The Arizona Sports Hall of Fame is a sports hall of fame in the United States honoring any athlete who has "merited recognition and distinction in sports and who has brought fame and honor to the State of Arizona through outstanding sporting accomplishments or contributions." [1] According to the hall's official website, individuals are eligible if he or she meets one of three criteria:
Additionally, the final say and responsibility of who is inducted belongs to the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame Trustee Board.
The hall was founded in 1957 by the Phoenix Press Box Association, and held induction ceremonies regularly until 2002, when it fell dormant. It was revitalized in 2009 by the Phoenix Regional Sports Commission, which owns and operates the hall to this day. [2]
The 45th class, inducted on April 8, 2015, included Charles Barkley, Danielle Ammaccapane, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Joe Gilmartin, and Luis Gonzalez. [3] [4]
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and preserving the history of basketball. Dedicated to Canadian-American physician James Naismith, who invented the sport in Springfield, the Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 1959, before opening its first facility on February 17, 1968.
Mountain America Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the southwestern United States, on the campus of Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona. The stadium is officially named Mountain America Stadium, Home of the ASU Sun Devils. It was named Sun Devil Stadium until 2023. It is home to the ASU Sun Devils football team of the Pac-12 Conference. The stadium's seating capacity as of 2018 is 53,599, reduced from a peak of 74,865 in 1989. The natural grass playing surface within the stadium was named Frank Kush Field in 1996 in honor of the former coach of the team. The stadium underwent a five-year, $304-million renovation that was completed in August 2019.
Al McCoy, known as The Voice of the Suns, is a retired American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association from 1972 to 2023. The 2022–23 NBA season was his 51st and final season. He is the longest-tenured broadcaster in NBA history.
The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. It honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction is the highest honor in American soccer.
Jerry Colangelo is an American businessman and sports executive. He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League, and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. He was also instrumental in the relocation of the original Winnipeg Jets team in the NHL to Phoenix to become the Phoenix Coyotes. In 2014, Grand Canyon University renamed its Christian based school of business after Jerry Colangelo, replacing Ken Blanchard's namesake. From December 2015 to April 2016, Colangelo served as chairman of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers, before serving as a special advisor to the team until December 2018.
Paul Douglas Westphal was an American basketball player, head coach, and commentator.
Dorothy Elsie Wilkinson was an American softball player and bowler, who is a member of the halls of fame in both sports.
Lowell Gibbs "Cotton" Fitzsimmons was an American college and NBA basketball coach. A native of Bowling Green, Missouri, he attended and played basketball at Hannibal-LaGrange Junior College in Hannibal, Missouri and Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He coached the Phoenix Suns three times, was named the NBA Coach of the Year twice, and is often credited as the architect of the Suns' success of the late 1980s and early to middle 1990s. Fitzsimmons won 1,089 games in his coaching career: 223 games at the junior college level, 34 at the Division I college level and 832 in the NBA.
Ann Meyers Drysdale is an American retired pro basketball player and a sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and at professional levels.
For a professional in the bluegrass music field, election to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame is the highest honor the genre can bestow. An invitation can be extended to performers, songwriters, promoters, broadcasters, musicians, and executives in recognition of their contributions to the development of bluegrass music worldwide. The hall of fame honor was created in 1991 by the International Bluegrass Music Association and the inductees are honored annually at the International Bluegrass Music Awards ceremony. The Hall's first inductees were Bill Monroe, widely considered as the founder of the genre, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, two of bluegrass music's most pioneering and influential artists. Roy Acuff, the first living artist to join the Hall of Fame, was elected in 1962. The most recent inductees are Sam Bush, Wilma Lee Cooper, and David Grisman. The Hall itself is maintained at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. The institution received its current name in 2007, and was known prior to this as the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.
Thomas Doane Chambers is an American former professional basketball player. He played professionally from 1981 to 1997. Playing power forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Chambers was selected to four NBA All-Star Games and was a two-time All-NBA Second Team member during his career. In December 2021, Chambers was nominated to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame but did not advance to the list of finalists.
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established with 136 inductees. As of 2023, this figure has grown to more than 300, including 31 "Legends". There had previously been 32 official Legends, but disgraced player Barry Cable had his football honours rescinded after being found guilty of historical child sex abuse.
Mesa High School is a public high school in Mesa, Arizona, United States. Mesa High School currently accommodates grades 9–12 as part of Mesa Public Schools. Mesa High School is the oldest high school in Mesa, Arizona, and is home of the Jackrabbits. Mesa High has more than 3,200 students and boasts award-winning athletics, music, theatre programs and more.
The National College Baseball Hall of Fame is an institution operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States. In partnership with the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library located on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, the Hall of Fame inducts former collegiate players and coaches who have met selection criteria of distinction. On January 23, 2024, the College Baseball Foundation announced it would open a physical hall of fame in Overland Park, Kansas, in the Prairiefire.
Benjamin Malone Jr. was an American football running back. He played in college at Arizona State University. He was selected in the second-round in the 1974 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He also played for the Washington Redskins.
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB) based in San Diego, California. The club was founded in 1969 as part of the league's expansion. The team's hall of fame, created in 1999 to honor the club's 30th anniversary, recognizes players, coaches, and executives who have made key contributions to the franchise. Voting is conducted by a 35-member committee. Candidates typically must wait at least two years after retiring to be eligible for induction, though Tony Gwynn was selected during his final season in 2001 before the last game of the year. He was also the Hall of Fame's first ever unanimous selection. There are 19 members in the team's Hall of Fame, the most recent inductees being John Moores and Jake Peavy in 2023. The inductees are featured in an exhibit at the team's home stadium, Petco Park.
Walter Leon Burton was an American professional football player who played 14 games for the New York Titans in one season of the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. He earlier played college football at Arizona State University.
The Arena Football Hall of Fame is the official Hall of Fame of the Arena Football League (AFL). The inaugural class was announced in 1998 and the Hall was not formally organized until 2011. Prior to 2011, there were four classes: 1998–2000 and then another in 2002. The Arena Football Hall of Fame is the highest honor for players, coaches, and contributors involved in the AFL. The voting process consists of fans and current Hall of Fame members voting on the finalists. The finalists are selected by the League Office in which they collect ballots from the Arena Football Hall of Fame Advisory Board, a group which consisted of former players, executives, journalists and media personnel with a long-time involvement in the league. The league began to decline in 2015, so no Hall of Fame announcements have been made since this year. The league folded for a second time in 2019. After the league's second closure, ArenaFan, a long-running fan site, announced it had taken over operations of the Arena Football Hall of Fame.
The 2017–18 Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball team represented Arizona State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Sun Devils were led by third-year head coach Bobby Hurley, and played their home games at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Arizona as members of Pac–12 Conference. They finished the season 20–12, 8–10 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to Colorado. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the First Four to Syracuse.
The Philippine Sports Hall of Fame (PSHOF) is a hall of fame established in 1999 to honor Filipino athletes, trainers, and coaches with the first batch of inductees included in the hall of fame in 2010.