TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State University will induct Class XXXII into its Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017.
 
Tickets for the banquet, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Tahlequah Community Center adjacent to the NSU Event Center, are $25 each. This also includes admission to the RiverHawks basketball doubleheader earlier that afternoon against Nebraska-Kearney. Reservations are required for the Athletics Hall of Fame banquet on or before Friday, Feb. 10. For information, or to make reservations, please call 918-444-3901.
 
Slated for induction are: The 1963 NSU Football Team, Darnell Hinson, Levi Molini, India (Williamson) Pillers and Jerry Wichert. This year's Spirit of Excellence recipient will be Charles Butler.
 
The 1963 football team completed a perfect 11-0 campaign, but was denied a playoff berth. NSU went on to beat Slippery Rock (PA), 59-12, in the All Sports Bowl to cap the season.
 
Hinson, a 2004 NCAA All-America selection, helped lead NSU to the 2003 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship. Named the Most Outstanding Player of the Elite Eight Tournament, Hinson is the all-time leading scorer in men's basketball at NSU.
 
Molini became NSU's first NCAA All-American (2001) after the university transitioned from NAIA to NCAA. Molini, a student-athlete in men's golf, was part of four NCAA Tournament Teams.
 
Pillers, a pitcher, was a 3-year letter winner in softball and led the team to the NCAA Softball Regional for the first, and only, time in school history. She still owns several softball pitching records at NSU.
 
Wichert was an All-America football player for NSU in 1980. He was a member of the 1980 team that finished as runners-up, losing at Elon (NC), 17-10, in the national championship game. He also won NSU's Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award and was an Outstanding Senior nominee.
 
Butler, a cancer survivor, was a 4-year letterman in football for NSU. His coaching career spanned more than three decades where he won numerous football and track state championships. He also was a team member of the 1963 NSU football squad being inducted in the Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
NOTE: This story will be updated with full biographical profiles and photos prior to the induction ceremony.