The Marshall University Athletic Hall of Fame committee has announced the 2012 class for the Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame, including Soddy Daisy's Jermaine Swafford.

“This class represents some of the finest student-athletes in school history,” said Marshall Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick. “The contributions of these fine men and women are truly appreciated by everyone in the Marshall Athletics family.”

The group includes three former football players - one of which was later a coach and athletic director at Marshall - a pioneer as women’s track coach, and other student-athletes from baseball, basketball, cross country, swimming, track & field and volleyball.

This year’s class (in alphabetical order by last names):

Greg Kappas - Baseball, 1974-77;

William King - Football, 1990-93;

Charlie Kautz - Football, 1946-47/Football Assistant Coach, 1961-66/Assistant AD and Director of Athletics, 1966-70;

Jill Mussman-O’Brien - Volleyball, 1981-85;

Jim Sheridan - Swimming, 1973-77;

Arlene Stooke - Women’s Track & Field Coach, 1976-85;

Jermaine Swafford - Football and Track & Field, 1992-96; and,

Richard Watts - Cross Country and Track, 1973-77.

Tamar Slay, who played men’s basketball from 1998-2002, was elected but will not be able to attend the banquet this year due to his commitment with professional basketball overseas, starting just two weeks before this year’s induction banquet.

He, as well as 2011 elected member and former Herd head football coach, George Chaump, stay elected and will be inducted when they can attend the induction weekend.

The Hall of Fame Induction dinner will also feature former Marshall football and baseball player Tim Martin, elected last year but unable to attend.

The annual dinner will be on Friday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. in the Don Morris Room of the Marshall University Memorial Student Center.

Tickets are $30 each and are available through the Marshall University Ticket Office, in the lobby of the Cam Henderson Center on Third Avenue, at HerdZone.com or calling 1-800-THE HERD.

The honorees will have their tiles in the “Walk of Fame” at the Marshall Hall of Fame Cafe unveiled on Saturday morning at the restaurant, located at Ninth Street and Third Avenue in downtown Huntington.

The HOF members are then guests of the Marshall M-Club at the club’s tailgate at the southwest corner of the Joan C. Edwards Stadium at around 4 p.m.

This year’s class will be introduced about 15 minutes prior to the kickoff of the Ohio Bobcats at Marshall football game, on Sept. 15 between the two long-time rivals in “The Battle for the Bell”.

Tickets to the game are also available through the MU ticket office at the numbers or website listed above for banquet tickets.

Jermaine Swafford, Football and Track & Field (1992-96).

Swafford was an outstanding linebacker for the Thundering Herd from 1992-96.

He joined fellow HOF member (and cousin), Tim Martin (both from Soddy Daisy High School) at Marshall, and took a redshirt in 1992 for the National Championship I-AA football team, earning the second-ever J.D. Coffman award for his practice play on the scout team.

He would go on to win first team All-Southern Conference honors in both 1995 and 1996, the latter being the 15-0, No. 1, wire-to-wire National I-AA Champions. That season came under first-year head coach Bob Pruett, after being recruited by and coached the first four years by MU head coach Jim Donnan. That season, he was also named to the Walter Camp and the American Football Coaches Association first team All-American teams.

Swafford finished his career No. 10 all-time at Marshall in tackles, with 365 in a four-year career, while playing alongside William King (No. 4 in tackles) and MU HOF members Roger Johnson (No. 1 in tackles) and Larry McCloud (No. 3 in tackles).

The MU team posted a mark of 62-12 in his five years at Marshall, and Swafford was a team captain on the 1996 squad.

As a freshman, he had 11 solo tackles and seven assists for 18. Then in 1994, he finished second on the team with 47 solo, 49 assists for 96 total tackles, with four tackles for loss, two sacks, three passes broken up, two caused fumbles and ten QB pressures.

He was second again in 1995, with 121 total tackles. He had 70 solos, 51 assists, seven tackles for loss, two sacks, three passes broken up, two fumbles caused and recovered, an interception and five QB pressures.

Finally, in 1996, he was second once more with 130 total tackles, 78 solos, 52 assists, ten tackles for loss, two sacks, five passes broken up, an interception (for a 33-yard touchdown in the regular season win over Furman), two fumbles caused and four fumbles recovered.

He finished with 206 solo tackles, 159 assists, 21 tackles for loss, six sacks, 11 passes broken up, six fumbles caused, six fumbles recovered, two interceptions (one for TD) and 15 QB pressures (no stat kept for that in 1996).

Swafford also was a member of the Marshall track and field team. In 1994, he won the Southern Conference discus which also made him first team All-SC in track.

He is employed today by CSX as a Division Manager for the Florence Division, in Florence, S.C. He graduated with a BA from Marshall in May, 1998.