The 2019 UNI Athletics Hall of Fame class personifies greatness and the family-oriented nature that UNI is all about.

The class includes the 2010 Sweet 16 team, women’s basketball player and championship coach Kris Huffman, Panther wide receiver turned NFL pro Eddie Berlin, women’s basketball’s second all-time leading wins leader in coach Tony DiCecco, national wrestling champion Don Parker and All-American track athlete Diana Leftridge.

“That was a great class,” 2012 Hall Of Fame inductee and head football coach Mark Farley said.  “It was a special group of people that they put in just because I saw them affect those [former] players and teams.”

The highlight quote from the 2010 basketball giant killers embodies the unselfish nature of the group to only want to represent UNI with excellence. 

“All these guys wanted to do […] was represent Northern Iowa the best that they possibly could,” Head Coach Ben Jacobson said.  “They were gonna do it their way.  The game was going to get physical.  The rubber was going to meet the road.  This here, these guys.  This is the road.  I am tremendously, tremendously proud of these guys for who they are.  Not what they did, but for who they are.  The fact that they love Northern Iowa.”

Another sentiment that encapsulates what UNI is all about was left by former women’s basketball player Kris Huffman, who shot the lights out  at 48.3% from three, a UNI record.

“I came to Northern Iowa for a major and a chance to play basketball,” Huffman said.  “I walked away with a life.”

Huffman also had a Hall of Fame coaching career at DePauw University in Indiana.  She led the women’s basketball program to two national championships, as well as racking up over 600 wins and counting.  For her accomplishments, Huffman was the court coach for the 2008 USA Basketball Women’s U18 team.

Eddie Berlin, a former five-year NFL receiver, left his mark at UNI with a career record of 249 receptions.  The Urbandale native is also second in the Panther record books with 3,735 yards, only behind eight-year pro Dedric Ward. 

“We had Eddie and his whole crew here that day,” Farley said.  “They actually came up to the offices after the Hall of Fame [ceremony] … We could’ve dressed all those guys out [for the game].”

Coach Farley also spoke to the family aspect between fellow Panthers.

“The best thing about UNI Football … it’s like a brotherhood up there,” Farley said.  “If you were a Panther you’re always a Panther.”

Being drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2001 afforded Berlin the dream of playing in the NFL alongside greats like Eddie George and the late Steve McNair.  Two greats that came up just shy in Super Bowl XXXIV against fellow Panther and Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner.

Berlin also experienced playing for one of the most historic franchises in the Chicago Bears in 2005.  Day in and day out, the former Panther was around defensive greats like Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman. 

Coach Farley relishes the opportunity when any former Panther who made it to the NFL comes back to campus.

“Anytime a former player comes back and comes back to our practice I actually bring them in to talk to the team,” Farley said.  “Only to tell them the experience of what they had here, and 99.9% of the time they’re going to them why and what UNI has done for them.  How going through this university and this football program has helped them get to where they’re at today.”

The greatness of the 2019 class also includes Tony DiCecco, the second all-time leading wins leader (183) in UNI women’s basketball history. 

“I have been truly blessed with this honor, and I will cherish this honor for a long time,” DiCecco said.  “I wouldn’t be here on this stage without a lot of people … I was absolutely blessed with amazing players, amazing coaches and amazing mentors.”

Don Parker, one of the best Panther wrestlers to grace the mats for UNI, represented “the Panther Train” in this year’s class.  Parker was a two-time national champion in 1966 and 1967, and left an important piece of advice in his speech.

“If I was to leave a message, you will meet a lot of outstanding people, so relish those moments as you go throughout your life.”

Dianna Leftridge was named to the conference All-Centennial team for her accomplishments highlighted by finishing seventh in the long jump at the 1995 NCAA Championship.  Leftridge also spoke about appreciating the people that afford you the privilege to experience special moments in life such as chasing your dream.

“For all of the athletes out there, don’t take for granted the sacrifice that your family and friends made so you can achieve your dreams,” Leftridge said.

Three-time wrestling All-American Dr. Justin Greenlee received the Merlin Taylor Academic Hall of Fame award.  For Greenlee, it was also about the people at UNI as that theme prevailed throughout the ceremony.

“I had options out of high school , but when I came to UNI I found the people here that believed 100 perecent in what I could do,” Greenlee said.

Coach Farley pointed out that UNI Athletics wouldn’t be possible without supporters like Stan Lorenz, who earned the Dr. Jitu Kothari Meritorious Service award.

“Stan Lorenz as a supporter, and what they [supporters] have done for our athletic department,” Farley said.  “Also, what they [HOF inductees and award recipients] did for their teams when they were in their prime, so I thought it was pretty cool to see those people go in knowing what they did.”