wichita State.
 
"The things I remember the most are the friendships and the relationships I made with people while I was at school," Gillaspie said. "A lot of the people I still talk to today and are coming out to support me at the Hall of Fame induction. For me, some of the best experiences I had were with teammates on road trips and even my whole freshman year at the dorms. I'm not talking just from a baseball performance standpoint, but the three years I was here for college were probably the most fun three years I've ever had. I will never let go of the relationships and friends I made when I was here."
 
Gillaspie was a part of two NCAA Super Regional teams and he says that those teams had remarkable chemistry, which helped lead them there.
 
"Looking back on it, I really wish we could have made it to the College World Series," Gillaspie said. "That was always every players dream who came here. What it comes down to, all those memories with teammates and the crowd that is pretty cool for an 18 or 19-year old kid to do. Everybody talks about chemistry on teams and those two years we had remarkable chemistry. We all meshed, we all got along. That's truly what makes a team great. The ability to mesh as one unit and to work together and play for each other, and for me that's what made those two teams so great and so much fun to be a part of."
 
He earned first team all-Valley honors all three years he was a Shocker, but during his junior season he earned All-America honors and hit an incredible .511 with runners in scoring position. He was notorious for his work ethic at Wichita State and gives credit to his parents for teaching him to work hard.
 
"I was lucky enough to have a family and parenting that instilled in me to work hard, to be respectful, to be on time, those things," Gillaspie said. "For me it was a perfect fit when I came here because those were the same things I was expected to do here, so it wasn't a big adjustment. I was fortunate enough to have that background of working hard and it is something I take pride in and I'll never stop doing no matter what I'm doing in life. The minute I showed up here it was evident to me that that was what was expected of me. That really appealed to me and helped bring me to this school. I grew up that way and I always took pride in that and I still do to this day. Working hard is something that not a lot of people do well anymore and it doesn't always guarantee that you are going to be successful, but it sure gives you a better opportunity to be."

"He was one of the hardest working guys," said former Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson. "He really worked hard on his defense. That's where he made the biggest improvement, while he was at Wichita State. He was one of the top-10 most consistent hitters we ever had and improved every year. He was not only an outstanding offensive performer, but also a very good clutch player and became someone you could count on defensively as well."
 
He was a first round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants in 2008 and made his Major League debut for the Giants on Sept. 9, 2008. In February of 2013, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox and played third base for them until the Los Angeles Angels purchased his contract in July of 2015.
 
"I've had a good career to this point, but for me working hard at whatever profession you have goes a long way," Gillaspie said. "The competition is hard and it is much more frustrating and stressful than the college game, but if you stick to the characteristics that you've tried to build your life around, I feel very well prepared from the qualities that were instilled in me while I was a student-athlete here."
 
Conor and his younger brother Casey, who played baseball at WSU from 2012-14, both praise their parents for the values that they instilled in them when they were young.
 
"My dad is one of the nicest, humble, kind human beings on the planet and every child is supposed to say that about their parents, but there are no words for how grateful I am for the way that he raised me and that has nothing to do with baseball," Gillaspie said. "Obviously I was blessed with the ability to play baseball, but at the end of the day my dad and my mom raised me the right way, they taught me to do the right things and to take responsibility when I screwed up. I'm forever grateful not just for their willingness to help me succeed at a sport, but for the way I was raised and for the way they treated me and taught me to treat other people. The older I get the more I see how great their parenting really was."
 
His future plans include playing baseball as long as he is able and then maybe pursuing a career in something else he is passionate about: the weather.
 
"Right now my responsibility as a father, a husband and a son is to take advantage of every opportunity I have right now," Gillaspie said. "For me right now that is playing ball. When my time is up and my career is over, I will find something else to do and I will work at it and be the best I can be at it. It's always good to have a plan, but my plan right now is to keep working hard and to try to make the most out of the time I have to play.
 
"Obviously weather has always been a passion of mine along with being in the outdoors. After I'm done playing baseball, there may be an opportunity for me to finish school and storm spot for a news station or something along those lines. It's something I've always really enjoyed, so when the time comes it's probably a route I will take."
 
Conor is currently living in Wichita with his wife Amanda and their 2-½ year old son Mason. He spends the offseason working out and training after becoming arbitration eligible this year.
 
"There are going to be opportunities for me," Gillaspie said. "At the end of the day, you go where you are provided an opportunity and where you have a chance to contribute at any level. I'm going to keep working hard and be ready for the next opportunity I get."
 
He appreciates the qualities of life that he learned while playing at Wichita State and that developed him into the person he is today.
 
"Of all the things I learned at Wichita State, the one thing I was taught that has always stuck with me was being on time and being an honest and trustworthy person," Gillaspie said. "The baseball at this school really speaks for itself. The rich history, the awesome players that have played here, the awesome coaches that have coached here. Those are all great things, but the qualities of life that I learned while I was here; those were the two things that really stuck with me. Always be on time and to pay attention to details and to be somebody that people could count on; not just in baseball, but also in life in general. Those are qualities that really stuck with me when I left here and those are things that I still really take pride in today. I'm not perfect, but I've really tried in every aspect of my life to carry those things over and that's what has made me into the man I am today."