OSU quarterback Troy Smith (10) buys some time and eludes Indiana’s Keith Burrus (97) in the second quarter of a football game Oct. 21, 2006 at Ohio Stadium. OSU won, 44-3.
Credit: Courtesy of MCT
A former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback and two five-time National Football League Pro Bowl selections are among 13 new members of the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame.
Troy Smith, who won the 2006 Heisman, Antoine Winfield, who won the 1998 Thorpe Award, and Bob Vogel are to be joined by eight other former student-athletes and two OSU coaches in the 2014 class, according to a press release.
The group is scheduled to be inducted at a dinner Sept. 26 and is set to be introduced at halftime of the Buckeyes’ Sept. 27 football game against Cincinnati, according to the release.
Aside from his Heisman Trophy, Smith led the Buckeyes to a 25-3 mark in his 28 starts and an appearance in the 2006 BCS National Championship. He quarterbacked the Buckeyes to two Big Ten titles and a victory in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. During his Heisman campaign, Smith set a school record with 30 touchdown passes. He played for the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers during a short NFL career and currently plays for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
Winfield was a two-time All-American and was the first defensive back to ever be named the Buckeyes team MVP after the 1997 season. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft and played five seasons in Buffalo before moving to the Minnesota Vikings from 2004 to 2012.
Vogel was part of OSU’s 1961 National Championship football team before being selected No. 5 overall in the NFL Draft. He played in two Super Bowls and won Super Bowl V with the Baltimore Colts.
The remainder of the inductees include one women’s hockey player, one women’s basketball coach, a fencer, two women’s track and field competitors, a men’s golfer, a wrestling coach, one synchronized swimmer, one men’s tennis player and two additional football players.
Along with Smith, Winfield and Vogel, former football player Ralph Wolf will bring the total number of football players in the Hall of Fame to 113. So far, 277 men have been inducted since 1977 and 106 women have been inducted since 1993 – the first year women were brought into the hall.
Boaz Ellis is the third men’s fencer selected for the hall, Ralph Guarasci is the 15th men’s golfer, Jeremy Wurtzman is the fifth men’s tennis player and Russ Hellickson will be the first wrestling coach ever selected for the hall. Tessa Bonhomme will be just the second OSU women’s hockey player enshrined while Becky Kim will be the 10th synchronized swimmer. The induction of Rosalind Goodwin and Tami Smith will bring the total number of track and field athletes to 11. Nancy Darsch will be the second women’s basketball coach enshrined in the hall.
Bonhomme is the only OSU women’s hockey player to be named an AHCA first team All-American. She played for the Buckeyes between 2004 and 2008 and played for Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the 2010 Olympics.
Darsh coached at OSU from 1986 to 1997 and led the Buckeyes to their only women’s Final Four appearance to cap the 1993 season. She later coached the New York Liberty of the Women’s National Basketball Association.
Ellis won three NCAA Championships and was named an All-American three times. He is also a five-time Israeli National Champion and came in second at the World Cup in 2000 and 2001.
Goodwin and Tami Smith, who were teammates in 2002 and 2003, combined for four All-American selections. Each set school records during their time with the Buckeyes.
Guarasci helped OSU to four straight Big Ten Championships from 1975 to 1978. He was a first team All-American in 1976 along with PGA Tour players, such as Jay Haas and Mark O’Meara.
Following Hellickson’s lead from 1986 to 2006, the OSU wrestling program had 41 All-American honorees and he won Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1991 and 2002. Hellickson is also a member of the National Wrestling, Wisconsin Wrestling, University of Wisconsin and Midlands Open Hall of Fames.
Kim was a four-time All-American and six-time U.S. Collegiate Champion. She was a member of the U.S. National Team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Wolf was a first team All-American in 1937 and was part of three Buckeye squads to beat Michigan in shutout victories. He was part of OSU’s first-ever victory against a nationally-ranked team when it beat Northwestern, 7-0, in 1937.
Wurtzman was an All-American selection in 2004 and was the first OSU tennis player to win the ITA National Championship. He finished his career with two singles championships in 2003 and 2004.
The Athletics Hall of Fame Dinner is set to take place in the Archie M. Griffin Ballroom at the Ohio Union. Tickets will be available to the public July 1.
