Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame honors 12 new inductees

The Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame inducted its 2026 class last week, a group featuring Olympians, NFL players, MLB players, collegiate sports legends and coaches.

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Hall of Fame inductees include a variety of athletes

The Huntsville Hall of Fame Class of 2026:

• Toyin Augustus: A Grissom High graduate, attended Penn State and became the school’s first Olympian, competing for her native Nigeria in the 2008 Games in Beijing. She continues to compete in Masters track and owns two world records and won the world championship in her event last year.
• Mark Bechtel: Another Grissom grad in this class, Bechtel is Senior Editor at Sports Illustrated, where he has worked for more than 25 years. He oversees the magazine’s coverage of the NBA and has written more than 1,000 articles.
• David Bell: A high school official for more than 35 years, he serves as the ASHAA’s State Football Coordinator of Officials and worked six state championship games. He was recently inducted into the Alabama Officials Hall of Fame.
• Reggie Benson: A Prattville native and graduate of Troy State and Alabama A&M, he was a prolific and widely respected sportswriter for The Huntsville Times for 23 years. His primary focus was the programs at local universities Alabama A&M and UAH.
• Dee Cummings: Cummings as an All-State player for Butler High’s memorable girls basketball team of the late 1990s that won three consecutive state titles (the team was the Hall’s Special Achievement honoree in 2023). She still owns the state record for assists.
• Jerry Gordon: A member of the Grambling State Hall of Fame, he was the school’s all-time leading receiver when he graduated and first-team All-SWAC. He played pro football in the USFL and the Canadian League.
• Jeffrey Hammonds: A New Jersey native who has made his home in Madison County for nearly 15 years, he was an All-America at Stanford and played for the U.S. Olympic team in 1992. A first-round draft choice of the Orioles, he went on to have a 13-year major league career and was selected to the 2000 NL All-Star team.
• Donnie Humphrey: Twice named first-team All-SEC at Auburn, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers and played three years in the NFL. At the time of his passing in 2014, he was a coach for a National Developmental Pro Football League team in California.
• Anthony Jones: As the head football coach at A&M, Jones trailers only the iconic Louis Crews on the school’s career wins list. He was 83-57 in 12 years with four division championships. He was also an All-Conference tight end at Wichita State, then played five years in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl title with Washington.
• Stephanie Pinto Boster: The legendary UAH softball star, she was All-City four times and All-State three times at Grissom, then continued her softball career at UAH where she was a three-time All-American. She was named the Gulf South Conference’s Player of the Decade. Currently, she is a Captain with Huntsville Fire & Rescue.
• Whitney Smith Boggus: She played softball and basketball at Grissom, where she later served as girls basketball coach. She was a three-time All-America bowler at Alabama A&M and SWAC Bowler of the Year in 2007. In 2006, she led A&M  to the NCAA championship game.
• James Willis: He was first-team All-State for the Mae Jemison Jaguars. An All-SEC linebacker at Auburn, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers and ended up playing seven years in the NFL. He then launched a coaching career that included stops at New Orleans, Auburn, Alabama, Temple and Texas Tech.

Read more on this year’s class HERE.

About the Huntsville – Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame

The Huntsville – Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame is a tribute to the remarkable athletes, coaches and sports contributors who have shaped the rich sporting culture of the community.

The organization, headquartered at John Hunt Park, honors those who have made a significant impact in the world of athletics–celebrating their achievements and inspiring future generations.

Since 1999, a new class has been enshrined each year (except for 2020, when the banquet was canceled by Covid-19). Inductees are nominated by the public at large and their credentials considered by a 16-member voting board that represents a cross-section of the Huntsville/Madison County sporting community.

Twenty different sports are represented in the Hall of Fame among the nearly 400 members, as well as inductees from officiating, media, education and administration.

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