The Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame is a sports

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

for the U.S. state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

established in 1963. Individuals are inducted annually at a banquet in Louisville and receive a bronze plaque inside Louisville's Freedom Hall. 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 The Kentucky Lottery, began in April 1989 after a November 1988 vote in which over 60% of voters cast ballots in favor of it. On April 4, 1989, ticket sales began at over 5,000 licensed retailers with over $5 million in sales on the first day. Kent ...

and owned and operated by the Louisville Sports Commission.

Notable inductees

Honorees have included Louisville native

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

. 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. Also included is

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach

Bo McMillin Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin (January 12, 1895 – March 31, 1952) was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-tim ...

(who played for Centre College in

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a home rule-class city in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 Census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes ...

); and basketball player and coach Pat Riley, who played in college for the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team. 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 The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

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. A more recent inductee

Dwane Casey Dwane Lyndon Casey (born April 17, 1957) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a former NCAA basketball player and coach, having played and coached there ...

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. 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. Inducted in the 2015 class were tennis player

Mel Purcell Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

,( 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 Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

umpire Randy Marsh, track and field athlete Boyd Smith, and Lexington's

Keeneland Race Course Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for its ...

. Scott Davenport, the current men's basketball coach at

Bellarmine University Bellarmine University (BU; ) is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louisville and named after Saint Rober ...

was also inducted. The 2016 class included American football player Shaun Alexander, basketball player

Darel Carrier James Darel Carrier (born October 26, 1940) is a former professional basketball player. Born in Warren County, Kentucky, Carrier played his high school basketball at the now defunct Bristow High School. A 6'3" guard, Carrier played college baske ...

, 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.

Kyra Elzy Kyra Elzy (born August 17, 1978) is the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team. On December 14, 2020, after starting the season 6-0 and having a top-ten AP ranking, AD Mitch Barnhart removed the "interim" tag and made Elzy th ...

is a Kentucky native and currently holds the position as the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

's Women's Basketball Head Coach. She also played basketball for the University of Tennessee and assisted for their team after her career.

Selection committee

The 2021 Selection Committee has the following members: * 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 ful
list of inductees

2021

* John Asher - Kentucky Derby ambassador. He is known as the voice and face of horseracing in Kentucky. *

- 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. *

Romeo Crennel Romeo Crennel (born June 18, 1947) is a former American football coach, who was the senior advisor for football performance for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time coaching assistant to Bill Parcells, Cre ...

- 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. * 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. *

Keith Madison Keith Madison is a former head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats baseball team. He coached the Wildcats from 1979 to 2003, and remains the most winning baseball coach in the history of UK Baseball. Playing career Madison was born in Brownsville, K ...

- Head coach of the

Kentucky Wildcats baseball The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team represents the University of Kentucky in NCAA Division I college baseball and competes in the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The current head coach of the Wildcats is Nick Mingione. Ke ...

team from 1979 to 2003. He remains the most winningest baseball coach in program history with 735 wins. *

Elmore Smith Elmore Smith (born May 9, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player born in Macon, Georgia. A 7'0" center from Kentucky State University, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1971 to 1979. He was a member ...

- Former American professional basketball player. Played at

Kentucky State University Kentucky State University (KSU and KYSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, Kentucky. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons ...

and went on to play in the NBA for the Buffalo Braves.

2020

Pete Browning Louis Rogers "Pete" Browning (June 17, 1861 – September 10, 1905), nicknamed "Gladiator" and "The Louisville Slugger", was an American professional baseball center fielder and left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1882 to ...

- American professional baseball player that was a pioneer for the major league games, which included several seasons with the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

. * Anna May Hutchison- Louisville native, she played in the

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...

. * Clarence "Cave" Wilson- Basketball player. Wilson led the Horse Cave, KY, Colored School to 65 consecutive basketball victories in the 1940s. He was a forward and a point guard for the Harlem Globetrotters (1949-1964)

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” * 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. * 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. * 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 * 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. *

Nate Northington Nathaniel "Nate" Northington (born 1947) was the first African-American to play college football in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). He became the first black scholarship athlete to play in an athletic contest of any kind in the SEC when his Uni ...

- He was the first African-American to play in a college football SEC game with the Kentucky Wildcats.

2018

* Bob Baffert *

Sam Ball Sam Ball (born June 1, 1944) is a former American football offensive lineman who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1966 through 1970. During that span he appeared in Super Bowl III and Super Bowl V for the Baltimore Colts. He p ...

Bob Beatty Robert Beatty (born 7 June 1955) is a football coach and the former head football coach for the Trinity Shamrocks, a high school American football team located at Trinity High School in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the most successful High Sc ...

Bernie Bickerstaff Bernard Tyrone Bickerstaff (born February 11, 1944) is an American basketball coach and front office executive, currently serving as the Senior Basketball Advisor for the Cleveland Cavaliers. As a coach, he previously worked as the head coach for ...

* Ken Ramsey *

Nicky Hayden Nicholas Patrick Hayden (July 30, 1981 May 22, 2017), nicknamed "The Kentucky Kid", was an American professional motorcycle racer who won the MotoGP World Championship in 2006. Hayden began racing motorcycles at a young age. He began his roa ...

2017

Mike Battaglia Mike Battaglia is an American horse racing analyst, race caller and television broadcaster. He is most closely associated with Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby and as the on-air talent for Keeneland Racecourse with Katie Gensler. Battaglia ...

* Howard Beth * Rodger Bird * Rob Bromley * Swag Hartel * Kenny Klein * Dennis Lampley *

Marion Miley Marion Miley (February 18, 1914 – September 28, 1941) was an American amateur golfer. Active in the 1930s, she won dozens of amateur tournaments and was ranked as high as #1 in the United States. She was noted by the press as being one of the ...

2016

* Shaun Alexander *

Scott Davenport Scott Davenport, also known as "Scotty", is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the head coach of the Bellarmine Knights men's basketball team. Early life Davenport, a native of Bellarmine's home city of Louisville, Kentucky, ...

* Philip Haywood * Joel Utley * Lakeside Swim Club *''Selection'' ''on hiatus 1965'' **''Selection on hiatus 1967-1974'' ''**Selection on hiatus 1976-1984''

References

Notes

External links

Official website

List of inductees
{{state sports halls of fame Sports in Kentucky State sports halls of fame in the United States All-sports halls of fame Awards established in 1963 1963 establishments in Kentucky Non-profit organizations based in Louisville, Kentucky Halls of fame in Kentucky