Kaleb Reecy, 10, points to a picture of his grandfather at a new exhibit at the KU Athletics Hall of Fame. The exhibit was revealed to the public Saturday at the Booth Family Hall of Athletics.

Michelle Wilson, left, and her stepmother, JoAn Wilson, find JoAn Wilson's husband, Dick Wilson, on the KU Athletics Hall of Fame Saturday during the unveiling.

Photographs are displayed on the recently unveiled KU Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 at Booth Family Hall of Athletics.

Kansas University was the mecca of men’s basketball in 1952, with the college team winning the national championship behind Clyde Lovellette.

In that same year, KU had seven representatives on the United States Olympic men’s basketball team that defeated the Soviet Union, 36-25, in the gold-medal game.

Saturday, the six other Jayhawks who played with Lovellette on the national championship team and the gold-medal Olympic team joined him in the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame.

“To be included is a special honor, and it’s a big thrill,” said Charlie Hoag, who was present for the induction ceremony. “The older you get, the more important I think it gets. We’re getting up to the latter part of the 70s, so these are important things for us. It’s a thrill to be up there and be a part of all the greats. And believe me, I was a very small part of what’s up there. But it’s great to be up there with all these great athletes.”

Bill Hougland, Bob Kenney and Bill Lienhard also were on hand for the opening of the new hall of fame exhibit at the Booth Family Hall of Athletics.

The late John Keller and Dean Kelley were the other members of those teams to be inducted Saturday.

“I was fortunate to play with a great player in Clyde Lovellette,” Lienhard said. “Clyde kind of carried our ’52 team as Danny (Manning) carried the ’88 team. We had a great player, and we had a real good supporting cast. So it’s a real honor to be involved. I never really expected to be up there, but I appreciate it.”

The new exhibit contains nearly 300 pictures of individuals and teams in the Kansas Hall of Fame. Each 9×10-inch, laser-engraved photo is lit with state-of-the-art LED lighting.

“I think this is a great tribute to all our former athletes,” KU athletic director Lew Perkins said. “We have such great tradition here and great athletes so we wanted to make sure we had a great hall of fame. To me, history and tradition is very, very important, and recognizing these former athletes is one of the most important things. So on a scale of 1 to 10, this was a 10 in terms of the importance, and we finally got it done.”

Former college coaching greats and former Jayhawk basketball players Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp received special admittance with the 2008 class that inducted 33 individuals in all.

John Outland, the namesake of the Outland Trophy awarded to the best college football interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America, also was a special inductee into the hall.

The 1997 men’s basketball team, which was ranked No. 1 in the final Associated Press Poll prior to the NCAA Tournament, headlined the group of 15 teams to be enshrined. The 1997 squad lost just one regular-season game and fell in the Sweet 16 to an Arizona squad that went on to win the national championship.

“I know almost all of the people up on the wall there so it’s fun to look at the pictures again,” said former KU radio announcer Max Falkenstien, who made an appearance for the opening of the exhibit. “I think it’s a wonderful addition to Kansas athletics. We didn’t have much of a hall of fame so I think it’s fantastic.”

Curtis Grindal, Dwight Peck and Tom Yergovich were among many track athletes to be inducted for breaking world records.

Those three – along with distance-medley relay teammate Jim Ryun, who is already in the KU hall of fame – broke the world record in the distance-medley relay in 1967.

“I’m honored and humbled. Just absolutely humbled,” Yergovich said. “It was unexpected. It was a long time ago, and memories tend to fade. I know how special it was then, and to have this happen now, later in life, probably makes it even more special.”