2025 Athletics Hall of Famers
Aspen Burkett Miles
Aspen Burkett Miles
Track & Field, 1995–98
Named the 1995 Outdoor Freshman of the Year, Burkett Miles was a seven-time track and field All-American, helping her 4 x 400-meter relay team to the 1995 Big Ten Outdoor title and 1996 Big Ten Indoor title. She was the 100-meter school record holder at 11.28 until 2024 and still holds the school record for the second-fastest time in the 200-meter dash at 22.90. Burkett Miles finished fifth in the 200-meter at the 1995 NCAA Outdoor Championships and eighth in that event in 1996. Those same two years, her 4 x 100-meter relay team took third in the NCAA Outdoor Championships and finished sixth in the 1998 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Burkett Miles garnered Big Ten Outdoor titles in the 100-meter and 200-meter in 1995, while also running on the Illini’s 4 x 100-meter championship relay team. She defended her title in the 200-meter and 4 x 100-meter relay in 1996 and won a third Big Ten 4 x 100-meter outdoor relay title in 1998. Burkett Miles and fellow hall-of-famer Benita Kelley were members of the same recruiting class and lived as campus roommates.
Mike Durkin
Mike Durkin
Track & Field, 1972–75
Durkin had the dubious distinction of running the fastest non-qualifying time in Olympic history when he missed advancing to the semifinals in the 1976 Olympic Trials by one-tenth of a second. He came back to earn the final spot on the 1980 Olympic team in the 1,500-meter, but the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Games. Nevertheless, Durkin finished third in Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell Classic, a competition held as an Olympic alternative. Durkin was a five-time All-American and a nine-time Big Ten Champion, winning five times in the mile and one time each in the two-mile, 1,000-yard, 800-meter and steeplechase. As a senior, Durkin ran the mile in less than four minutes, finishing second at the 1974 NCAA Indoor Championships. He finished fifth in the 1000M in 1972, fourth in the 1000M in 1973, second in the mile in 1974 and fifth in the Distance Medley Relay in 1975. His top NCAA Outdoor Championship finish was 11th in the mile in 1974. He is the founding partner of Rosemont, Ill., law firm Storino Ramello & Durkin.
Jane Fauntz Manske (Alamy)
Jane Fauntz Manske
Swimming & Diving, 1930–34
An Olympic-caliber athlete at age 17, Fauntz Manske first competed for the U.S. in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. She was eliminated in the semifinals but returned in 1932 to win the bronze in the three-meter springboard dive at the Los Angeles Games. Competing for the Illinois Women’s Athletic Club from 1922 to 1932 in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), Fauntz Manske set two world records in 1928 in the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-meter breaststroke at a dual meet against a Canadian team. The next year at the AAU’s indoor swimming national championships, she won two national titles within 30 minutes, winning the one-meter springboard and the 100-meter breaststroke events. Fauntz Manske later parlayed her Olympic fame into a successful career as a model and professional aquatic-exhibition performer, and was one of the first female athletes to appear on a Wheaties cereal box. Fauntz Manske died in 1989 and was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1991.
Kiwane Garris
Kiwane Garris
Basketball, 1994–97
A two-time team captain, Garris earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors in 1996 and 1997 after being named Second-Team All-Big Ten in 1995. Garris holds the Illini school record with 39 straight made free throws. He led the Fighting Illini in scoring each of his last three seasons while leading the team in steals all four of his college seasons and in assists twice. During the NBA lockout, he played for the U.S. National Team in the 1998 FIBA World Championships—a competition between the senior men’s national teams of the International Basketball Federation—winning the bronze medal. In the NBA, he played for the Denver Nuggets and the Orlando Magic, before pursuing a professional basketball career in Italy from 2001 to 2010. During the 2005–06 season, his team won the Italian Supercup. He is a former assistant coach at Prairie State College and Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville, Ga., and he is founder of Future Superstars, a non-profit organization based in Chicago that offers basketball experience to kids ages 14 and under.
Theresa Grentz
Theresa Grentz
Coach, Women’s Basketball, 1996–2007
Over her 35-year career, Grentz tallied 681 wins, 210 achieved during her time at Illinois, including the school’s only Big Ten women’s basketball championship in 1997. Grentz’s Fighting Illini squads reached postseason play in 10 of her 12 seasons, including a second consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1998, and five NCAA Tournament spots. Grentz served as head coach of U.S. women’s basketball in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when the team captured a bronze medal. As a star player, she led her college team, Immaculata, to back-to-back-to-back AIAW National Championships. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022, after being inducted in 2001 to both the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Rutgers Athletics Hall
of Fame.
Meredith Hackett Kindt
Meredith Hackett Kindt
Softball, 2009–12
Winner of the 2010 Slugger Award, Hackett Kindt’s slugging percentage (.616) still ranks as the second-highest in school history, with a total of 41 home runs. She also ranks second in walks (99), third in career on-base percentage (.436) and sixth in RBIs (153). Her 2010 batting average of .418 set a Fighting Illini record and earned her National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) First-Team All-America honors. That same year, she garnered NFCA First-Team Midwest All-Regional recognition, followed by NFCA Second-Team Midwest All-Regional honors in 2011. Hackett Kindt was named All-Big Ten in 2010 and Academic All-Big Ten from 2010 to 2012. She led the Illini in home runs in 2009, 2010 and 2012, and doubles in 2010 and 2011. In 2010 and 2012, she also led the team in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and RBIs. In her senior year, Hackett Kindt received the 2012 Gold Glove Award. She ended her career ranking first in slugging percentage and second in home runs, walks and putouts. She still ranks in the Top 10 in several Illini career and season hitting lists.
Benita Kelley Babridge
Benita Kelley Babridge
Track & Field, 1995–98
Kelley Babridge was an eight-time All-American, an eight-time Big Ten Champion and still holds the school record in the 60-meter dash (7.27). She also holds the Illini women’s record for best wind-aided time in the 100-meter dash (11.09). She helped lead her team to the 1996 Big Ten Indoor Championship title with wins in the 55-meter dash and the 4 x 400-meter relay. The Illini team placed third in the 1998 Big Ten Championships, with Kelley Babridge winning the 100-meter and 200-meter races. The women’s team also celebrated Big Ten titles in the 4 x 100-meter relay in 1996, 1998 and 1999. In the NCAA Indoor Championships, Kelley Babridge finished third in the 55-meter dash in 1996 and eighth in 1998. She also finished eighth in the 100-meter dash in 1996 and seventh in 1997. In the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Kelley Babridge finished third in the 4 x 100-meter relay in 1995 and 1996. Besting her time year-over-year, she finished eighth in the NCAA Outdoor Championship’s 100-meter dash in 1996, seventh in 1997 and sixth in 1998. Kelley Babridge and fellow Hall-of-Famer Aspen Burkett were members of the same recruiting class for Coach Gary Winckler and lived as roommates during their time on campus.
Kurt Kittner
Kurt Kittner
Football, 1998–2001
As a three-year starting quarterback for the Fighting Illini, Kittner led his team to the 2001 Big Ten title with a 7-1 conference record and a 2002 Sugar Bowl appearance. He earned Second-Team All-Big Ten recognition his senior year after leading the Big Ten in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Kittner still holds the school career record for passing attempts (1,264) and touchdown passes (70). He led the squad in passing yards all four years of his Fighting Illini career, and is second on the U. of I. career passing list. Kittner was drafted in the fifth round by the Atlanta Falcons, where he played one season before joining the New England Patriots. He next went abroad to play for the Amsterdam Admirals, helping them win the 2005 NFL Europe World Bowl Championship and receiving MVP honors.
Joe Rutgens
Joe Rutgens
Football, 1958-60
A Native of Cedar Point, Ill., Rutgens played high school football at LaSalle-Peru Township High School where two of his coaches had played for Illinois. They both encouraged him to look at the university. He earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors as a star defensive tackle for the Fighting Illini in 1959 and 1960, and garnered All-American recognition in 1960, playing under legendary Head Coach Ray Eliot. In 1961, he was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins (third overall pick) and the AFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders (fourth overall pick). Rutgens played for the Redskins (now the Washington Commanders) from 1961 to 1969, and was selected to represent the team in the 1963 and 1965 Pro Bowls. In 2008, Rutgens was honored as one of the top 10 defensive linemen in the history of U. of I. football. In 2024, a Washington Commanders’ news and opinion site also named him one of the top 10 defensive linemen in the team’s history. He racked up 40 sacks during his Redskins career.
Scott Spiezio
Scott Spiezio
Baseball, 1991–93
A two-time World Series champion, Spiezio was a 1991 and 1993 All-American, earning Third-Team All-Big Ten honors in 1992 and Second-Team All-Big Ten honors in 1993. A switch-hitter, Spiezio holds the U. of I. career home run record, with 48, while playing for legendary Illinois baseball Head Coach Richard C. “Itch” Jones. He played 12 seasons in the major leagues, starting his career with the Oakland Athletics in 1993, followed by the Anaheim Angels, the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals. He won the 2002 World Series with the Angels and the 2006 World Series with the Cardinals. In a standout career moment, his three-run homer sparked the Angels to a come-from-behind victory over the San Francisco Giants. He tied the MLB postseason record with 19 RBIs in 2002. A versatile player, Spiezio made collegiate and MLB starts at first, second and third base, and as a switch hitter. As a major leaguer, he saw action in both left and right field, and he pitched an inning in 2007.
Gene Vance
Gene Vance
Basketball, 1942–43, 1947; Athletics Director, 1967–72
A member of the famed Whiz Kids basketball teams in the 1940s, Vance was First-Team All-Big Ten in 1942 and 1943 before earning Second-Team recognition in 1947 after returning to campus from active duty in World War II. He was named honorable mention All-American in 1942, 1943 and 1947. Illinois won back-to-back Big Ten titles in 1942 and 1943, and was widely considered the nation’s best team in 1943 before Vance and his teammates enlisted to serve in WWII. He earned two U.S. Army Bronze Stars during the war, and then returned to play in the 1947 Illini season. He played professional basketball five seasons for the Chicago Stags and Tri-Cities Blackhawks/Milwaukee Hawks. In 2005, Vance was named to the Illinois All-Century Basketball Team, a 20-man team selected by fans votes. Vance returned to his Alma Mater as director of athletics from 1967 to 1972, and then served as senior development officer with the University of Illinois Foundation until 2000. He passed away in 2012 at age 88.
