Meet the 2024 Spartan Hall of Famers
Six individuals and a trailblazing pair of teams were inducted to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in September. Congratulations to this year’s class of exemplary Spartan athletes!
1965 & 1966 Football Teams
Nearly 60 years later, the 1960s decade is still considered one of the most divisive and influential decades in world and U.S. history. It was an era accentuated with social and civil rights movements, cultural and counter-cultural movements. Right in the middle of it all was the 1965 and 1966 Michigan State Football teams, who were trailblazers in their own right.
This version of the Spartan football team, which won both the 1965 and 1966 National and Big Ten Conference Championships, was led by head coach Duffy Daugherty.
They sparked national changes in not just college football, but also college athletics, especially in the south. Daugherty was one of the first college football coaches to compile a roster consisting of a racially integrated team, including many Black players from the south, changing the college football landscape forever.
The 1967 NFL Draft included four Michigan State players in the top eight selections, and all four of them Black. The 1966 Spartans had five All-Americans. In addition to their off-the-field impact and influence, the 1965 and '66 teams had a major impact on their field, as they went 19-1-1 in the two seasons, on the way to winning the back-to-back conference and national titles.
"What was accomplished here at Michigan State with the 1965 and '66 teams was equivalent of Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, or any other paradigm shift that's happened in the civil rights movement and also American history. And this is American history, not just Black history, but American history, and it is also unprecedented, of what happened in the time period that it did," former running back Clinton Jones said. "That's something that for the most part is kind of an urban legend within Spartan Nation that has been reveled throughout the United States, as it should be. Anytime you have a paradigm shift like that it needs to be known and widely spread to the public. It needs to be known so people have a model of hope, courage and confidence to look at what's been done and what needs to be continued, and so that'll never happen again. Because what happened was not just about going undefeated, it's about the human relationships that would evolve and maintain and grow after that period of time as a result."
The 1965 and 1966 Spartan football teams are the first teams to be inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Jessica (Beech) Bograkos
Softball 2001-04
Okemos, Mich.
An elite two-way athlete, Jessica (Beech) Bograkos becomes the eighth Spartan softball player to be inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame. Now 20 years removed from her graduation, Bograkos remains prominent in the Spartan record book with four career records, five single-season records and one single-game record. She is the all-time Spartan leader in career wins (72), shutouts (24), strikeouts (659) and no-hitters (4), while also leading in single-season marks of strikeouts (264), shutouts (13), appearances (53), innings pitched (283.1) and wins (29).
"Whenever you get a call from the athletic director as an alum you never know what to expect," said Bograkos. "I certainly wasn't expecting him to tell me that I had been inducted into the Hall of Fame. It was a surreal moment and left me speechless. After I spoke with (Vice President and Director of Athletics) Alan (Haller) it sent me into a deep dive of reflection on my time as a student-athlete at Michigan State and how many people contributed to all of it. The amount of people that invested their time and effort into my teammates and me, I wish I could thank them all."
Anson Carter
Hockey 1992-96
Scarborough, Ontario
A prolific scorer. An All-American. A Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist. A professional hockey player. A trailblazer and a role model, and now one of the faces of the National Hockey League. Now, Anson Carter can add "Michigan State Athletics Hall-of-Fame" to his list of accolades.
"I certainly wasn't expecting it," noted Carter. "(Vice President and Director of Athletics) Alan Haller called to tell me that I was going to be a part of the 2024 Hall of Fame class, I was speechless. Thinking about it now, even - I am starting to get chills.”
The Scarborough, Ontario, native came to MSU as a 10th-round pick (No. 220 overall) of the Quebec Nordiques in the 1992 NHL entry draft. He still ranks among MSU's all-time scoring leaders; currently standing sixth in goals (106), fourth in power-play goals (40), and third in shorthanded tallies (11); his 178 career points finds him 22nd all-time.
Darqueze Dennard
Football 2010-13
Dry Branch, Ga.
Unhearlded coming out of high school, Darqueze Dennard found opportunity at MSU where he blossomed into a three-year starter and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors at cornerback his final two seasons. As a senior in 2013, Dennard was co-captain of the nation's No. 1 defense as the Big Ten and Rose Bowl Champion Spartans won a school-record 13 games. He became the first Spartan to win the Jim Thorpe Award, given annually to the nation's best defensive back, and was a unanimous first-team All-American.
During his four years on the Spartans from 2010-13, he was a member of two Big Ten Championship teams (2010, 2013), helped MSU to three bowl wins (2012 Outback, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings, 2014 Rose) and two division titles (2011, 2013), and his senior class collected a 42-12 overall record. In 2020, Dennard was named to the Big Ten Network's All-Decade Team for the 2010s.
"I'm super excited and incredibly grateful," said Dennard. "It's going to be a long list of people to thank (at the induction ceremony). To have my name alongside the greats (in the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame) is something that you obviously think of when you're walking along the building as an 18-year-old, and now being able to be one of those people is definitely special."
Laura (Kueny) Smith
Women's Golf 2006-10
Whitehall, Mich.
Laura (Kueny) Smith becomes the seventh member of the women's golf program to become a member of the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, joining names like Mary Fossum, Joan Garety, Sue Ertl and Emily Bastel.
“… to know that my name will be in that group, there's no words to describe it,” Smith said. “To play at the collegiate level, it's just an honor itself. And to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, it's just hard to put into words."
Smith herself played a big part in helping to raise the level of the women's golf program. The Spartans made four NCAA Regional appearances during her career and advanced to the NCAA Championships twice. She was named the Big Ten Player of the Year as a senior in 2010, earned Second Team All-American honors in 2009 and 2010 and was a three-time First Team All-Big Ten selection.
In addition to being just the second Spartan at the time to be named Big Ten Player of the Year, Smith finished her career as MSU's all-time scoring average leader (74.6) and had 16 career top-five finishes and 23 among the top-10.
Beth (Rohl) Saylors
Women's Track & Field 2008-13
New Buffalo, Mich.
Beth (Rohl) Saylors graduated in 2013 as the most decorated female thrower in school history. As a freshman in 2009, she was awarded Big Ten Indoor Freshman of the Year and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team. She went on to win four Big Ten titles and was named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year twice. Nationally, she earned seven First Team All-America honors.
She also represented the Spartans at the 2012 Olympic Trials in the discus, placing seventh, and at the 2013 USA Outdoor Championships in the discus where she finished fourth to earn an alternate spot at the 2013 IAAF World Championships.
She finished her collegiate career with three school records - 59.78m in the discus, 62.87m in the hammer throw, and 22.31m in the weight throw.
"It is such an honor,” she said. “It's just something that I never expected, and to hear that you're going into the Hall of Fame with all of these other athletes. I walked the actual Hall and looked at the names and looked at all the record books and everything that has been displayed. And to see that, and to know that I am going to be a part of that, of the people that we have idolized ahead of us, is an amazing experience."
Paul Terek
Men's Track & Field 1998-2002
Livonia, Mich.
Paul Terek, the former Spartan pole vaulter and multi-event athlete, was at a loss of words when first told about being told by Vice President and Director of Athletics Alan Haller that he was being inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame.
"I felt a big sense of accomplishment," Terek said. "I've always wanted to be in the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame, and for me, it was such an honor. I think the best word to describe it for me, is humbling."
He closed out his phenomenal career as the MSU record holder in the decathlon, heptathlon, and pole vault (indoor and outdoor). In addition, he was the Big Ten record holder in all four events. Overall, he captured six Big Ten titles. At the national level, Terek earned a pair of All-America honors as a junior, finishing eighth in the pole vault during the indoor season and fourth in the decathlon outdoors.
He also represented the U.S. in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
