Six with local ties headed to new Illinois Sports Hall of Fame

Rich Zinanni has claimed earned recognition in a myriad of ways at the local, state and national level over the past five decades.

The IHSA’s third-winningest high school football coach ever, Zinanni’s coached national all-star teams and been recognized in just about every way imaginable. But even Zinanni was shocked at his latest accolade, one that puts his name right there with all-time athletic legends like Walter Payton and Michael Jordan.

Zinanni is one of six people either from the area or with local ties that are being inducted into the new Illinois Sports Hall of Fame. The new hall, which is online at ilshof.net and will eventually have its own physical space, will honor its inaugural class of inductees at a banquet in June, where Zinanni will have to pinch himself to make sure he’s not dreaming.

“Im floored by the whole thing and very honored,” Zinanni said. “It’s all people that supposedly made a difference in their sport in the history of Illinois athletics. To have my name among them is probably the biggest honor I’ve ever had. I’m really enthralled by the whole thing, and taken aback by it and thankful for opportunity to go down and see those other guys and be inducted in the first one.”

Zinanni, the longtime Bishop McNamara football coach with five state titles and 371 wins, will be inducted into the hall’s IHSA wing. The late Irish O’Reilly, a former Bishop McNamara baseball player and coach and Kankakee Community College baseball coach before a three-decade stint as the Lewis University baseball coach, and longtime Beecher Muskies semipro baseball coach Fred LeSage are also being inducted as coaches.

On the field, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Jack Sikma, a 1973 St. Anne graduate, is being inducted, as is Ben Zobrist, a 2016 World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs whose college career began at Olivet Nazarene University in the second class, the Class of 2025, which will be honored along with the 2024 class. Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, an Olympic gold medalist in women’s volleyball and husband of Bradley native Corbin Hackley, is also being inducted.

The banquet will be held June 13-14 at the Bank of Springfield Convention Center in Springfield, complete with a VIP party Friday and silent sports memorabilia auction Saturday. It is run by executive director Tim Turpin, who also oversees the Indiana and Ohio sports Halls of Fame and National Semipro Baseball Hall of Fame.

The hall recognizes players, coaches and other individuals from the prep, college, professional and Olympic ranks, including notable figures like Payton, Jordan, Ernie Banks and plenty more, making for the toughest of decisions on who to include in the first two classes that will be honored in June.

“The first thing we did was google the 50 greatest athletes in Illinois,” Turpin said. “As far as high schools and coaches, most wins and most state titles. And you want everybody represented for the most part.”

Turpin said that the hall is considering the Springfield area or metro St. Louis area for viable locations for a physical hall, where a building of roughly 60,000 square feet will be constructed.

“The biggest exhibit will be for the IHSA,” Turpin said. " ... There will be 12x12 marble tiles, and for the IHSA, every team that ever won a state championship will have a floor tile, over 2,000 IHSA state champions."