Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives. Eventually, we are going to get to that of the Division I schools, and conferences.  As such, it is news to us that the University of Iowa has announced ten new members to their Athletic Hall of Fame.

The ten new members are:

Roy Marble Jr., Men’s Basketball 1986-89.  Marble scored 2,116 career Points, and held the school record until this past season.  He was a three-time All-Big Ten Selection, and a former Big Ten Freshman of the Year.  He would play briefly for Atlanta in the NBA.

Ed Podolak, Football 1966-68.  Podolak rushed for 937 Yards and eight Touchdowns in 1968 and was named the team MVP that year.  He would later play nine ears in the NFL for Kansas City where he was a member of the Super Bowl IV winning team.  Podolak returned to Iowa Football as an analyst for their radio broadcasts.

Frank “Kinney” Holbrook, Football & Track & Field 1895-97.  Holbrook was the first African-American athlete in school history, and he lettered in both Football and Track.  He had 12 Touchdowns in 1896, and helped the Hawkeyes win a share of the Western Interstate University Football Association Championship.

Dan Bachman, Men’s Gymnastics 1982-86.  Bachman was a seven-time Big-Ten Champion and three-time All-American.  He would lead Iowa to a Big Ten Championship in 1986.

Kari Hamel, Women’s Volleyball 1985-89.  Hamel took Iowa to their first ever NCAA Championships in 1989.  She was a two-time First Team All-Big Ten Selection and was named to the 1980s All-Decade Team in the Big Ten.

Kristi Hanks, Softball 1999-2002.  Hanks was a three-time Big Ten Selection, two-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and took the Hawkeyes to a College World Series appearance in 2001.

Diane Nukuri, Track & Field 2006-08. Nukuri won the 2007 Big Ten Cross Country Title and would be a three-time All-American.  She set eight school records, and would compete in three Olympic Games for Burundi.

Fred Mims, Administrator.  Mims was the Athletic Administrator for 38 Years.

The class will be inducted on September 3, 2021, the day before the Hawkeyes open their Football Season against Indiana.

We would like to congratulate the newest members of the University of Iowa Athletic Hall of Fame.

Marshal Yanda had an illustrious career with the Baltimore Ravens and is considered one of the best Offensive Linemen in the team's history. If not for Jonathan Ogden, he would undoubtedly be the best.

Yanda was selected in the third round of the draft from Iowa. He started 12 of his 16 games as a rookie and was a permanent fixture on the right side of the line from 2010 until his retirement in 2019. He was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2011 and went on to receive this honor a total of eight times. He was a two-time First Team All-Pro and a Second Team Selection five times. His presence on the O-Line helped the Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII, and his footwork and blocking techniques were so perfect that Offensive Guards will be studying his work for years.

Yanda's lunch pail work ethic made him a star in the eyes of his peers, coaches, and fans. He was one of the most regimented players in the game, and barring injury never having an off year. He was an All-Decade Player and a pleasure to watch play.

John Niland won the starting job at Left Guard for good in his second season in the NFL (1967) with the Dallas Cowboys, and would then go on to stake a claim as one of the elite Offensive Guards in the National Football League.  Niland would be named to the next six Pro Bowls and landed a pair of First Team All-Pros in the process (1971 & 1972).  The former Iowa Hawkeye would win a Super Bowl with the Cowboys in Super Bowl VI, and his upper-echelon blocking played a large part in that historic championship.

There were many stars of the Chicago Bears throughout the 1980s and many were flashy and unforgettable.  Jay Hilgenberg was an unsung hero of that squad and an anchor of the Offensive Line.

“Downtown” Fred Brown really was the epitome of instant offense off the bench.  A true legend in Seattle, Brown played his entire career scoring almost 15,000 points mostly with long range bombs hence the aforementioned nickname.  Captain of the '79 team that won the title, Brown led the league in three point shooting percentage in 1980, the first year of the new rule.  Unfortunately, this rule was way into his career because Freddy used to launch the rock from anywhere.  If the three point line were in effect during Downtown’s career he may have led the league in scoring a few years; he was that good from long distance.