MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) – The Memphis Sports council announced the inaugural class of the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame Wednesday. 22 people make up the first class of inductees.
- Isaac Bruce, former Memphis Tiger wide receiver, Super Bowl champion
- Bill Dance, bass fishing’s first superstar, 23-time national champion
- Billy Dunavant, founded The Racquet Club, owner of Memphis Showboats, led city’s drive to land an NFL expansion team
- Larry Finch, Memphis native, former Memphis star at Melrose and Memphis State., former Memphis basketball coach
- Avron Fogelman, Memphis native, former owner of Memphis Pros, Memphis Chicks, Memphis Rogues
- Penny Hardaway, Memphis native, all American at Memphis State, 1996 U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist, Memphis basketball coach
- Claude Humphrey, Lester High grad, Pro Football Hall of Famer
- Jerry Johnson, won more than 800 games as basketball coach at LeMoyne-Owen
- George Lapides, longtime sports editor/columnist at Memphis Press-Scimitar, hosted the country’s longest running sports radio talk show
- Keith Lee, Memphis State’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder,led tigers to three Metro conference titles. four straight Ncaa tournament appearances, and 1985 final four.
- Verdell Mathis, left-handed pitcher for Memphis Red Sox, four-time Negro League All-Star
- Tim McCarver, Memphis native, football and baseball star at Christian Brothers High School, 21-year MLB veteran, two-time World Series champion, Emmy winning broadcaster
- Nikki McCray-Penson, Collierville alumna, two-time Olympic gold medalist, three-time WNBA All-Star
- Cary Middlecoff, Memphis native, two-time U.S. Open winner, The Masters winner
- Cindy Parlow, Germantown alumna, two-time Olympic gold medalist, World Cup winner
- Ronnie Robinson, former Memphis State basketball star, helped lead Memphis to the 1973 National Championship game
- Verties Sails, former Southwest Tennessee Community College basketball coach
- Melanie Smith Taylor, Olympic gold medal equestrian
- Fred Smith, founder, chairman and CEO FedEx, longtime financial supporter of pro golf and Grizzlies naming-rights deals
- Rochelle Stevens, two-time Olympic medalist (track)
- “Memphis” Bill Terry, MLB Hall of Famer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Basketball stars Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, Larry Finch and Nikki McCray-Penson are among the more than 20 athletes named to the inaugural class of the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame in Tennessee.
The hall says in a news release that fisherman Bill Dance, soccer star Cindy Parlow and former NFL football players Isaac Bruce and Claude Humphrey also will make up the first-ever class.
The Memphis Sports Hall of Fame is scheduled to open in late 2019 at Autozone Park in downtown Memphis.
Other members of the inaugural class include track star Rochelle Stevens, baseball players Bill Terry, Verdell Mathis and Tim McCarver, and contributors Fred Smith, Avron Fogelman and George Lapides.