Kentucky_Athletic_Hall_of_Fame

Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame

Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame

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The Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame is a sports hall of fame for the U.S. state of Kentucky established in 1963.[1] Individuals are inducted annually at a banquet in Louisville and receive a bronze plaque inside Louisville's Freedom Hall.[2] The Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame other wise known as the Kentucky Sports Hall of fame, is a non-profit organization funded by the Kentucky Lottery and owned and operated by the Louisville Sports Commission.[3]

Notable inductees

Honorees have included Louisville native Muhammad Ali.[lower-alpha 1] A three-time world champion and six-time Golden Glove recipient, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics (at age eighteen) and turned professional later that year.[4][5] Also included is American football player and coach Bo McMillin (who played for Centre College in Danville, Kentucky);[6] and basketball player and coach Pat Riley, who played in college for the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team.[7] While at the University of Kentucky, Riley managed to average a double double during his entire career there. He is also a ten-time NBA champion, winning one ring as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers and the rest as a coach and an owner in the NBA. Coach Riley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005. Bob Baffert an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record seven Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks. Most recently inducted.[citation needed] A more recent inductee Dwane Casey inducted in the 2021 class who is the head coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association. He is a former NCAA basketball player and coach, having played and coached there for over a decade before moving on to the NBA.[citation needed]

The 2013 class included people such as Jerry Carroll who was a golf professional, Donna Bender a student-athlete/athletic director at Sacred Heart Academy, University of Louisville basketball player Pervis Ellison, Calvin Borel who was a Kentucky horse racer, Pro football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers Dwayne D. Woodruff, and Tennis player Julie Ditty.[8]

Inducted in the 2015 class were tennis player Mel Purcell,( he captured the 1980 NCAA doubles title with Rodney harmon and was named an all-American.) women's basketball coach Paul Sanderford, basketball player Sharon Garland, college basketball manager and King of the Bluegrass Men's Basketball Tournament founder and director Lloyd Gardner, Major League Baseball umpire Randy Marsh, track and field athlete Boyd Smith, and Lexington's Keeneland Race Course.[9] Scott Davenport, the current men's basketball coach at Bellarmine University was also inducted.

The 2016 class included American football player Shaun Alexander, basketball player Darel Carrier, college basketball coach Scott Davenport, basketball player Kyra Elzy, high school basketball coach Philip Haywood, Kentucky Wesleyan basketball play-by-play announcer Joel Utley, and the Lakeside Swim Club.[2] Kyra Elzy is a Kentucky native and currently holds the position as the University of Kentucky's Women's Basketball Head Coach. She also played basketball for the University of Tennessee and assisted for their team after her career.

Class Year Inductions & Names
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Calvin Borel Susan Bradley-Cox Lloyd Gardner Shaun Alexander Mike Battaglia Bob Baffert Derek Anderson Pete Browning
Jerry Carroll Charles "Red" Crabtree Sharon Garland Darel Carrier Howard Beth Sam Ball Deion Branch Anna May Hutchison
Julie Ditty Stan Hardin Randy Marsh Scott Davenport Rodger Bird Bob Beatty William Exum Clarence "Cave" Wilson
Pervis Ellison Bill Miller Mel Purcell Kyra Elzy Rob Bromley Bernie Bickerstaff Ralph Hacker
Alvin "Bo" McMillin Paul Rogers Paul Sanderford Phillip Haywood Swag Hartel Nick Hayden Willis Augustus Lee
Donna Bender Moir Rudell Stitch Shandelier Boyd Smith Joel Utley Kenny Klein Ken Ramsey Nate Northington
Judge Dwayne D. Woodruff Valhalla Golf Club Keeneland Race Course Lakeside Swim Club Dennis Lampley Sarah Ramsey
Marion Miley

Selection committee

The 2021 Selection Committee has the following members:[10]

  • Jeff Bidwell, WPSD-TV
  • Drew Deener, ESPN Radio
  • Jody Demling, iHeart Media
  • Mike Fields, retired Lexington Herald Leader staff writer
  • Jason Frakes, Courier Journal
  • Kendrick Haskins, WAVE 3
  • Reina Kempt, Courier Journal
  • Zack Klemme, The Daily Independent
  • Mark Mathis, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer
  • Marques Maybin, ESPN Radio
  • Brian Milam, WKYT-TV
  • Steve Moss, WKYT-TV
  • Kevin Patton, The Gleaner
  • Kent Spencer, WHAS-TV
  • Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader

Inductees

The Hall of fame has been honoring athletes for the past 58 years. These are some of the athletes inducted in the past 6 years. Here is the link to the full list of inductees.

2021

  • John Asher – Kentucky Derby ambassador. He is known as the voice and face of horseracing in Kentucky.[11]
  • Dwane Casey – American Professional basketball coach who attended Union County High School in Morganfield, Kentucky and played four years at the University of Kentucky winning a National Championship in 1977–78. He began His coaching career at the Western Kentucky University before becoming the first African American assistant coach at The University of Kentucky, before moving to the NBA.[12]
  • Romeo Crennel – American football coach. Before becoming a defensive coordinator, he was a star at Western Kentucky, where he was a four-year starter and a team captain as a senior in 1969. He then embarked on his coaching career that spanned six decades and included five Super Bowl rings as an assistant.[13]
  • Rachel Komisarz Baugh – American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. She swam at the University of Kentucky and became a seven-time All American swimmer and three-time SEC Champion by the end of her four years at the university.[14]
  • Keith Madison – Head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats baseball team from 1979 to 2003. He remains the most winningest baseball coach in program history with 735 wins.[14]
  • Elmore Smith – Former American professional basketball player. Played at Kentucky State University and went on to play in the NBA for the Buffalo Braves.[15]

2020

2019

  • Derek Anderson – American former professional basketball player. In 1996, Anderson helped the University of Kentucky win the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship as part of a team that featured nine future NBA players under their coach Rick Pitino, known as the “untouchables”[18]
  • Deion Branch – is a former American football player for the NFL. He played college football as a wide receiver at Louisville under coach John L. Smith. Branch was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXXIX.[19]
  • William Exum was the head of the Kentucky State University Physical Education Department and later head of the Athletics Department. He coached the KSU men's cross country team to an NCAA Division II championship in 1964. He was also the manager of the United States Track and Field teams at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.[20]
  • Ralph Hacker spent 34 years on the UK Radio Network. He served as the men's basketball analyst for many years with broadcaster Cawood Ledford[21]
  • Willis Augustus Lee was a Kentucky native and a skilled sport shooter that won seven medals in the 1920 Olympics shooting events, including five gold medals. He was tied with teammate Lloyd Spooner for the most anyone had ever received in a single Olympics. Their record stood for 60 years.[22]
  • Nate Northington – He was the first African-American to play in a college football SEC game with the Kentucky Wildcats.[23]

2018

2017

2016

More information Inductees, Year of Induction ...

*Selection on hiatus 1965

**Selection on hiatus 1967–1974

**Selection on hiatus 1976–1984

References

  1. [1]
    "Hall of Fame Inducts Reese And Cartmell". The Courier-Journal. December 18, 1963. p. 24. Retrieved April 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
  2. [2]
    "Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame inducts 2016 class Thursday". Lexington Herald-Leader. June 1, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  3. [3]
    "Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame". Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  4. [4]
    Muhammad Ali. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  5. [5]
    Boeck, Greg (June 8, 2016). "What I learned about Muhammad Ali over 50 years". USA Today. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  6. [6]
    "Bo McMillin '22 inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame". Centre College. June 20, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  7. [7]
    Cox, Earl (December 12, 2007). "Pat Riley able to attend Kron wake". The Mountain Eagle. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  8. [8]
    "Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame inducts Class of 2013". McClatchy – Tribune Business News. 28 June 2013. ProQuest 1372184318.
  9. [9]
    Osborne, Glenn (May 12, 2015). "Sports Notes: Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2015 features WKU's red tint". Northern Kentucky Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  10. [10]
    "Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame".
  11. [11]
    "Churchill Downs unveils statues of John Asher, Col. Matt Winn". spectrumnews1.com. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  12. [12]
    "Casey, Dwane". nkaa.uky.edu. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  13. [13]
    "Romeo Crennel makes Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame | Daily Brew". www.houstontexans.com. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  14. [14]
    "SEC Champion Rachel Komisarz Baugh Elected To Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame". SwimSwam. 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  15. [15]
    Steinmetz, Phillip. "Kentucky State legend Elmore Smith thankful to still be remembered with Hall of Fame honor". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  16. [16]
    admin. "Pete Browning – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  17. [17]
    "Wilson, Clarence "Cave", Sr. · Notable Kentucky African Americans Database". nkaa.uky.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  18. [18]
    "Kentucky basketball: Derek Anderson passionate to coach UK, fix mess NOW". Wildcat Blue Nation. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  19. [19]
    "Former Louisville football player Deion Branch now an assistant coach with Carmel football". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  20. [20]
    "Exum, William · Notable Kentucky African Americans Database". nkaa.uky.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  21. [21]
    "Ralph Hacker (2017) – UK Athletics Hall of Fame". University of Kentucky Athletics. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  22. [22]
    "Admiral Willis A. Lee | USA Shooting". www.usashooting.org. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  23. [23]
    "Nate Northington (2015) – UK Athletics Hall of Fame". University of Kentucky Athletics. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 2021-12-01.

Notes

  1. born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr
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