CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics named 28 new members to the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame as the Class of 2021, including athletes, coaches and administrators who competed and led prior to 1950.
The star-studded class is filled by Olympic medalists, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, College Football Hall of Famers, a two-time world series champion, NCAA and Big Ten champions, and long-time administrative leaders.
“It was important for us to have continuity with our Hall of Fame classes despite the disruption caused by the pandemic the last two years,” said Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman. “Every outstanding member of this class is deserving of inclusion in our Athletics Hall of Fame, even though their time at Illinois concluded long ago, before many of the modern and welcome advances we enjoy in college athletics today. By naming this unique Class of 2021, we are able to honor their legacies appropriately, while moving forward quickly to the Class of 2022 with a more traditional representation of Fighting Illini legends.”
Football is represented by longtime assistant coach Justa Lindgren, Carl Lundgren, Claude Rothgeb, Bart Macomber, John Depler, Jim McMillen and Bernie Shively. Basketball legends include Hugh “Shorty” Ray, Ray Woods, Tug Wilson, Bill Hapac, Hoot Evers and Jack Smiley.
Track and Field is represented by Rothgeb, Ed Lindberg, Wilson, Horatio Fitch, Shively, Dan Kinsey and Evers. The wrestling program adds McMillen, Paul Prehn, Shively, Hek Kenney, Ruffy Silverstein and Allen Sapora. Baseball has Lundgren, Rothgeb, Ray, Hapac and Evers. Swimmers include Bill Vosburgh and Charles Flachmann. Gymnasts in the class are Paul Fina and Caton Cobb. Tennis champion Tim O’Connell also makes the class.
Coaching legends in the Class of ’21 include Lundgren, Lindgren, Prehn, Kenney and Price. Shively was a longtime AD at Kentucky and Wilson was AD at Drake and Northwestern before his stint as the second Big Ten Commissioner. Support staff being honored are long-time athletics trainer and equipment manager Matt Bullock and the nation’s first full-time sports publicist, Michael Tobin. Hugh “Shorty” Ray is one of six Illini in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and credited as the primary writer of the rules book while serving as the NFL Supervisor of Officials from 1938-52.
The Class of 2021 was selected by the UI Athletics Hall of Fame Advisory Committee in late 2021. Because all members of the 2021 class are deceased and competed or coached many decades ago, the UI will not host a traditional induction ceremony, but will celebrate these legendary figures around the Illinois men’s basketball game against Penn State on March 3, 2022.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2022 will be announced in the spring of 2022 and inducted the weekend of September 23-24, when Illinois hosts Chattanooga in football.
Fighting Illini Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2021
- Justa Lindgren, Football (1898-1901); Football Coach (1904-43)
- Carl Lundgren, Baseball (1900-1902), Football (1899-1900), Baseball Coach (1921-34)
- Claude Rothgeb, Football (1900, 1902-04), Baseball (1904-05), Track & Field (1902-05)
- Hugh “Shorty” Ray, Baseball (1905-06), Basketball captain (1906); Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Ed Lindberg, Track & Field (1906-09)
- Bill Vosburgh, Swimming (1911-13)
- Bart Macomber, Football (1914-16)
- Ray Woods, Basketball (1915-17)
- Matt Bullock, Athletics Trainer (1916-47), Equipment Manager (1913-46)
- John Depler, Football (1918-20)
- Kenneth “Tug” Wilson, Track & Field (1918-20), Basketball (1919-20), Big Ten Commissioner (1945-61)
- Jim McMillen, Football (1921-23), Wrestling (1923-24)
- Paul Prehn, Wrestling Coach (1921-28)
- Michael Tobin, Sports Information Director (1922-44)
- Horatio Fitch, Track & Field (1922-23)
- Bernie Shively, Football (1924-26), Wrestling (1926-27), Track & Field (1925-27)
- Dan Kinsey, Track & Field (1924-25)
- Tim O’Connell, Tennis (1926-28)
- Harold “Hek” Kenney, Wrestling (1924-26), Wrestling Coach (1929-43; 1946-47)
- Hartley Price, Gymnastics Coach (1930-48), Soccer Coach (1927-33)
- Charles Flachmann, Swimming (1933-35)
- Ralph “Ruffy” Silverstein, Wrestling (1935-37)
- Allen Sapora, Wrestling (1936-38)
- Bill Hapac, Basketball (1938-40), Baseball (1938-40)
- Paul Fina, Gymnastics (1939-41)
- Walter “Hoot” Evers, Baseball (1940), Basketball (1940), Track & Field (1940)
- Caton Cobb, Gymnastics (1941-42)
- Jack Smiley, Basketball (1942-43, 47)