Nine #ForeverBuffs to join CU Athletic Hall of Fame

BOULDER — Eight former CU athletes and one former coach will be inducted into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame this summer, the athletic department announced Monday. The 2021 class is the 16th class and it will bring the total number of hall of famers to 131. The class will be inducted during the homecoming weekend of Nov. 4-6, with the final details still to be finalized.

Here’s who will join the CU Hall of Fame:

• Donnie Boyce, Basketball (1991-95)
• Chris Brown, Football (2001-02)
• Nikki Marshall, Soccer (2006-09)
• Chris Naeole, Football (1992-96)
• Mickey Pruitt, Football (1984-97)
• Dathan Ritzenhein, Cross Country & Track (2001-04)
• Richard Rokos, Ski Coach (1987-2021)
• Jack Ryan, Gymnastics (1966-68)
• Lee Willard, Football, Basketball, Baseball & Track (1918-22)

Nikki Marshall and Richard Rokos will be inducted in their first year of eligibility. (Eligibility begins 10 years after the conclusion of one’s CU career or after one retires from professional sports, whichever is later.) Jenny Barringer Simpson, Chauncey Billups, Ceal Barry and Lucie Zikova have also been inducted in their first year of eligibility.

Marshall was four-year letter winner on CU’s soccer team and still owns 20 program records, including the all-time scoring record. She was a four-time first-team all Big 12 performer before being selected seventh overall in the 2010 Women’s Professional Soccer Draft, and was later named MVP of the 2012 championship match. She received her first call-up to the USWNT in May 2014 but she tore her ACL later that season and decided to retire.

Rokos was Colorado’s head ski coach for 31 years, the third-longest tenure of any coach in CU history. He won eight NCAA championships, finished in second nine times and took third six more times. 247 of his skier were named All-Americans. 46 won individual national titles. Rokos was born in Czechoslovakia before escaping to the United States with his wife and young daughter. He’s presided over at least 20 weddings that included CU coaches and athletes.

Donnie Boyce was a two-time first-team All-Big Eight guard. He led the league in scoring during conference play in his junior season by putting up 26.8 points per game. He ranks second on the CU leaderboard with a career-high 46-point game against Oklahoma State. He was also the second Colorado player to lead the team in scoring in all four years. In his final season at CU, Boyce was a John Wooden Award candidate. He was drafted in the second round in 1995 and played in 30 NBA games before a decade-long career overseas.

Chris Brown was a first-team All-American running back in 2002, and the runner-up for the Doak Walker Award, which goes to the nation’s top running back. He finished eighth in Heisman voting. Brown missed two games that season but still put up 1,744 yards in 11 games, which ranks second all-time at CU. He finished his CU career as the school’s fourth all-time leading rusher. He was chosen by the Tennessee Titans in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft.  He played six seasons in the NFL, peaking at 1,067 yards in 2004.

Chris Naeole was a four-year letterman at guard for CU and was a consensus first-team All-American as a senior. He is the only player to win CU’s awards for top spring ball player in his class as a rising sophomore, junior and senior. He was the 10th overall pick in 1997 and he played 12 seasons in the NFL, starting 150 of 154 games.

Dathan Ritzenhein was a six-time All-American, earning the honor twice in cross country, twice in the outdoor 5,000-meter run and twice in the indoor 5,000-meter run. He won six Big 12 individual titles and a national title in cross country. Ritzenhein was a part of three U.S. Olympic teams (2004, 2008 and 2012).

Jack Ryan was a part of CU’s first and only Big Eight championship team in gymnastics. He won Colorado’s first and only individual NCAA title, which came on the pommel horse. His 9.60 score was the second-highest posted in the entire championship. He was a likely Olympian but the U.S. team at the time consisted of only all-around competitors, not specialists.

Lee Willard is believed to be the only CU athlete to ever earn 16 letters, which came in football, basketball, baseball and track. He was a captain on each of those teams in at least one season. In football, he played halfback, end and quarterback, despite weighing only 155 pounds. He was a three-time All-RMAC football player, three-time leading scorer on the basketball team and three-time hitting leader on the baseball team. He batted over .500 in two of those seasons and led the conference in basketball scoring twice. In track, Willard ran a career-best 9.8 in the 100-yard dash, while also winning multiple conference titles in broad jump and javelin. He was a great tennis player but didn’t have the time to join another team.