HONOLULU - Two former football players and a former head football coach are the latest inductees to the 2007 University of Hawai`i Sports Circle of Honor presented by Bank of Hawaii.

Charlie Bessette, Ma`a Tanuvasa, and Bob Wagner will be officially announced as the UH Sports Circle of Honor inductees at a media luncheon Friday hosted by Bank of Hawaii.

This is the 26th group to be enshrined, a tradition started in 1982 when the bank and UH partnered to recognize individuals and teams that have contributed to the growth, history and tradition of UH sports.

The three will be introduced at halftime of the UH vs. Utah State men's basketball game Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. They will also be honored at a reception prior to the game, hosted by Bank of Hawaii.

The total number of inductees in the Circle of Honor is 82, including this year's honorees. Eight teams have also been enshrined. Plaques honoring the individuals and teams are anchored on the inner walls surrounding the main concourse of the Stan Sheriff Center.

Brief biographies of the 2007 UH inductees are listed below:

Charlie Bessette, a four-sport athlete at McKinley High School, was on track to attend UH but World War II delayed his prominent collegiate career. He spent three and a half years serving in the Army, with stints in Belgium, France, and Germany. He later earned a Purple Heart.

At UH, Bessette lettered in football, basketball and baseball, but it was on the gridiron where he made a name for himself. He was considered a triple threat, who could pass, run, and punt. During the 1948 Pineapple Bowl against the University of Redlands, he scored three touchdowns including the go-ahead score giving the Rainbows a 33-32 come-from-behind victory.

Following his collegiate career, Bessette spent time as the public relations director for the Hawaii Islanders minor league baseball team, was the manager at Honolulu Stadium, and served both the events manager and general manager at Aloha Stadium before his retirement in 1988. He is also an active supporter of the Hawaii Union Building Foundation.

Ma`a Tanuvasa was born in American Samoa but was raised in Mililani where he starred for Mililani High School. He lettered in both football and track for the Trojans before beginning a standout career at UH.

With the Rainbows, Tanuvasa was a key member of the defense which helped UH to a Western Athletic Conference championship in 1992 and earned a trip to the Holiday Bowl, the school's first mainland bowl appearance. During his senior year, he earned all-WAC honors and was selected to the Hula Bowl.

Picked in the eighth round by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1993 NFL Draft, he later starred for the Denver Broncos and was a member of consecutive Super Bowl championship teams.

Bob Wagner spent 10 years as defensive assistant at UH before being named the program's 19th head coach in 1987. For the next nine years, he was a part of many of the program's most memorable moments.

Wagner led UH to the program's first two NCAA-sanctioned bowl games, the 1989 Aloha Bowl and 1992 Holiday Bowl. His 1992 team was the first to win a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship and with it a berth in the Holiday Bowl, where they defeated Illinois 27-17. He also coached the Rainbows to consecutive blowouts of arch-rival BYU in 1988 and '89.

The two-time WAC coach of the year finished his career with 58 career wins, including an impressive 7-3 record vs. Big 10 and Pac 10 opponents. Wagner also served as coach of the Hula Bowl and Japan Bowl teams.

He is currently the athletics director for Kamehameha Schools-Hawai`i.

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