Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame class includes Jimmy Rollins and Bernard Hopkins, plus ‘83 Sixers

The 2022 Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame class to be inducted in November will be headed by Phillies star Jimmy Rollins and boxing great Bernard Hopkins, the oldest world champion of all time, part of an all-star cast representing sports from fencing to basketball to rowing, and the 1983 NBA champion 76ers being inducted as a team.

Other big local names being inducted include Eagles kicker David Akers, college basketball coaches Rollie Massimino from Villanova and Phil Martelli from St. Joseph’s, plus talk-radio star Howard Eskin.

The class will include Temple fencing coaching legend Nikki Franke; Keith Allen, the general manager so instrumental to building the roster of the two-time Stanley Cup champion Flyers in the ‘70s; and two-time Olympic gold medalist rower Susan Francia out of Penn.

Stars from long ago include Negro leagues legend Ed Borden from Concordville; Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Cooper, a Central High graduate; and former longtime NFL referee Art McNally, a Roman Catholic High graduate. Also, Ray Kelly, who wrote for the Bulletin for more than 50 years, mostly covering baseball. As a field hockey player who also coached, Adele Boyd out of Ursinus College was ahead of her time, playing for the U.S. national team for 14 years, then coaching Ursinus to three straight national championship finals.

As multisport athletes go, it’s hard to top 1981 Chester High graduate Fredia Gibbs, an all-American at Chester in basketball and track, and later a three-time world Tae Kwon Do champion plus an undefeated world kick-boxing champion.

In his time, inductee Reds Bagnell was as big locally as any of the inductees, winning the Maxwell Award and other awards for top college football player in the nation in 1950, playing tailback for Penn. He skipped an NFL career after that to join the Navy.

The induction ceremony will be Nov. 3 at the Live! Casino in South Philadelphia.