It was just announced minutes ago that NBC Sports personality Mike Tirico will host the inaugural University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame Gala. The event, honoring the first ever Illini sports Hall of Fame class, will be held in Stanley Hall at the Field Museum of Natural History (1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago) with a cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by the dinner and program at 7:30 p.m (tickets are $250).
It is black tie optional. Many of the big names being enshrined in the 2017 Illini Hall of Fame class are expected to be in attendance, but it is not known at this time which specific former athletes will be there and which ones will not be.
The inaugural class includes huge names like Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Nick Anderson, Lou Boudreau, Dick Butkus, Red Grange, George Halas, Steve Stricker and many more.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held Sept. 30 at State Farm Center in Champaign. Illinois hosts Nebraska in football the night before.
Mike Tirico joined NBC Sports in July 2016, and in February 2017, was named NBC’s primetime Olympic host, with his first broadcast in this role to come at the PyeongChang Olympics. Tirico made the move to NBC after 25 years at ESPN/ABC (1991-2016).
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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