Texas Athletics Hall of Honor inducts 12 new members
AUSTIN, Texas — Ten former University of Texas student-athletes and two coaches were inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor during a ceremony Friday night at the LBJ Auditorium and Conference Center. The newest Hall of Honor members will also be recognized on the field at halftime during the Longhorns’ football game against ULM on Saturday evening.
The 70th Men’s Hall of Honor class includes: Reggie Freeman (Basketball, 1994-97), a two-time first-team all-conference selection who still ranks fourth on UT’s all-time scoring list with 1,958 career points; Marquise Goodwin (Football and Track & Field, 2009-12), one of the top wideouts and kick returners in school history who has played 10 seasons in the NFL and also was a two-time NCAA long jump champion, seven-time All-American and five-time Big 12 Champion in track and field who competed in the 2012 London Olympics; Colt McCoy (Football, 2006-09), whose number 12 is retired at Texas, is one of only three two-time winners of the prestigious Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF) National Player of the Year award, a two-time consensus first-team All-American, Heisman Trophy finalist and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year who finished his career as the NCAA’s all-time winningest quarterback with a 45-8 record before playing 13 seasons in the NFL; Alex Okafor (Football, 2009-12), an All-American defensive end and two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection who played nine seasons in the NFL and was a Super Bowl Champion in 2020 with the Kansas City Chiefs; Omar Quintanilla (Baseball, 2001-03), a two-time All-American and three-time All-Big 12 selection as a shortstop who led Texas to two College World Series appearances and the 2002 NCAA Championship before playing eight seasons in Major League Baseball; and Special Selection John Fields (Men’s Golf Head Coach, 1997-present), who has guided the Texas Men’s Golf program to a pair of NCAA team titles in 2012 and 2022, runner-up showings in 2016 and 2019, 10 top-five finishes and developed a pair of players who have gone on to reach the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Rankings in Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler.
The 25th Women’s Hall of Honor class includes: Julie Cooper Bliemel (Swimming & Diving, 1989-92), a 27-time All-American and seven-time NCAA Relay Champion who led Texas to a pair of NCAA Championships in 1990 and 1991 and runner-up showings in 1989 and 1992; Farley Taylor Lansing (Tennis, 1994-97), a three-time ITA All-American and 1996 Southwest Conference Player of the Year who clinched the deciding doubles match for UT’s 1995 NCAA Championship and helped the Longhorns reach the NCAA quarterfinals in all four of her seasons on the Forty Acres; Mira Topic Losert (Volleyball, 2001-04), a three-time All-American, 2004 Big 12 Player of the Year and four-time first-team All-Big 12 selection as an outside hitter who still holds the program record for career kills (2,116) and was just the second player in program history to record both 2,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career; Lexy Bennett Skaggs (Softball, 2009-12), a first-team All-American and three-time first-team All-Big 12 selection at second base who helped lead the Longhorns to the 2010 Big 12 Championship and the 2012 NCAA Super Regionals; Karen Nelson Walters (Track & Field, 1985-88), a standout sprinter, jumper and relay performer who represented Canada at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and was a six-time All-American, 10-time Southwest Conference individual champion and member of three NCAA Championship squads (1986 Indoor, 1986 Outdoor and 1988 Indoor); and Special Selection Carie Graves (Rowing Head Coach, 1998-2014), a legend in her sport both as a competitor, who was selected to three U.S. Olympic teams (1976, 1980 and 1984), and coach, who built the Texas Rowing program from the ground up beginning in the fall of 1998 and guided the Longhorns to two NCAA Championships appearances and five conference titles. Graves will be inducted posthumously, as she passed away from complications of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in December 2021 at the age of 68.
