Murray State Hall of Fame Inducts 42nd Class Jan. 17

The 42nd class to the Murray State Hall of Fame is set to be honored the night of Jan. 17, 2025 at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

Tickets to the Hall of Fame dinner & awards event are on sale now at GoRacers.com.

The group will also be honored at the Murray State Basketball game with Bradley on Jan 18.

The 2024 class celebration got underway last July when MSU men's basketball great Ja Morant was inducted.

The inductees of the rest of the 2024 class to be honored on Jan. 17 includes: Daniel Calhoun (Baseball, 2006-09), Becca Lamb (Volleyball, 2007-10), Coach Velvet Milkman (Women's Golf, 1993-22), Miyah Watford (Women's Soccer, 2017-19), Quincy Williams (Football, 2014-18) and Jack Wolf (Football, 1967-71).

Williams (2014-18) burst on the scene with a brilliant senior campaign that led to him being drafted into the National Football League. His selection by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the third round made the highest drafted player in Racer Football history. Now ready to play his sixth season in the league and his fourth with the New York Jets. Williams was named All-Pro in 2024 and is one of only 22 players in the league who have had 100-plus tackles in each of the last two seasons. In a recent vote by his playing peers, Williams was named the 32nd best player in the NFL.

Wolf (1967-71) first was an All-Conference receiver for Racer Football before becoming one of the top horse racing executives in the world with Starlight Racing, a group that has produced major champions including 2018 Triple Crown winner "Justify" and 2020 Kentucky Derby champion "Authentic".

The founder of the Murray State women's golf program, Velvet Milkman, becomes the 23rd coach to be inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame. Her stellar 29-year career saw her teams win 12 Ohio Valley Conference championships and produce 10 OVC Player of the Year honors. Coach Milkman's student-athletes earned seven NCAA appearances and in those 29 seasons, every one of the four-year student-athletes under Coach Milkman's care graduated and won a championship. Milkman was recently inducted into the Kentucky Golf Foundation Hall of Fame in Louisville.

Miyah Watford (2017-19) was part of the most successful period of Murray State women's soccer and was a key player that produced an OVC title and a pair of NCAA appearances. She was the 2019 OVC Player of the Year and finished third with the Racers with 31 career goals.

Daniel Calhoun (2006-09) became one of only two Murray State winners of the OVC Pitcher of the Year award in 2009 and led the league in strikeouts in back-to-back seasons in 2008 and 2009. He set the MSU record with 14 wins in 2009 and was selected in MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals and advanced to the franchise's Class-AA team in 2011.

Becca Lamb (2007-10) enjoyed a brilliant career for the Racers in which she ranked in the top-10 in matches & sets played, attacks, kills and block assists. She was ninth player in program history to reach the coveted 1000-Kill Club and is ninth overall at MSU. Named All-OVC in 2009, Lamb was a four-time OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll winner.

Murray State Hall of Fame Notes

Launched in 1965 under athletics director Coach Roy Stewart who led MSU Football from 1932-67. He was inducted in 1971.
Inaugural class: Harlan Brodie (Football, 1927-1930), Joe Fulks (Basketball, 1941-42), Marshall Gage (Track & Field, 1957-61) and John Powless (Tennis, 1955-57).
The 2024 class is the 42nd to be inducted and brings the total number enshrined at MSU to 188.
The 2024 class of seven combined for 11 major OVC awards and the same number of All-OVC selections.
Including the 2024 class, 48 people have been into the MSU Hall of Fame in the last six years of consecutive classes.
Velvet Milkman is the 23rd head coach inducted. The last to be honored before Milkman was Tevester Anderson (MBB) in 2021.
With Milkman, there will be five women's coaches in the MSU HOF including Nita Head (tennis 1967-82), Connie Keasling (tennis 1984-87, 1992-11), Dew Drop Rowlett (basketball 1933-35) and Margaret Simmons (track & field 1968-91).
Miyah Watford's induction is the fourth from women's soccer, one of MSU's newest programs that first fielded a team in 2000. She follows Rebekah Clay (2018), Tara Isbell (2020) and Harriet Withers (2023).
Morant is the third MSU hall of famer to be inducted while an active member of the NBA, following Popeye Jones and Cameron Payne.
Morant is the 17th Racer that was an NBA Draft selection to be inducted into the MSU HOF.

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