Michigan State Athletics has announced its 2024 Hall of Fame Class which includes six individual athletes and two teams. It is the first time a team has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame inductees include Jessica (Beech) Bograkos (softball), Anson Carter (hockey), Darqueze Dennard (football), Laura (Kueny) Smith (women’s golf), Beth (Rohl) Saylors (women’s track & field), Paul Terek (men’s track & field) and the 1965 and 1966 football teams.

“Congratulations to the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024,” Michigan State Vice President and Director of Athletics Alan Haller said in a statement. “The individuals in this year’s class represent some of the very best Spartan athletes in each of their respective sports. Every individual earned All-American and all-conference honors, with four of the six being recognized by the Big Ten Conference as the very best in their sport or at their position. Beyond their record-setting performances at MSU, they would go on to enjoy success both at the professional level and in international competition.

“I’m thrilled to congratulate the 1965 and 1966 Spartan football teams on their induction. While the athletic accomplishments, including back-to-back Big Ten Championships and national titles, place them among the very best teams in Spartan history, it’s the transcendent impact on their sport, our university and society that drives their inclusion as the first teams ever inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame. These were young men from different states and different races who came together to form a brotherhood around a singular goal. In doing so, they became trailblazers who would help break down racial barriers in college football, leading to a more diverse and inclusive sport nationally. They are the very fabric of who we are and who we strive to be as an institution.”

Here is a look at the entire 2024 Hall of Fame class:

The trailblazing 1965 and 1966 football teams are the first teams to be inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. Both teams were led by head coach Duffy Daugherty and won National Championships and Big Ten Championships.

At the time, Daugherty was one of very few college football coaches to have a racially integrated team consisting of many black players. The Spartans went 19-1-1 in those two seasons, with the one tie being in the 1966 “Game of the Century” against Notre Dame, and four players ended up being selected in the top eight of the 1967 NFL Draft. Michigan State’s success during this time period forever changed the college football landscape.

Bograkos is the eighth softball player to be added to the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame. She is the all-time Michigan State leader in many categories including career wins (72), strikeouts (659), shutouts (24) and no-hitters (four). Bograkos also has single season records with 264 strikeouts, 13 shutouts, 53 appearances, 283.1 innings pitched and 29 wins.

Carter spent four seasons at Michigan State before having a successful 11-year career in the NHL. Carter is currently sixth all-time in Michigan State history in goals scored with 106. He also is fourth all-time in power play goals (40). Carter is 22nd all-time with 178 career points as a Spartan. In 1995, Carter finished the season with 34 goals and 51 points, and he was named an All-American and a Hobey Baker Award finalist.

Dennard was a three-year starter for the Spartans at cornerback. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2012 and 2013. In his final season with Michigan State, he helped lead the Spartans under head coach Mark Dantonio to 13 wins, a Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl victory. He also was the first player from Michigan State to win the Jim Thorpe Award. Dennard was picked No. 24 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Smith is now the seventh women’s golfer to enter the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. As a sophomore, she won the very first tournament of the season – the Mary Fossum Invitational. Smith would go on to help the Spartans make four NCAA Regional appearances in her career and move on to the NCAA Championships twice. Smith earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 2010.

Saylors joined the Spartan track & field team as a walk-on. She left the program in 2013 as the most decorated female thrower in Michigan State history. Saylors won her first conference title in 2009 at the Big Ten Indoor Championships when she was still a true freshman. Throughout her career, she earned seven First Team All-America honors (four in discus throw and three in weight throw). Saylors ended her college career with three school records in the discus throw, hammer throw and weight throw.

Terek is a former Olympian and Big Ten Champion. He was on the U.S. team that went to the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he competed in the decathlon. Terek left Michigan State as the record holder in decathlon, heptathlon, indoor pole vault and outdoor pole vault. In his Spartan career, Terek won a total of six Big Ten titles.

This year’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be on Friday, Sept. 13, and the class will also be recognized at the Prairie View A&M vs. Michigan State game on Saturday, Sept. 14.

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