Ohio State Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Announced
Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio State Buckeyes will induct 12 new members into their athletic Hall of Fame this fall. The class is headlined by Karen Dennis, who is currently the director of track and field and cross country for the Buckeyes, former football players Aaron Brown and Regis Monahan, and former football coach Francis Schmidt.
The rest of the Buckeye Hall of Fame Class of 2020 includes: Eric Brunner (men’s soccer), Amanda Furrer (rifle), Steven Kehoe (men’s volleyball), Daren Lynch (men’s gymnastics), Lance Palmer (wrestling), Don Perry (men’s gymnastics), Samantha Prahalis (women’s basketball), Amanda Purcell (rowing).
The Class of 2020 is scheduled to be officially inducted at a dinner Sept. 25 and introduced to the public at halftime of the Ohio State home football game vs. Rutgers Sept. 26.
Dennis has been a nationally recognizable fixture in the track and field community. She joined the Buckeyes in 2003 and has found considerable success. Under her direction, the Buckeyes have won eight Big Ten Championship team titles, including the women’s 2020 indoor conference title and 2018-19 indoor and outdoor sweep.
Since coming to Ohio State, Dennis has coached athletes to over 60 individual B1G titles, more than 50 First and Second Team All-Americans and has coached athletes to five national championships. She was also the head coach of the women’s 2000 Olympic Team, 1989 World University Games coach, 1991 Pan American Games and coached in the World Championships in 1995.
Aaron Brown was a three-year starting nose tackle for Woody Hayes from 1974-1977. He ranks 15th in school history with 314 career tackles. He won back-to-back Big Ten championships in 1974 and 1975 and was named an All-American as a senior.
Regis Monahan played for the Buckeyes back from 1932-1934 as an offensive lineman, while also holding down the place kicking duties. He was a team captain and All-American as a senior and famously appeared on the front of a Wheaties box in 1935.
Francis Schmidt was the head coach of the Buckeyes football team from 1934-1940. He was previously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame back in 1971. For all of his accomplishments, he may be most well-known today for bringing into football vernacular the term "razzle dazzle", as his creative offensive schemes used a series of reverses, laterals and passes during a period where most teams ran the football.
Schmidt also famously said of Michigan, “Those fellows put their pants on one leg at a time, the same as everyone else,” which led to the tradition of awarding gold pants to players and coaches following wins over the Wolverines.
The Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame was created in 1977 and has inducted 446 athletes, coaches and administrators through 2019. Dennis and Schmidt will bring the number of head coaches in the hall to 30. Brown and Monahan will up the number of inductees for football to 128.
Stay tuned to BuckeyesNow and all of our social media outlets (@BuckeyesNowSI) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for continued coverage!
