Ron Mercer, Wayne Turner among six named to UK’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
Six individuals from four different University of Kentucky sports were named Thursday to the school’s athletics Hall of Fame.
Chanda Bell (softball), Sawyer Carroll and AJ Reed (baseball), Ron Mercer and Wayne Turner (men’s basketball) and Danny Trevathan (football) will be enshrined as Kentucky’s class of 2020.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a date for the induction ceremony has not yet been scheduled but typically takes place in September.
The UK Athletics Hall of Fame was started in 2005. The charter class included 88 individuals who had previously had a jersey retired by UK. The Hall of Fame now totals 179 after Thursday’s six additions.
There is a five-year waiting period after leaving UK to be eligible for inclusion into the Hall of Fame. A committee consisting of Hall of Famers, media members, campus representatives and current coaches and administrators elects new inductees each year.
Bell pitched at UK from 2009-12, helping lead the Wildcats to the first four NCAA Tournament appearances in school history. She won 68 games with a career ERA of 2.55 and still holds five school records: strikeouts in a game (16), season (288) and career (910) along with lowest opponent batting average in a season (.175) and career (.200).
Bell threw five no-hitters, including the first no-hitter (2009) and first perfect game (2012) in UK history.
She is now an assistant coach at Indiana University.
Reed, who played baseball at UK from 2012-14 is the most accomplished player in program history. He was named unanimous National Player of the Year in 2014 when he posted a .336 batting average, 23 home runs and 73 RBI while going 12-2 as a pitcher with a 2.09 ERA.
Reed was drafted in the second round in 2014 by the Houston Astros and spent three seasons with the Astros and one with the Chicago White Sox — mostly in the minors — before announcing his retirement this spring.
Carroll, who played outfield for the Cats in 2007 and 2008, was a consensus First Team All-America selection in his final season. He holds UK career records for batting average (.386) and on-base percentage (.483). He set UK’s single-season record for RBI (83) in 2008, when he was a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, which goes to college baseball’s national player of the year. Carroll was drafted in the third round by the San Diego Padres in 2008 and went on to play seven years in the minor leagues.
Mercer, played two seasons at Kentucky in 1995-96 and 1996-97, winning a national championship with the Cats in 1996 and being named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 1997. He is a member of UK’s 1,000-point club (1,013). Mercer was chosen sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1997 draft and played eight seasons in the NBA.
Turner, who played at UK from 1995-99, won two national championships and played in three Final Fours with the Wildcats. He played in 151 games at UK, second only to Darius Miller’s 152. He still holds the Kentucky record for career steals (238) and ranks 42nd on the team’s all-time scoring list with 1,170 points. Turner went on to play briefly in the NBA and professionally in Europe before a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters.
Trevathan played linebacker at UK from 2008-11 and became the first Wildcat at that position to earn All-America recognition. He led the SEC in tackles as a junior and senior, earning league First Team honors both seasons. As a senior, Trevathan totaled 143 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions, five caused fumbles and five pass breakups.
Trevathan was a sixth-round draft pick by the Denver Broncos in 2012 and went on to lead the team in tackles twice, play on two Super Bowl teams and win one. He now plays for the Chicago Bears, where he has spent the past four seasons.
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 2:18 PM.