Reservations Are Open For The 2023-24 Xavier Athletics Hall of Fame Weekend

CINCINNATI --- Reservations are now being accepted for the Xavier Athletics Hall of Fame induction awards dinner on Friday, February 9, 2024 at the James & Caroline Duff Banquet Center in the Cintas Center. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. with a Cocktail Reception from 6-7 p.m. The dinner and awards program will follow beginning at 7 p.m.

Click here to reserve now.

This year's six-member class includes a pair of men's basketball players who led Xavier to its first-ever BIG EAST Basketball Championship and No. 1 NCAA seed, Trevon Bluiett ('18) and J.P. Macura ('18). Rylan Bannon ('17) led Xavier baseball to back-to-back BIG EAST Championships and back-to-back NCAA Regional Final appearances. Phil Bucklew ('36) was a standout football player who is still best known today as the Father of Naval Special Warfare. Tommy Kauffmann ('11) was a two-time all-conference performer in cross country and qualified twice for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regional. Sydney Liggins ('17) led Xavier women's tennis to a BIG EAST Championship and the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

RYLAN T. BANNON

Ryan Bannon, an eighth round selection in the 2017 MLB First Year Player Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, earned First Team All-BIG EAST Conference honors two years in a row (2016 and 2017) while leading Xavier to back-to-back BIG EAST Championships and back-to-back NCAA Regional Final appearances. He finished his career with a .455 batting average in eight NCAA Tournament games, smacking three home runs and driving in 12 runs.
   Bannon, a 2017 ABCA/Rawlings Northeast All-Region First Team selection, won 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team on a team that went 34-27 (10-6 in the BIG EAST Regular Season), won the 2017 BIG EAST Tournament Championship, and advanced to the 2017 Louisville Regional Final, including a win over Oklahoma.
     Bannon, a 2016 First Team All-BIG EAST selection, was one of Xavier's stars of the 2016 NCAA Tournament run, earning a spot on the Nashville All-Regional Team as XU made it to the Regional Final. Bannon had at least one hit in all four of XU's NCAA Tournament games, batting .353 (6-for-17) with two homers, eight RBI, five runs scored and three doubles. He hit his first career grand slam in the seventh inning of a 15-1 NCAA win over Vanderbilt.
     Bannon, who has been called up to the majors on a number of occasions, is currently in AAA ball in the Houston Astros organization.

TREVON N. BLUIETT

   Trevon Bluiett, a consensus All-America selection as a senior, is one of the most decorated players in Xavier history. Xavier made the NCAA Tournament in each of Bluiett's four seasons, including the 2017 Elite Eight, the 2015 Sweet 16 and the Second Round in 2016 and 2018, giving him a school-record tying seven NCAA Tournament wins on his resume.
     Bluiett made his mark on the Xavier record book, finishing second on XU's all-time scoring list with 2,261 career points and 12th on Xavier's all-time rebounding list with 762 career rebounds. His 116 career double-figure scoring games are just one shy of the school record. Bluiett was one of only 13 players in league history to earn BIG EAST First Team honors three times (2016, 2017, 2018). In addition he was named to the All-BIG EAST Tournament Team for three straight years as well.
   As a senior, Bluiett was named Second Team All-American by the Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the United States Basketball Writers Association, Sporting News, USA Today, CBS Sports, NBC Sports and NCAA.com, helping lead Xavier to a 29-6 record, finishing one win shy of tying the school record for wins. Xavier won its first BIG EAST Conference Regular Season Championship with a 15-3 record and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. XU finished with a school-record No. 3 ranking in the final AP Poll. He was also on the John R. Wooden Award All-America and Lute Olson All-America Teams. Bluiett finished sixth in the BIG EAST in scoring at 19.3 ppg. and also led the team in rebounding at 5.5 rpg. (15th in the BIG EAST).
     Bluiett, a First Team All-BIG EAST and NABC First Team All-District 5 selection as a junior, was named to the five-member 2017 All-West Regional Team after averaging 21.3 ppg. for Xavier's four games in the NCAA Tournament, including 21 vs. Maryland, 29 vs. Florida State on March 18 and 25 vs. Arizona. He was also named Tire Pros Invitational MVP in addition to his already listed BIG EAST honors.
Following graduation, Bluiett began his professional career overseas.

PHIL H. BUCKLEW

Phil Bucklew lettered three years on the football team and two years on the basketball team for the Musketeers in the 1930s. He distinguished himself as a solid tackle, fullback and tight end on the football team, while also seeing some duties as a punter and kicker. Xavier finished 5-4 (1933), 6-2-1 (1934), and 6-3 (1935) during his time on the football squad. Bucklew, who was named an All-Ohio tackle in football, also saw action on the Xavier basketball team. Bucklew played center on basketball teams that went 9-1 (1933-34) and 14-4 (1934-35). The Musketeer Yearbook talks about Head Coach Clem Crowe using Bucklew "in a high scoring act from the center position."
Bucklew played for the Cleveland Rams in 1937 and 1938. He competed in 22 games for the Rams as an end. Later, he joined the Cincinnati Bengals for 1938. He was the founder and head coach of the Columbus Bullies in 1939 and led the team to three-straight championships (1939-41), including two AFL titles. Bucklew was nominated for the Sports Illustrated Silver Anniversary All-American football team in 1961.
   Bucklew was a lieutenant in the Navy, and he earned two Navy Crosses for "extraordinary heroism" during the invasion of Normandy and the events in Sicily 1943. He is still known today as the Father of Naval Special Warfare.
      After graduation, Bucklew was an assistant coach and graduate manager of athletics at Xavier. Following his service in World War II, Bucklew returned to Xavier and served as the head football coach and Athletic Director in 1946.
   Bucklew, who was buried with Military Honors in Arlington National Cemetery in 1992, was the 2023 Recipient of the Charles P. Gallagher Leadership Medallion, presented posthumously by Colleen M. Hanycz, PhD, President of Xavier University, in recognition of exceptional leadership accomplishments of the highest distinction in their field or professional career. He is also in the City of Columbus Hall of Fame and the Ohio Military Hall of Fame.

THOMAS E. KAUFFMANN, JR.

Tommy Kauffmann, a two-time All-Atlantic 10 Conference performer in cross country and NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regional qualifier as a junior and a senior, lettered four years in cross country and track and field, finishing his career with a long list of school records: cross country 10k (31:10.00 at the 2010 NCAA Great Lakes Regional) and cross country 8k (24:38.00), indoor track 3,000-meter run (8:17.80) and indoor mile (4:16.41), indoor track 5,000-meter run (14:23.95), outdoor track 1,500-meter run (3:55.39), outdoor track 10,000-meter run (29:28.12 on March 25, 2011 at the Stanford Invitational) and the outdoor track 5,000-meter run (14:13.02).
As a junior, Kauffmann collected a championship at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships in the 3,000-meter race, breaking the meet record and school record with a time of 8:20.97. He later lowered his own record to 8:17.80.
As a senior, Kauffmann became the first male athlete to win an outdoor track and field individual championship at Xavier when he took the 10,000-meter run at the Atlantic 10 Championship in 2011.
Kauffmann also excelled off the track, earning spot on five Atlantic 10 All-Academic Teams and on seven consecutive Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
In his post-Xavier career, Kauffmann participated in the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2016 after hitting a qualifying half-marathon standard time (1:04:34) in Indianapolis.

SYDNEY P. LIGGINS

Sydney Liggins enjoyed an illustrious career at Xavier, not only on the tennis court, but in the classroom as well. She was selected to the 2017 All-BIG EAST team and the Collegiate Tennis Player of the Year by the Cincinnati Women's Sports Association as a senior, while finishing with an 18-12 record at No. 1 singles, including a 3-1 record in fall tournaments and a 4-1 record in the BIG EAST. She ended her career with 92 singles wins (92-30 for a 75.4 winning percentage), which was good for third all-time in Xavier history. She finished her career with 59 doubles wins, playing mainly No. 2 doubles. Her overall record of 151-69 (.686) placed her 10^th all-time.
Liggins was named the 2016 BIG EAST Player of the Year and the 2016 BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player, leading Xavier to a BIG EAST Championship and the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. She went undefeated at No. 1 singles, not dropping a set, at the conference tournament. She paired at No. 1 doubles with Amina Ismail in the team's run to the title along with an 8-1 BIG EAST regular season record. She finished the season with a No. 10 ranking in the Ohio Valley Region.
In 2014, Liggins, a freshman at the time, was a part of the All-BIG EAST Team as well as winning the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year award. She returned to the All-BIG EAST team in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

JONATHAN P. MACURA

   J.P. Macura finished his career with 1,491 career points, which ranks 20th on XU's all-time scoring list. He also ranks high in Xavier history in career free-throw percentage (ninth at .798) and career steals (11^th at 166 ). His impact went way beyond stats, though, for one of the most popular and winningest players in Xavier history.
Xavier made the NCAA Tournament in each of Macura's four seasons, including the 2017 Elite Eight, the 2015 Sweet 16 and the Second Round in 2016 and 2018, giving him a school-record tying seven NCAA Tournament wins on his resume.
As a senior Macura finished second on the team in scoring to All-American Trevon Bluiett at 12.9 ppg. (23rd in the BIG EAST), helping lead Xavier to a 29-6 record, finishing one win shy of tying the school record for wins. Xavier won its first BIG EAST Conference Regular Season Championship with a 15-3 record and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. XU finished with a school-record No. 3 ranking in the final Associated Press Poll. Macura scored a team-high 23.0 ppg. for XU's two NCAA Tournament games, including a career-high 29 points in the NCAA win over Texas Southern. He scored a team-high 27 points in the win at No. 19 Seton Hall.
  Macura was named to the five-member 2017 All-West Regional Team after averaging 13.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the NCAA Tournament, including wins over Maryland, Florida State and Arizona. He finished second on the team and 16th in the BIG EAST in scoring for the season at 14.4 ppg. He scored in double figures in the last five games, including all four NCAA Tournament games. Macura also earned a spot on the Tire Pros Invitational All-Tournament Team.
   As a sophomore Macura was voted as the 2015-16 BIG EAST Sixth Man Award winner by the BIG EAST coaches.
   Following graduation, Macura began his professional career overseas.

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