August 31st will see six new members added to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame at their annual induction ceremonies. Highlighting the class are former basketball head coach Dick Bennett along with former consensus all-American offensive lineman Cory Raymer. Those six former Badgers will be added to the Hall of Fame the night before the Sept. 1st football season opener against Northern Iowa.
The induction ceremony will happen on Aug. 31st at 5:30pmCT in front of the Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center.
Cory Raymer played at Wisconsin from 1992-1994 and was a member of the 1994 Rose Bowl winning team. He was named an all-American following the 1994 season and was a 2nd round draft pick of the Washington Redskins in the 1995 draft. He was a three year starter at Center, earning first team all-Big Ten honors for two years.
Joining Raymer in highlighting this class is Dick Bennett who left a successful career as Wisconsin-Green Bay’s head coach to become the Badgers head coach from 1995-2000. He led the Badgers to a then school record 22 wins and a surprising run to the Final Four in the 1999-2000 season following an 8 seed in the tournament. Overall the team made one NIT appearance and three NCAA appearances. Before him the Badgers had made just three NCAA tournament appearances in the 97 year history of the program. He left the program during the 2000-2001 season and left with a record of 94-68 (.680).
Also in the class is former Badger football and track & field athlete Lawrence Johnson. Johnson was at UW from 1976-78 and was a defensive back on the football team. His accomplishments came both on the field and on the track, winning four track titles in the 1976 season and being named an all-American in football after the 1978 season. He was a 2nd round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns and played nine seasons with them and the Buffalo Bills.
Joining those three are former wrestler Jim Haines (1976 Olympic champion and 1977 NCAA champion),and Karen Lunda who was a two sport athlete – competing in field hockey until the sport was dropped following the 1980 season and became the school’s first all-American in women’s soccer, albeit 2nd team, in the 1981 season.
The selection of the Heritage Era (pre 1962) is James Haluska who was the QB for the Badgers 1952 Big Ten championship and firt Rose Bowl team following that season. He played one season for the Chicago Bears following being drafted by them in the 1954 draft.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
