With the announcement of the next class of the BG Athletic Hall of Fame a little more than three months away, what better time to start a list of potential candidates for induction?

The main criteria, as I remember, is that an athlete needs to be 10 years removed from their time at BG, along with other “voteable” guidelines to be inducted. That puts us with the “class” of 1997 as a starting point, though there’s always a player or coach from yesteryear that gets renewed attention. I’ll work on this series to point out candidates I think are viable for the Hall, and the comments can be used for discussion on others, which I’d love to research more in the future.

At first thought, there’s only one “guarantee” to show up on the list, Antonio Daniels. The man carried BG hoops in his time here, to the brink of an NCAA Tournament bid. Add to that him being one of the highest-ever NBA draft picks in MAC history and a solid career as a 6th man in the league, and I don’t think you’ll get any argument that he’ll be part of a halftime ceremony at Perry Stadium this fall.

Of course, there are always other athletes from the lower-profile sports that are locks to get in, I know that softball was pretty solid around the mid-90’s, and there’s always a standout runner that finds their way into each class. Women’s basketball was on the backside of incredible success, and it surprises me that no one out of a group that included Talita Scott, Michelle Shade, Susie Cassell and more has found their way into the Hall, despite qualifying for the 10-year rule.

Like women’s basketball, hockey’s star was fading from the success of the 1980s and early ’90s, but there were a few names that one might expect enshrined. Does a solid three years at BG followed by a decent NHL career earn Mike Johnson a bid? Going back in time a bit, it seems like a major oversight that Gino Cavallini hasn’t been voted to the BG Hall yet, too. Granted, he only played two years at BG, but he scored the biggest goal in school history (and likely the biggest score in school history in any sport), you’d think that would be enough for induction. One might question if leaving school early affects the decision, but there are plenty of other Falcons enshrined that never finished four years. Cavallini’s a part of the Hall collectively with his 1984 teammates, but I’d say he’s overdue for a plaque to call his own.

Going way, way back, one name that I wonder might be inducted with the nostalgia vote is Orville Raberding. I don’t have the exact numbers on him, but he was a beast on the football field in the early stages of the program, and, if he was like other athletes of his time, likely excelled at other sports at BG as well.

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