Pitt will add 12 members to its Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2022, the university announced on Thursday.
The honorees for induction include Keisha Demas (women's track and field), Russ Grimm (football), Larry Harris (men's basketball), Rickey Jackson (football), Jerome Lane (men's basketball), Debbie Lewis (women's basketball), Angela Lopez Callahan (women's swimming), Ann Marie Lucanie (volleyball), Jerry Richie (men's track and field), Donna DeMarino Sanft (gymnastics -- student-athlete and coach), Pat Santoro (wrestling), and Rande Stottlemyer (wrestling -- student-athlete and coach, will be inducted posthumously).
The class will include representation from nine different sports. It will be inducted at the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame dinner on Sept. 30 at Acrisure Stadium and will receive its first public introduction the day after, when Pitt football hosts Georgia Tech.
“This is yet another remarkable class that represents the very best of Pitt’s rich athletics history,” athletic director Heather Lyke said in a news release. “These individuals wore the blue and gold with high distinction, and their achievements continue to inspire us today. Our Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame Dinner is always a memorable evening and this year’s event will be no exception.”
Demas was a five-time All-American and 14-time Big East champion as a runner, notching accolades in the 400-meter run indoors (1990) and outdoors (1990, 1991) while being a part of the Panthers' two-time All-American 4x400-meter relay team.
Grimm helped the Panthers' football team to a 22-2 record across the 1979 and 1980 seasons as the team's starting center. In 1980, Pitt achieved an 11-1 mark and was recognized by The New York Times' computer ranking as the No. 1 team in the country. He went on to win three Super Bowls with Washington (XVII, XXII, and XXVI) and play in another. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and a 1980s All-Decade team member, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. He won another Super Bowl (XL) as the Steelers' assistant head coach.
Harris led Pitt men's basketball in scoring for three consecutive seasons in the late-1970s and finished his career as the program's all-time leading scorer at 1,914 points. He was a two-time All-Eastern 8 selection and a fourth-round NBA draft pick of Buffalo in 1978.
Also a member of the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, Jackson tallied 290 career tackles in his Pitt career, including a team-high 137 in his senior season in 1980. He was a second-round pick in the 1981 draft by New Orleans and played 15 seasons in the NFL. When he retired, he ranked third all-time in sacks (128), second in fumble recoveries (28), and fourth in forced fumbles (41).
Lane was the Big East's leading rebounder in two straight seasons (1986-'87 and 1987-'88). He led the Panthers to two Big East titles and subsequent NCAA tournament appearances in those seasons. He was a first-round pick by Denver in 1988.
Forty years after her collegiate career ended, Lewis is still the Panthers' women's basketball program's all-time assists leader with 638. She scored 1,941 career points, which ranks fourth, and her 250 career steals are second-most in program history.
Callahan was an All-American in the 200-yard breaststroke in 1974, and she earned the same accolade a year later in the 100-yard breaststroke. She competed in the 1975 Pan American Games and the 1976 Olympics for her native Mexico.
Lucanie was an All-American selection as a senior in 1993, and left as the volleyball program's all-time leader in kills with 1,815, which is second. She's fourth in program history in attacks (4,085) and service aces (148), and she is sixth in digs (1,480). She was a three-time Big East Player of the Year and a four-time Big East Tournament MVP.
Richie was a five-time All-American distance runner from 1967-'71 who won two NCAA championships and achieved a world record as part of a distance relay team which reached the finals of the 1968 Olympic trials.
Sanft was the first women's gymnastics coach in Pitt history at the age of 22 in 1974, after it became recognized as an intercollegiate sport. She led the Panthers to a top-10 ranking in 1979, and she coached the program's only national champion in 1982, Lisa Shirk. Sanft worked as an athletics administrator at Pitt from 1986-2014.
Santoro was a four-time All-American and claimed NCAA titles in 1988 and 1989 in the 142-pound weight class. He is the winningest wrestler in Pitt history after turning in a career 167-13 record. He was a member of the U.S. national team four times and was chosen as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team in 1996.
Stottlemyer was a three-time All-American wrestler (1974-'78) who later coached the program for 34 seasons before retiring in 2013. He produced 56 Eastern Wrestling League individual champions and retired as the winningest coach in program history with a 304-231-12 mark.
