Tulsa Announces Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2024

TULSA, Okla. –– Three-time All-America softball pitcher Aimee Creger, former soccer goalkeeper G. Guerrieri, Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year Gary Collier and former Head Football Coach Steve Kragthorpe are joined by the 1961 & '62 Track & Field Teams, the 1994 and '95 Men's Basketball Teams and President Ben Henneke, posthumously, as The University of Tulsa's 2024 Athletic Hall of Fame Class, it was announced today.

Ben Henneke, University President from 1958-67, will be the first recipient of a new Hall of Fame category, the Golden Legacy Award, which recognizes the outstanding accomplishments, extraordinary service, commitment and support to TU athletics and its student-athletes.

The induction ceremony is set for Saturday, April 27, from 6-9 p.m., at the Lorton Performance Center on the TU campus as part of Hall of Fame Weekend. The Annual Blue & Gold Champions Night will be on Friday, April 26, from 6-10 p.m., at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Tickets for the Hall of Fame Dinner is $90 or a Hall of Fame Weekend pass, which includes both day's events, can be purchased for $110.

Non-TU Letterwinners CLICK HERE for Tickets.
TU Letterwinners CLICK HERE for Tickets.

The Golden Legacy Award recipient, Ben Graf Henneke's lifelong association with TU began in 1931 when Henneke enrolled as a freshman. He worked part time in the university publicity office, wrote for the student newspaper and acted in university theatre productions. Henneke joined the TU faculty in 1936 and in 1952 was appointed vice president before being named president in 1958. Under his leadership, one of the numerous campus expansion projects was the construction of Mabee Gymnasium. As a student, he wrote the "Hurricane Fight Song," which is still heard at most TU athletic events.

A three-time All-American and Two-time Conference USA Pitcher of the Year, Aimee Creger (Softball, 2011-14) led Tulsa to four NCAA Tournaments, two C-USA regular season titles and two C-USA postseason titles. Creger was the 2011 C-USA Freshman of the Year and earned all-conference and all-region honors in her final three seasons.

Creger made 135 appearances with 110 starts in the circle while compiling a 97-18 career record. She posted a 1.40 earned run average, held opponents to a .158 batting average and completed her career with 10 school records.

As a senior, Creger posted an all-time school-best 29-2 record while establishing single-season records for wins (29), strikeouts (354), shutouts (13), lowest opponent batting average (.138), most strikeouts/7 inn. (11.53). She also hit .300 in 20 at-bats with a .450 slugging percentage. Creger was a Top 25 Finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award in addition to her All-America, all-region and all-conference accolades.

Gerald "G" Guerrieri (Soccer, 1981-84) was a member of Tulsa's soccer program in the early years, playing his freshman season in 1981 on the school's second-ever men's soccer team. He made an impact in his first year by posting a 1.22-goals against average (GAA) with 64 saves in 20 games en route to earning all-Midwest region honors.

In his four years, Guerrieri was a part of 48 wins and three winning seasons. He posted 21 career shutouts and finished his career as the school's record-holder for most saves in a game with 17 and single-season shutouts with nine. Guerrieri completed his career with 283 saves and a 1.09 GAA.

Guerrieri has gone on to an outstanding collegiate coaching career at Texas A&M where he will be entering his 32^nd season in 2024 as the head women's soccer coach. Guerrieri has won more than 500 games while leading his teams to 10 league titles, eight tournament titles, 16 NCAA Sweet Sixteen's and seven Elite Eight appearances. His 2014 team advanced to the NCAA Women's College Cup.

The 1994 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Gary Collier (Basketball, 1990-94), had one of the top seasons in Tulsa basketball history while leading the Golden Hurricane to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament "Sweet Sixteen."

The 6'4" forward, who played taller than his height, went from scoring 2.5 points as a freshman to averaging 13.4 points in his second season en route to earning second-team all-conference merits. Collier averaged 15.0 points and 5.7 rebounds his junior campaign.

As a senior, Collier became just the fourth player in school history to score 700+ points with 710 for a scoring average of 22.9 per game. He shot 52-percent from the field, 46-percent from three-point range and 77-percent from the free throw line, while pulling down 6.7 rebounds and dishing out 75 assists. His 93 three-pointers made as a senior still stands as the school record.

Collier was the leading scorer in the 1994 NCAA Tournament with a 31.3 average. In Tulsa's first round upset over UCLA, Collier scored 34 points and had 25 points in a second-round win over Oklahoma State. He had a career-best 35 points in Tulsa's "Sweet Sixteen" matchup against eventual National Champion Arkansas in his final collegiate game.

Collier became the first player in Tulsa basketball history to score over 1,500 points (1,610) and grab 500 rebounds (587) in his career.

The Tulsa football program had suffered through 11 consecutive losing seasons and back-to-back one-win campaigns when Steve Kragthorpe (Head Football Coach, 2003-06) became the Golden Hurricane head coach on December 19, 2002.

Kragthorpe quickly turned the Tulsa program into a winner with the nation's biggest turnaround in college football in 2003. He led his first team to an 8-5 record, second place in the Western Athletic Conference and the school's first bowl appearance since 1991 with an invitation to the Humanitarian Bowl.

In 2005, Kragthorpe led the Hurricane to an overall 9-4 record, first-place in the West Division of Conference USA as a first-year league member and won the C-USA Championship game with a 44-27 win over UCF in Orlando. Tulsa ended the campaign with a 31-24 victory over Fresno State in the 2005 AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Kragthorpe compiled an overall 29-22 record and made three bowl appearances as the Hurricane head coach.

This year, two sports will have teams awarded as Hall of Fame Honor Teams – the 1961 & '62 Track & Field Teams and the 1994 & '95 Men's Basketball Teams.

In the history of the Tulsa track program there have been only three teams to win conference titles, and just two for outdoor track. Both of those outdoor championships came in back-to-back years by the 1961 & '62 Track & Field Teams. The 1961 team posted a one-point win, 56.5 to 55.5, over Drake. The championship came down to the pole vault event as Tulsa's Davis Smoot defeated Drake's vaulter to clinch the title. In 1962, Tulsa outdistanced Drake by a score of 63.5 to 56.5.

The 1993-94 & '94-95 Men's Basketball Teams advanced farther in NCAA Tournament action than any other team in school history. The 1994 team became the first to capture a winner's bracket victory in the NCAA Championship and advance to the school's first-ever "Sweet Sixteen" with two wins. The 1994-95 team equaled that success by also advancing to the final sixteen.

Those two teams compiled a two-year record of 47-16 and finished first in the regular season of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Both teams fell in the MVC Tournament but received at-large bids to the NCAA Championship. The '93-94 team defeated UCLA and Oklahoma State before falling to eventual national Champion Arkansas, while the '94-95 squad advanced to the final 16 with wins over Old Dominion and Illinois before suffering a loss to UMASS.

Tulsa finished the 1994 campaign with a 23-8 overall mark and a year later posted a record of 24-8, while registering 15-3 marks in the MVC both years.

The University of Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame Weekend, April 26-27, includes Friday's Blue & Gold Champions Night, from 6-10 p.m., at the Reynolds Center, and Saturday's Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony at the Lorton Performance Center (LPC) from 6-9 p.m. Tickets for the Blue & Golf Champions Night are priced at $40 and $90 for the Hall of Fame Dinner. A Hall of Fame Weekend pass, which includes both events, can be purchased for $110.

2024 Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame Class
HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
G. GUERRIERI, Men's Soccer, 1981-84
GARY COLLIER, Basketball, 1990-94
AIMEE CREGER, Softball, 2011-14
STEVE KRAGTHORPE, Head Football Coach, 2003-06

GOLDEN LEGACY AWARD
BEN HENNEKE, University President, 1958-67

HALL OF FAME HONOR TEAMS
1961 & 1962 MVC CHAMPION TRACK & FIELD TEAMS
1994 & 1995 NCAA "SWEET SIXTEEN" MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAMS

Tulsa Announces Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2024

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