• Bob Smith
  Coach, Basketball 1983

 He made his mark both as a player and coach in basketball. From 1964 through 1968, "Sumthin" Smith, as he was known to Akron U basketball fans, became the highest scoring "little man" in the school's history. His career total of 1,437 points ranked him fourth, at the time, among all-time US cage greats. The 5-9 guard, who was a starter all four years, helped the Zips compile a 79-28 record during his career. Smith was instrumental in guiding UA to Ohio Conference and NCAA Mideast Regional Championships and subsequent trips to the NCAA College Division Championships in 1965 and '66. He capped off his athletic career by being named UA's co-Athlete of the Year for 1967-68. After graduating, Smith became head coach at Norton High School, however, it was at Akron South where Bobby had his greatest success - winning two city championships and earning regional runner-up honors twice, while compiling a 112-42 record. In 1976 Smith was the Northeast Ohio Coach-of-the-Year and in 1977 he earned Summit County Coach-of-the-Year honors. His alma mater, Akron, inducted him into its hall of fame in 1986.

• Paul Tobin
  Official 1983

Though he was quite an athlete in his own right, Tobin was elected to Summit County's Hall of Fame for his performance as one of the area's outstanding officials. When there was a big game in the area to be called, Tobin was often working it. He officiated football from 1941-72, in the Ohio Conference. A high school basketball official for 25 years, he also officiated in the early years of the National Basketball Association and in the old Continental Football League. Tobin was the first official from the area to work Mid-American Conference games in both basketball and football. As an athlete, Tobin played on numerous amateur and industrial league championship basketball teams in the 1930s, including the Firestone Non-Skids, which captured the 1939-40 National Basketball League championship.

• Dave Robinson
  Football 1983

Dave Robinson has adopted Akron as his home, settling here in 1979 after a glorious pro football career as a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers and the Washington Redskins. Robinson was defensive captain of the Green Bay team that dominated pro football in the mid 1960s, winning three consecutive world championships, including the first two Super Bowls. Five times, Robinson was named All-Pro during his 10 years with the Packers. He also played in four Pro Bowl games, winning defensive MVP honors in 1968. Robinson was the first-round draft pick of Green Bay in 1963 after an All American career at Penn State. Traded in 1972, Robinson played his last three seasons with the Washington Redskins. He was named to the Packers' Hall of Fame in 1982 and he also was named to the Penn State all-time team.

• John Neidert
  Football 1983

The athletic career of John Neidert seemed at an end one dreary autumn day in 1968. He had just been cut by the Cincinnati Bengals mid-way through their first season in the American Football League. But the best was yet to come. Eight weeks later, Neidert pocketed a $15,000 check as a member of the world champion New York Jets, who defeated the Baltimore Colts in perhaps the most memorable of all Super Bowl games. Neidert picked up on waivers, was used as a reserve linebacker and special teams player by the Jets. Neidert earned All-City, All-District and All-Northeast Ohio honors as a guard at Hoban. After high school, Neidert had an outstanding collegiate career as a three-year starter at linebacker for the University of Louisville. He was twice an All-Missouri Valley Conference selection (1966 and '67) and was also named to the conference’s All-Academic team. He was taken by the Bengals in the sixth-round of the 1968 draft and played two seasons in the AFL.

• Fritz Kungl
  Soccer 1983

A native of Nasicka Breznica, Yugoslavia, Fritz Kungl learned to play soccer in Hungry. Prior to coming to the United States in 1952, Kungl honed his skills in Germany. He entered The University of Akron in 1958, at 23 years of age, and made his presence known immediately as the Zip boosters won nine of 10 matches. With that mark came Akron's first of four straight Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association championships and Kungl earned second team All-American honors at halfback. Kungl missed the 1959 season but returned to lead Akron to a 10-1 mark in 1960, 12-2 in 1961 and 5-4-1 in 1962. Switching to the left inside, Kungl enjoyed his most productive season in 1960, booting 17 goals, to lead the team, and assisting on eight others. On this occasion he earned honorable mention All-American. The Zip record slipped during Kungl's senior campaign but he was still accorded first team All-American honors. During his four-year career, Kungl accounted for 36 goals and 18 assists, was named All-Ohio and All-Midwest all four years. In 1976 Kungl was a charter inductee into UA's Sports Hall of Fame.

• Jack Beidleman
  Football 1983

Beidleman's talents were evident from the first moment he touched an Akron U football, running 24 yards for a TD. And when his UA football career ended four years later, his last collegiate carry was a six-yard TD burst. Sandwiched in between those two TDs was one outstanding career in which the 5-8, 155 pound speedster broke no less than 10 school records in rushing and scoring. Included are 3,032 yards rushing, 36 touchdowns and 226 points. He proved his versatility by catching 86 passes for 1,414 yards and seven TDs. In 1968, he helped UA gain its first post-season game - a trip to the Grantland Rice Bowl. A year later the Zips were 9-1, tying the school's all-time best mark. For his efforts, Beidleman earned All-American honors his junior (1969) and senior (1970) campaigns. As a sprinter and field events man in track, Jack paced UA in scoring three of his four years of competition. He culminated his athletic career by earning the 1971 Athlete of the Year award and 10 years later was inducted into UA's Hall of Fame.

• Jim Dennison
  Coach 1983

He is the most winning football coach at The University of Akron, one of the many firsts in his coaching career. During Dennison's 13 seasons (1973-85) at the helm of the UA football program, he was the first coach to win 10 games in one season; the first to win a post-season game; the first to play for a national championship, the first to be named Ohio Coach-of-the-Year, and the first to be named National Coach-of-the-Year. All of the above firsts came in the memorable 1976 season in which UA compiled a 10-3 record and finished national runner-up to Montana State for the NCAA II title. In 1982, he was selected as Co-Coach of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference. His UA record reads 80 wins, 62 losses and two ties. He developed 32 All-American players during his 21-year coaching career at UA. A native of Medina County, Dennison was the Dapper Dan Man-of-the-Year in 1977 and has been inducted into six hall of fames, including UA's in 1987.

• Goldie Duffey
  Bowling 1983

Goldie Duffey began bowling in the early 1940s, and by the end of the decade she was establishing herself as a dominant force in area bowling. The native Akronite was selected to the Beacon Journal's All-Star first team for the 1950-53 seasons as well as Bowler-of-the-Year each three seasons. She picked up a fourth Bowler-of-the-Year title in 1955-56. All told, she was named to the Beacon Journal elite squad 18 times. Among her many other honors, Mrs. Duffey won the state handicap doubles title with Isabell Jones and the Akron match-game title three times. Besides individual honors, she gained much renown as a member of the Ace-Mitchell Shur-Hook, ABC Cleaner and Bowlers Pride teams that dominated the area for a decade. Her career highs were a 706 series and a high game of 277. In 1977, she was named to the Tri-County Bowling Hall of Fame.

• Bob Gain
  Football 1983

This Akron native, who moved to Wierton, West Virginia at age 11, was one of the finest linemen in college during the late '40s and in the professional ranks in the '50s. Played for the immortal Paul "Bear" Bryant at the University of Kentucky. Equally skilled at offense and defense, the 6-3, 230 pound tackle was known for his fierceness on the line - he was called a "one-man wrecking crew." In 1950, his senior year, Gain reached his collegiate peak by being named first team All-American and was awarded the Outland Trophy as the best college lineman in the nation. He also helped Kentucky win the Southeast Conference title and a subsequent 13-7 win over Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. Following his graduation, Gain spend 13 years with the Cleveland Browns where her made All-Pro on several occasions and was on the Browns' NFL championship teams of 1954, '55 and '64. In 1981 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at Kings Island, Ohio.

• Bill White
  Bowling 1983

Bill White says he never took bowling seriously until he was 27 years old, when he joined Ace Mitchell's Shur-Hook team as the alternate in 1955. A year later, White was named to the Beacon Journal All-Star team for the first time. He would be named to the team eight more times. He was named the Beacon's Bowler-of-the-Year five times, the last in 1967. In 1961, he was the V.F.W. Ohio singles and all-even winner. He and Bill Beach won the state doubles title in 1964. That same year, he and Hall of Famer Dick Hoover finished fourth nationally in doubles. An early member of the Professional Bowlers Association, White has bowled three sanctioned 300 games and a high series of 796.