TicketsCINCINNATI — The 50th anniversary class of the James P. Kelly Cincinnati Athletics Hall of Fame will be inducted Oct. 23, the Friday night before the Bearcats’ football game vs. Texas Tech.
Season ticket holders, UCATS members and C-Club members will have an exclusive week-long window to purchase $25 tickets to the Hall of Fame induction, beginning Monday, Aug. 17, at 10 a.m. and continuing through Sunday, Aug. 23, at 11:59 p.m.
Eligible members will receive an email Monday morning at 10 a.m. with a link to purchase tickets during the exclusive window.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, Aug. 24, at 10 a.m. for $35.
All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Cincinnati Athletics’ Impact Fund, which provides critical resources to help the Bearcats recruit and retain top talent and compete for championships in the Big 12.
Seating for the induction ceremony will be available on a first-come, first-served basis when doors open at 6 p.m.
More info on the 50th anniversary Hall of Fame Class of 2026:
Connor Barwin | Football, Men’s Basketball
A native of Detroit, Mich., Barwin led the BIG EAST in 2008 with 11.0 sacks to go along with 53 tackles, 15 tackles-for-loss, eight pass breakups, seven quarterback hurries and three blocked kicks on his way to First Team All-BIG EAST honors and honorable mention All-America laurels by Sports Illustrated to cap his career during his senior season. The three blocked kicks are the most in a single season in program history and his 11.0 sacks rank third. Initially a three-year letterwinner as a tight end, Barwin caught 53 passes for 692 yards and six touchdowns in his career before making the move to defensive end as a senior.
Also a two-year letterwinner on the Bearcats’ basketball team, Barwin played in 34 games and made 11 starts in his time on the hardwood.
Selected by the Houston Texans with the 46th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft, Barwin went on to play 10 seasons in the NFL, playing in 142 games, including 112 starts, while registering 56.5 sacks. He earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors after leading the NFC with 14.5 sacks in 2014. Barwin is entering his sixth season in the Philadelphia Eagles’ football operations department, where he serves as head of football development and strategy.
Barwin served as the executive producer for the Philadelphia Eagles’ A Philly Special Christmas album in 2022 as well as Amazon’s Kelce, a documentary about his Eagles and Bearcats teammate Jason Kelce, in 2023. He is part of the ownership group for Italian professional basketball team Pallacanestro Trieste.
In 2023, he graduated with his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He also founded the Make the World Better foundation, which connects people and inspires stewardship through public space revitalization, raising millions of dollars for projects since 2013.
Loretta Blaut | Track and Field
Blaut, a high jumper who competed for the Bearcats from 2015-2019, will enter the Hall of Fame as arguably the most decorated female athlete in Bearcat track and field history. A six-time All-American — five on the first team — she holds the program record for most All-America honors by a UC female athlete. A five-time AAC Champion, Blaut was a two-time national runner-up in the high jump, earning runner-up finishes at both the 2018 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Her indoor bid was especially dramatic, as she tied for the national title before falling in a seven-round jump-off.
At her peak in 2018, Blaut cleared 1.80 meters or better in seven of eight outdoor competitions. Her crowning moment came at the 2018 AAC Outdoor Championships in Cincinnati, where she set school, meet, conference and facility records with a clearance of 1.88 meters. She closed that summer by finishing sixth at the USATF Championships and representing Team USA at the NACAC Championships in Toronto, where she earned a bronze medal.
Christy Hoffman | Women’s Soccer
Hoffman is one of the greatest goalkeepers in Cincinnati women's soccer history, playing for the Bearcats from 1997 to 2001. She guided Cincinnati to two NCAA Tournament spots, including the program’s first Sweet Sixteen appearance, the 2001 Conference USA Regular Season Championship and two Conference USA Tournament Championships in 1997 and 2001.
The Cincinnati record book is filled with Hoffman's name. In addition to holding the single-season records for goals-against average (0.58), wins (20), and shutouts (14) set during her incredible 2001 campaign, she continues to be the program's all-time leader in career shutouts (32.5) and goalkeeper victories (59). In terms of saves, games played and games started, she is also one of the program's all-time top 10 leaders.
Hoffman was voted Conference USA Defender of the Year in 2001 and was selected to the First Team All-Conference that season. She had previously been named Second Team (2000) and Third Team (1997) All-Conference. During Cincinnati's 1997 title run, she was named to the Conference USA All-Tournament Team and was named Most Valuable Goalkeeper. Hoffman was named a Soccer Buzz Freshman All-American Honorable Mention in 1997, won three Soccer Buzz All-Great Lakes Region awards and was named All-Ohio by the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association. Equally successful in the classroom, she received the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal, was recognized as a CoSIDA Academic All-American and was chosen for the CoSIDA Academic All-District.
Bob Huggins | Men’s Basketball
A 2022 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Huggins, who guided Cincinnati from 1989-2005, led the Bearcats to 14 NCAA Tournaments, beginning with the 1992 Final Four, three Elite Eights and four Sweet Sixteens, plus NIT bids in each of his first two years. The Bearcats' all-time leader with 399 wins, Huggins led Cincinnati to eight league tournament titles and 10 regular-season conference championships during his tenure.
The 1999-00 team was ranked No. 1 nationally for 12 weeks and featured the first and sixth overall NBA Draft picks in Kenyon Martin and DerMarr Johnson. Nine players earned Associated Press All-America honors under Huggins.
Jason Kelce | Football
A former walk-on linebacker for the Bearcats, Kelce played for Cincinnati from 2006 to 2010, earning All-BIG EAST honors as an offensive lineman twice. He played for head coaches Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly and Butch Jones, helping lead UC to the 2008 Orange Bowl and 2009 Sugar Bowl. He was the Scout Team Defensive MVP in 2006 before moving to offensive line and starting three seasons from 2008 to 2010.
Following his Cincinnati career, Kelce found tremendous success in the NFL. He retired in 2024 following a 13-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles, during which he was a six-time All-Pro selection and seven-time Pro Bowler. Kelce won Super Bowl LII in 2018 and appeared in Super Bowl LVII in 2023, facing the Kansas City Chiefs and his brother, Travis.
Kelce owns the Eagles’ record for consecutive regular-season starts at 156 and his six All-Pro selections are tied with NFL Hall of Famers Reggie White and Chuck Bednarik for most in team history.
He and Travis host the wildly popular “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” podcast, which was named the Podcast of the Year by iHeartPodcast in 2024 and is regularly the most-listened to podcast on the Apple and Spotify charts. Kelce is also a member of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown pregame show.
Mike Kinnett | Baseball
A two-time all-conference performer and four-year starter at first base, Kinnett holds the program record for highest career batting average (.372) and ranks in the Top 10 in several other categories. He hit .407 as a sophomore in 1985, one of five Bearcats to ever hit at least .400 in a season.
Kinnett played in 193 career games and still ranks among the all-time UC leaders in hits (236, 8th), doubles (52, T-6th), total bases (362, 8th), slugging percentage (.570, 9th), and on-base percentage (.438, T-9th).
His 1985 season was perhaps his best, during which he hit .407 and was named to the All-Metro Conference squad for the first time in his career. He was an all-conference performer in 1986 as well, hitting .388 with seven home runs and 40 RBI, both career-high totals.
As a senior in 1987, Kinnett was part of a Cincinnati team that advanced to the Metro Conference Tournament finals, eventually falling to College World Series participant Florida State. A tough out, Kinnett struck out just 51 times in 635 career at-bats.
Following his playing career, he stayed on as an assistant coach for the 1988 season.
Wayne Mason | Track and Field
Mason, a hurdler who competed for the Bearcats from 1977–80, is among the most decorated athletes in Bearcat track and field history. A First Team All-American in the outdoor 110-meter hurdles in 1980, he was a four-time NCAA Championship participant, competing in the indoor 60-yard and 60-meter hurdles in 1977, 1978 and 1979 before closing his career at the 1980 Outdoor Championships.
Following his First Team All-America honors, Mason competed in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1980 Olympic Trials, where he finished fifth with a time of 13.60 seconds. Mason departed Cincinnati as one of the program's premier record holders in the hurdles, setting the school record in the outdoor 110-meter hurdles at 13.60 seconds in 1980. He also holds the retired school record in the 120-yard high hurdles at 13.7 seconds.
At the time of his graduation, Mason was a member of the 4x200-meter relay squad that set the school record with a time of 1:26.26 in 1977.
Indoors, Mason holds both the hand-timed and fully-automatic records in the 55-meter hurdles, running a 7.1 by hand and 7.34 fully automatic in 1979. He also owns the next three fastest times in program history in the event.