Football coach Paul Johnson, inducted in 2023 into the College Football Hall of Fame, and All-American women’s basketball player Tyaunna Marshall headline a group of eight former Yellow Jackets who were elected to the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame as part of its Class of 2024, Tech announced Thursday.
The 2024 class also includes ACC champion golfer Paul Haley II, All-American diver Hannah Krimm, All-American long and triple jumper James Lemons, All-American baseball slugger Daniel Palka, All-American football guard Omoregie Uzzi and all-ACC tight end Ken Whisenhunt.
More AJC coverage of the Yellow Jackets “Georgia Tech’s athletic history and tradition makes being a Tech Hall of Famer one of the most prestigious distinctions in all of college sports,” Tech athletic director J Batt said in a news release. “These eight individuals certainly fit the bill, not only due to their achievements as Yellow Jackets, but also what they have accomplished beyond athletics and their time on The Flats.”
Tech will induct the Classes of 2024 and 2025 during the fall of 2025 on a Friday before a home football game
A three-time ACC coach of the year in 2008, 2009 and 2014, Johnson was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2023 after an 11-year Tech career in which he guided the Jackets to nine bowl games. Under his guidance, Johnson’s teams posted four seasons of nine wins or more and won or tied for the ACC Coastal Division title four times.
Under Johnson, Tech led the ACC and ranked among the top 10 nationally in rushing offense every season, leading the nation in rushing offense twice. Tech compiled seven of the top 10 seasons in school history in terms of rushing offense, and six of the top 10 seasons in school history in terms of total offense. Tech scored at least 30 points in a game 63 times (going 51-12 in those contests) and posted a 9-5 record (.643) at home against nationally ranked opponents, including three wins over top 10 teams.
One of the more decorated players in program history, Marshall made the all-ACC team all four seasons of her career, making first team as a junior and senior. She is Tech’s all-time leading scorer for women’s basketball, with 2,129 points, and also set team career records for most field goals (244) and field goals attempted (1,902).
Uzzi earned second-team All-American honors as a junior in 2011 and third-team honors in 2011 and 2012. He made the all-ACC first team in 2011 and 2012 and made second-team as a sophomore in 2010. He played in 50 of Tech’s 54 games from 2009-12 and started 38 of Tech’s 40 games from 2010-12.
One of the heroes for the Tech football team in its early years of ACC membership, Whisenhunt played quarterback and tight end for the Jackets. As a freshman QB in 1980 he entered a game against No. 1 and undefeated Notre Dame as an emergency quarterback and led the team on its lone scoring drive to force a 3-3 tie at the final horn.
A part-time starter early in his career, Haley blossomed into a stalwart in the Jackets’ lineup as a junior and senior, posting seven top-10 finishes, including a pair of victories. One of those was the ACC championship as a senior in 2011, one of 11 individual ACC champions in Tech golf history. He was also named to the all-ACC team that year and earned honorable mention All-American honors.
The first NCAA diving All-American in Tech history, Krimm placed seventh in the 3-meter dive and 15th (honorable mention) in the 2008 NCAA Championships while also earning all-ACC recognition. Krimm still holds the fourth best score in the 1-meter dive, accomplished in 2010, and the third best score in the 3-meter dive, which she posted in 2009.
An All-American a total of four times in the long and triple jump, Lemons reached first-team All-America status twice in the outdoor triple jump (2007, 2008) and also in the indoor triple jump in 2008. He added an All-American performance in the long jump in 2008.
Palka was a first-team All-American in 2013 by both Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers. He made the all-ACC team in 2012 and 2013. A semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy for national player of the year in 2013, Palka hit 41 home runs and drove in 165 runs over three seasons, compiling a .314 career batting average.
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