May 17, 2006
ORLANDO - A total of 16 former Golden Knights are still in the running to be included in the 2006 UCF Athletics Hall of Fame class now that the list of finalists has been announced by the selection committee. The newest class of inductees will be announced in June and will be honored in person in the fall.
Baseball players Jason Arnold, Justin Pope and Sam Swanger; men's basketball players Darryl Davis and Sinua Phillips; women's basketball players Kristy Burns and Chariya Davis; football players Rick Hamilton and Darrell Rudd; football player/coach Alan Gooch; women's golfer Kristen Putman, women's soccer player Amy Jones; former men's tennis coach Lex Wood; women's track/cross country runners Sarah Kureshi and Sonja Shedden; and former volleyball coach Lucy McDaniel were chosen as finalists by the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame selection committee. For Jones, Kureshi, Wood and Chariya Davis, this is the second consecutive year they have been chosen as finalists.
The nine-member committee, comprised of representatives of the UCF faculty, Golden Knights Club, Alumni Association, local media and the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame, trimmed the list of 56 nominees to 16 finalists.
Ballots will now be sent to all current UCF Athletics Hall of Fame members and their votes will be combined with the votes of the committee to determine the 2006 class of the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame.
For the first time ever, fan voting will be taken into account when selecting the inductees. The top four vote recipients from online balloting will be given one vote that will be added to the total received from the committee and current UCF Athletics Hall of Fame members.
The UCF Athletics Hall of Fame was formed in 1998 to honor those individuals who, through their demonstrated athletics achievement or service, have distinguished themselves and the University. Since then, a total of 36 people have been inducted. Eligible categories for inclusion are former UCF athletes, coaches and administrators. Athletes must wait four full academic years from the completion of their eligibility, while coaches and administrators are immediately eligible upon the completion of their tenure at UCF.
2006 UCF Athletics Hall of Fame Finalists. Listed in alphabetical order by sport and athlete.
Baseball
Jason Arnold - Pitched for UCF from 1998-01 before being drafted in second round by the New York Yankees. He was a four-time first-team All-Atlantic Sun performer. He earned freshman All America honors in 1998 and was named All-American in 2001. He helped UCF win back-to-back regular season A-Sun titles and make back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances in 2000 and 2001. He is UCF's all-time leader in appearances, relief appearances, strikeouts per nine innings and saves and is second all-time in wins, strikeouts and ERA. He is the school single-season record holder in strikeouts per nine innings and is second in season strikeouts, wins and saves. He is ranked in the top 10 at UCF in eight career pitching categories and in the top 10 in 16 single-season categories. He is currently in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.
Justin Pope - Pitched for UCF from 1999-01 before being drafted in the first round by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a two-time All-Atlantic Sun performer and earned All-America honors in 2001. He was named A-Sun Player of the Year in 2001. He helped UCF win back-to-back regular season A-Sun titles and make back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances in 2000 and 2001. He is UCF's all-time leader in career wins and strikeouts and is second in career starts. He is ranked in the top 10 in six career pitching categories. He is the single-season record holder in ERA, wins and strikeouts and is second in strikeouts per nine innings. He had a streak of 38.1 consecutive scoreless innings as a junior. He is ranked in the top 10 in seven single-season pitching categories. He is currently pitching in the New York Yankees organization.
Sam Swanger - Pitched for FTU (UCF) in 1975 and 76. He is UCF's first All-American in baseball, earning second team honors in 1975. He was the workhorse of the pitching staff in 1975 and 76 pitching in nearly half of the games played. He appeared in 38 of 81 games in two years with 32 starts. He pitched 12 complete games in '75 and nine in '76. His best year came in 1975 when he posted an 11-4 record. He threw a complete game 3-hit shutout against #8 Ranked Division 1 Miami to put FTU on the map with a 1-0 win. His record for single-season ERA of 1.48 in 1975 still stands after 30 years and his record of 129 strikeouts in 1976 stood for 25 years before being broken by Justin Pope and Jason Arnold in 2001. His career ERA of 2.65 ranks him third in UCF history. Despite only playing two years, his 21 complete games are the second-most and his 234 career strikeouts are the sixth-most at UCF.
Men's Basketball
Darryl Davis - Played at UCF from 1991-95 and finished his career with 1,540 points - good for fifth all-time. He is seventh in the UCF annals with 583 career rebounds and is one of only three Golden Knights in the 1,500 point/500 rebound club. He was a key member of UCF's first NCAA Tournament team at the Division I level in 1993-94. He earned Atlantic Sun Championship MVP honors that year. He led UCF in scoring in 1992-93, averaging 18.1 points per contest. He finished his career with 129 3-pointers, which ranks him seventh all-time at UCF. His 112 career games played rank him eighth in school history.
Sinua Phillips - Played guard from 1990-94. He was an integral member is UCF's first NCAA Division I tournament team in 1994, when the Golden Knights posted a 21-9 record and won the A-Sun Tournament. He led UCF in assists each of his four years at UCF and holds the single-season and career records for assists with 183 and 531, respectively. He also scored 1,028 points and is the only player in school history to score more than 1,000 points and dish out more than 500 assists.
Women's Basketball
Kristy Burns - Played from 1984-86 after transferring from South Florida. She is fifth in career scoring (1,154), despite having played only two years and before the three-point line was introduced. She holds the school record for points in a season (691), field goals in a season (293), and career scoring average (20.2). She is also the school's all-time leader in field goal percentage (.524), and is third in career free throw percentage (.801). She is one of only seven players to score more than 1,000 points in a career and is the only one to do so in only two years. She was second on the team in scoring and helped the team to a 20-10 record in its first season at the Division I level in 1984-85. She led the team in scoring and earned first-team All New South Women's Athletic Conference honors in 1986.
Chariya Davis - She played from 1995-99. She is UCF's all-time leader in assists (531) and steals (284) and finished her career second in rebounding (634) third in career scoring (1,517). She led the team to its second Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament title and a berth to the NCAA Tournament in 1999. She earned all-conference honors twice and was named the 1998-99 A-Sun Player of the Year in addition to picking up A-Sun Tournament MVP honors that season. She was twice named to the A-Sun All-Tournament team and twice earned A-Sun All-Academic honors.
Football
Alan Gooch - Played defensive back 1981-82. He spent 22 years as an assistant between 1982 and 2003, and finished his UCF coaching career as UCF's interim head coach. He earned AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year honors in 1995 for his coaching work with Dwight Collins, who was deaf. He also coached 2 All-American running backs and UCF Athletics Hall of Fame members (Willie English, Marquette Smith). After leaving coaching he spent one year as the head of the Golden Knights Club before entering private business.
Rick Hamilton - Played linebacker from 1989-92. He is the school's all-time leader in tackles with 443, just ahead of UCF Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Bill Giovanetti. He recorded more than 100 tackles three of his four seasons and has the second highest single-season tackle total with 149. He holds the school record for the longest interception return (97-yard touchdown). He is tied for third in career interceptions with eight. He was drafted in the third round by the Washington Redskins and played for the Redskins and several NFL teams, including the New York Jets. He is a former member of the Orlando Predators and was named MVP of the Arena Bowl.
Darrell Rudd - Played defensive tackle 1981-84 and was a team captain as a junior and senior. He holds or shares seven school records, including tackles in a season (150), career sacks (31.5), and career tackles for loss (56.5). His records have stood the test of time, having been set nearly 20 years ago. He also holds the school record for fumble recoveries in a game (3), season (6), and career (11), and is fourth in career tackles with 347. He holds the school record tackles in a season with 150. He was an honorable mention selection on the Orlando Sentinel 25th Anniversary team.
Women's Golf
Kristen Putman - Played golf from 1992-96. She was a four-time All-Atlantic Sun performer and is UCF's all-time leader in tournament wins with eight. She qualified for the NCAA East Regional as a freshman and led the team to two its first two NCAA Regional appearances and its only NCAA Finals appearance. She led the team to six tournament wins during her career. She holds the school record for lowest single-season stroke average of 75.17 and is second in career stroke average at 76.75. She was one of only four players to represent the U.S. in the USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Tournament in Tokyo in 1994, and was again chosen to compete for the USA in international competition in Japan in 2006. She twice qualified to play in the U.S. Women's Open.
Women's Soccer
Amy Jones - Played from 1993-96. She was an All-American in 1995 and all-Southeast Region in 1995 and 1996. A three-time all-Atlantic Sun honoree, she was the 1995 A-Sun Player-of-the-Year. She holds the UCF single-season record for goals with 20 and is tied for first in total points with 46 in 1995. She is fourth in career goals (38), fifth in assists (28), third in total points (104) and tied for fifth in game-winning goals. She helped the Golden Knights win four consecutive A-Sun Titles during her career.
Men's Tennis
Lex Wood - Started the men's tennis program at UCF in 1970 and retired after the 1977 season. His teams compiled a 102-46 record after beginning intercollegiate competition in 1972, and finished in the top 20 in the nation his final four years at UCF, including a fourth-place finish in 1977 and a 10th place finish in 1974. His 1977 squad finished with a 30-4 record and Toby Crabel and Doug Baxter each earned All-America honors after reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA singles competition. He complied an impressive record despite scheduling many Division I opponents. He organized the first Sunshine State Conference tournament in 1977 and the team won the first ever title. He retired from teaching in the Physical Education department at UCF last summer. His daughter Adrienne played tennis for UCF.
Women's Track/Cross Country
Sarah Kureshi - Ran for UCF from 1997-00. She was an eight-time Academic All-Conference performer and had a straight 4.0 GPA for four years. She earned all-conference honors in the 800 meters and was part of the UCF record-holding team in the 4x1500 meters and distance medley relay. She was the NCAA Woman of the Year for Florida in 2001 for her academic and athletic accomplishments as well as her community service. She also earned the Distinguished Student Award from the UCF Alumni Association in the fall of 1999. She received a master's in public health from Harvard in 2005 and is on track to receive an MD from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in 2007.
Sonja Shedden - Ran for the Golden Knights from 1998-2000. She became the first UCF athlete to ever compete in an NCAA cross country final when she qualified for the 2000 NCAA Championship. She was named Atlantic Sun Conference Runner of the Year in 1999 and 2000 and was a four-time all A-Sun performer. She earned NCAA All-Region honors in 2000 and 2001 and was a Cross Country Coaches' Association Scholar-Athlete in 2001. She won the Atlantic Sun title twice, earned seven all-conference honors in track distance events and captured three Atlantic Sun distance crowns. She owns four school records in cross country (overall 5K and 6K, freshman 5K and 6K) and holds the school records in the indoor mile, 3,000m, 5,000m and10,000m.
Volleyball
Lucy McDaniel - McDaniel was the first coach in UCF volleyball history, leading the Knights to an impressive 236-34 (.795) mark in five seasons. McDaniel coached some of the best teams in school history including the 1978 squad that finished a perfect 55-0 and captured the AIAW Small College Championship. The 1977 team (56-6) and the 1979 club (54-5) also reached the AIWA Small College Championship games. McDaniel has the most victories in school history and owns the best winning percentage of any UCF volleyball coach.