Photo: Joe Haden; Credit: Tim Casey, FloridaGators.com
Announced on Thursday, the Florida Gators will be inducting a total of nine members into its 2022 UF Athletic Hall of Fame Class.
The class is comprised of seven Gator Greats, one Distinguished Letterwinner and an Honorary Letterwinner, including former Gators Track & Field and football running back Jeff Demps, cornerback Joe Haden and basketball star Chandler Parsons. The class also includes former Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, who is entering as the program's honorary Letterwinner.
The other members that will be included are Conor Dwyer (Men's Swimming, 2009-11), Michelle Moultrie (Softball, 2009-12), Christian Taylor (Men's Track and Field, 2009-11), Mike Zunino (Baseball, 2010-12) and Steve Beeland as the Distinguished Letter winner (Men's Tennis, 1967-69, Women's Tennis HC, 1982-84 and Men's Tennis HC, 1985-88).
Demps, who was an athlete at Florida from 2010-12, was the only UF athlete to win a national championship in two different sports, both track and field and football. He was a two-time NCAA Outdoor National Champion (100m and 4x100) in 2010. He's also a four-time NCAA team champion and two-time SEC team champion.
In football, Demps ranks 10th all-time in career rushing yards with 3,592 yards and 11th all-time in total touchdowns with 23. He was an SEC All-Freshman selection in 2008.
Haden, who played cornerback for Florida from 2007-09, started all 40 games he played in. He became the first true freshman to start at CB in the season opener for UF in 2007 and was selected to the Freshman All-American First Team. Haden was a member of the 2008 BCS National Championship team and was a consensus All-American in 2009.
Haden would go on to have a stellar career in the NFL after being selected by the Cleveland Browns in the first round (seventh overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft.
Parsons played basketball at UF from 2007-11 and was the first player in program history to be named the SEC Player of the Year in 2011. He was selected to the first-team All-SEC during his senior season. He finished his collegiate career 12th on Florida's all-time scoring list with 1,452 points
Parsons would later be drafted 38th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2011 NBA Draft. He finished with a career average of 12.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 2.7 APG after nine years in the NBA with four different teams.
Foley, of course, served as the school's Athletic Director from 1992-2016 and was the only athletic director in Division I history to have overseen a program that has won multiple titles in both football (1996, 2006, 2008) and basketball (2006 and 2007).
Foley would retire in 2016 and would be succeeded by Scott Stricklin, who currently serves as the school's AD. Foley currently serves as the AD/Emeritus for the University of Florida.
The Hall of Fame Banquet will occur Friday, October 7, 2022, prior to the Missouri home game.
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