Former Gunbarrel resident Dick Tharp to be inducted into CU Athletic Hall of Fame

The University of Colorado’s 17th class to be inducted into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame was announced in June and it features former Gunbarrel resident Dick Tharp, who was the school’s athletic director from 1996-2004.

Interestingly, Tharp and his staff created the Athletic Hall of Fame early in his tenure as AD. Among his many accomplishments at CU, he hired former head football coach Gary Barnett in 1996, oversaw a $42.6 million expansion to Folsom Field and developed a long-term plan for the athletic department.

“I'm honored by it, humbled (and) a little surprised,” Tharp said. “It's really special to have them say, 'We're going to include you with all those great athletes and people that have been part of CU's history,’ so I appreciate that. It makes it feel really good, quite frankly.”

Tharp and his late wife, Melinda Tharp, first moved to Gunbarrel in 1980 and lived there until 1991. They then returned in the early 2000s for three years with their sons Travis, Taylor and Tucker. Travis and Taylor, Tharp said, played sports in the Gunbarrel Lefthand Valley Recreation Association, (GLVRA), which is now Niwot Youth Sports.

Those early days playing GLVRA eventually led to a college baseball scholarship for Travis at Northwestern and a football scholarship for Taylor at Boise State. Tucker also played college baseball at Kansas and was later drafted by the New York Mets.

“They all three had scholarships to play Division I sports and they're all very successful but also not arrogant at all,” Tharp said. “I'm proud of them.”

A product of Omaha, Nebraska’s Westside High School, Tharp was a small-college All-American basketball player at DePauw University in Indiana before receiving an NCAA postgraduate scholarship to attend CU’s Law School.

Tharp’s work for CU began soon after earning his Juris Doctorate degree in 1973 when he became the school’s assistant university counsel, then later served as the acting university counsel until 1983. He was in private law practice in Boulder with Martin, Knapple, Humphrey & Tharp for several years. In 1989, he returned to CU as vice president and university counsel. When then-AD Bill Marolt left CU in 1996, Tharp was named interim AD before officially taking over the role one year later.

During his time at CU, his proudest accomplishments include CU winning the 1990 national championship in football, defending the athletic department against NCAA allegations in the 1980s, speaking to the women’s basketball team prior to an NCAA regional game, and watching Barnett’s 2001 Buffs win the Big 12.

He also gave thanks to mentor and former CU president Arnold Weber, and to his “best friend in life,” Bill Marolt.

Currently, Tharp is in his 16th year on the board of directors for Greenhouse Scholars, a Boulder-based non-profit that provides support to promising students in underprivileged communities.

Tharp’s family will get a chance to show their appreciation from Oct. 27-29 when the CU Athletic Hall of Fame officially inducts its nine-member class. The festivities include a celebratory dinner, an appearance at Friday’s Pearl Street Stampede and a halftime introduction during the Buffs’ Homecoming game against Arizona State.

“I was there for Ceal’s (Barry) and Gary's (Barnett) and Bill's (McCartney) and everybody's (induction), but there's a real special feeling in the room like somebody actually noticed while I was busting my butt doing those things,” Tharp said. “It's nice and I'm really proud, (the) kids are happy and think it's really neat.”