The late Don Pierce, a former Kansas University football standout and sports publicist, will formally be inducted into the KU Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The presentation will be at halftime of the Kansas-Texas Tech basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse.

Pierce’s widow, Vivian, daughter, Ann, sons Wayne and Bobby and granddaughter Terri Forster-Hazelwood will be on hand.

A portrait of Pierce already hangs in the fieldhouse near the sports information office for which he was the foundation.

A native of Topeka, Pierce earned All-Big Six football honors as a center-linebacker at KU in 1938-40. He later handled media duties through arguably KU’s most successful athletic run the first football bowl team (1947), a national college basketball champion (1952) and runner-up (1953), the storied Wilt Chamberlain basketball era (1955-58) and countless Kansas Relays programs of national prominence.

Pierce died in an auto accident on New Year’s Eve of 1964. He was 45. His portrait is also in the Memorial Stadium press box.