Utah announces 2020 Athletics Hall of Fame class
The 2020 Utah Athletics Hall of Fame class has been determined, and on paper it could potentially be the greatest assembly of former Utes assembled.
Woven throughout the eight athletes include honors such as a consensus National Player of the Year, a Heisman Trophy finalist, seven All-American honors, five conference Players of the Year and two No. 1 overall picks into professional sports.
The Hall of Fame honorees are: Lori Baird, Volleyball; Andrew Bogut, Basketball; Anthony Brown, Football; Casey Child, Baseball; Amy Timmel Hogue, Softball; Eddie Johnson, Football; Leilani Mitchell, Women's Basketball; Alex Smith, Football.
Lori Baird: Baird's 2008 season is arguably one of the best ever in a Utes uniform when she was named a third-team All-American, an all-West Region deletion and the Mountain West Conference's co-Player of the Year. She dominated on both offense and defense for the Utes, finishing 16th in the country with 1.39 blocks per set and 4th in the MWC with 3.05 kills per set. Utah also won the Mountain West title that season and advanced to the Sweet-16 of the NCAA Tournament. In her career, she is considered to be one of the best two-way players in Utah history, finishing 7th with 1,236 kills and and third with 561 blocks in program history.
Andrew Bogut: Bogut will go down as the greatest basketball player in Utah history, with Andre Miller, Keith Van Horn and Michael Doleac all battling it out for second. Bogut's 2004-05 season will go down as one of the best ever for a player and a team in Utah's history. Not only was he the Mountain West Player of the Year and National Player of the Year, he ended up being the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Although he only played two years for the Utes, his sophomore season was one for the ages when he led the nation in double-doubles (26), while finishing 2nd in rebounding (12.2), 8th in FG percentage (62.0) and 19th in scoring (20.4) — he was just the third Utah player to score 1,000 points in just two seasons. During his final season, Bogut led Utah to a 29-6 overall record and a berth in the Sweet-16 of the NCAA Tournament. His professional career has also been a success, winning the NBA title with the Golden State Warriors in 2015 while playing in the Olympics three times for Australia.
Anthony Brown: The anchor of Utah's offensive line during the 1994 season, Brown earned third-team AP All-American honors and first-team All-WAC honors that season. He was a major part of who Utah football is today, as that Utes team finished No. 10 in the AP Poll (No. 8 in the coaches poll) to become the first Utah squad to finish in the top-10 in program history. The offense averaged 36.4 yards per game to finish fourth in the country in scoring. Although Brown went at the 1995 NFL Draft, he did sign as a free agent and played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers throughout his career.
Casey Child: Without a doubt, Childs' 1997 season will go down as the best for a hitter run Utah history. He set five school records that season — hits (104), home runs (31), RBI's (97), total bases (227) and slugging percentage (.890) — all of which still stand 23 years later. He was named first-team All-American by the ABCA and a third-team All-American from Baseball America. The Utes finished with 1997 season with a 36-21-1 overall record 22-8 output to being named the WAC North Division champions. He was later selected in the 16th round of the MLB draft by the then-Anaheim Angels.
Amy Timmel Hogue: The 1994 season was a special one for Hogue, and she was part of a Utah team that set a school record with 51 wins, while she personally was named a second-team All-American after setting Utah records in batting percentage (.455) and runs scored (55). The WAC Player of the Year, and three-time All-WAC selection, — who would later become the head softball coach for the Utes for the past 13 seasons — led the Utes to two conference titles and College World Series appearances in 1991 and 1994.
Eddie Johnson: Prior to Zack Moss' senior season last year, Johnson laid claim to the greatest career for a Utah running back. His 3,219 yards and 35 touchdowns in his career were Utah records prior to Moss. Johnson was a two-time first-team All-WAC selection in 1984 and 1986, rushing for over 1,000 yards in each season — and his 15 touchdowns in 1988 were the third-most in a season in program history.
Leilani Mitchell: Mitchell is the second most-recent Utah player to be inducted into the hall of fame, as her 2007-08 season was the third and most-recent time the Utes went undefeated in conference play (16-0). She was named the MWC Player of the Year and a third-team AP All-American while being one of the three finalists for the Lieberman Award, given to the top point guard in the country. She averaged 16.8 points and 7.5 assists per game (4th nationally) while also sporting a 2.22 assist-to-turnover ratio (8th nationally), while leading the Utes to the NCAA Tournament.
Alex Smith: Is he the greatest player or quarterback in Utah history? While that's nearly impossible to determine, Smith's career as a Ute was something that will be memorialized forever following the 2004 season. A Heisman finalist, Smith led Utah's high-powered spread offense to a dominating victory over Pittsburgh in the 2004 Fiesta Bowl, becoming the original "BCS Buster" and finishing No. 4 in the country. A first-team All-American, Smith threw for just under 3,000 yards with 42 total touchdowns en route to being taken No. 1 overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL draft. He led the 49ers to the NFC championship game in 2011 before being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013 and leading them to a 52-27 record before heading to the Washington Redskins in 2018 via trade. He then suffered a gruesome leg injury that nearly cost him his life. But since then he's recovering and hoping to make a comeback in the NFL.