SMU Athletics Announces 2025 Hall Of Fame Class

Courtesy: SMU Athletics

DALLAS (SMU) – SMU and SMU Athletics, in conjunction with the SMU Lettermen’s Association, have announced the newest class of the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame. The inductees are 2011 U.S. Amateur Champion golfer Kelly Kraft; 1988 Olympic gold medalist sprinter Kevin Robinzine; two-time Southwest Conference tennis champion Claire Sessions-Bailey; and three-time NCAA Diving Coach of the Year and 2024 Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame inductee Jim Stillson. The inductees will be recognized at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony on Friday, October 10 in Armstrong Fieldhouse.

Kelly Kraft – Men’s Golf 2007-11
Kelly Kraft, the 2011 U.S. Amateur Champion, was a three-time All-Region selection and four-time All-C-USA golfer for SMU from 2007-11. He was named C-USA Golfer of the Year in 2010 and earned All-America honorable mention in 2011. He had an SMU-career scoring average of 72.34 and holds the program career records for number of rounds at par or better (81), number of rounds counted for team score (146) and conference player of the week honors (11). His four tournament wins ranks second in SMU history to the seven by 2020 SMU Hall of Famer and 2007 U.S. Amateur winner Colt Knost. He also claimed medalist honors at the 2008 and 2011 Texas Amateur, the 2008 Trans-Mississippi U.S. Amateur and the South Beach International Amateur. He was part of the 2011 U.S Walker Cup Team before going on to play more than 200 events on the PGA Tour. Kraft made the cut at the 2012 Masters, the 2017 PGA Championship and the 2019 PGA Championship. He won the 2015 Professional Chitimacha Louisiana on the Web.com Tour.

Kevin Robinzine – Men’s Track & Field 1984-87
Olympic gold medalist Kevin Robinzine was a three-time NCAA Champion and nine-time All-American for SMU from 1984-87, helping the Mustangs claim the 1986 NCAA Outdoor Championship. He was part of SMU’s 1600-meter relay team that won national titles at the 1985 NCAA Indoor Championships, 1986 NCAA Indoor Championships and 1986 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The NCAA relay championships included teammates Tommy Lovelace, Sven Nylander, Roy Martin (2x), Harold Spells (2x) and 2017 Hall of Fame inductee Rod Jones (3x). Robinzine went on to win a gold medal for the United States in the 1600-meter relay at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, equaling the previous world record at 2:56.16.

Claire Sessions-Bailey – Women’s Tennis 1989-92
Claire Sessions-Bailey was a two-time Southwest Conference Champion and SWC Player of the Year at SMU from 1989-92. As a senior, she finished No. 26 in the ITA singles rankings after claiming the SWC No. 1 singles title and being named the SWC Player of the Year. She previously won the 1990 SWC No. 1 doubles title with Kim Gaido. Sessions-Bailey finished her SMU career ranked fourth all-time in singles wins (77) and was selected Second-Team SWC All-Decade. She was later the head coach for SMU from 1997-2000, finishing runner-up in the WAC in 1999 and making the semifinals in the other three seasons.

Jim Stillson – Diving Head Coach 1983-2017
Jim Stillson was a three-time NCAA Coach of the Year and 16-time conference Coach of the Year, helping the Mustangs claim 33 conference titles. He coached four individuals to eight NCAA Championships and 20 student-athletes to 71 All-America honors. He has also mentored three NCAA Divers of the Year and 10 U.S. National Champions and saw 21 SMU divers win 89 conference championships. On the International level, he coached three Olympians to four appearances, including Scott Donie (USA), who won silver in 1992. Stillson served as one of the U.S. Diving National Team coaches from 1987-91 and again in 1997. In addition, he was selected as a team leader for the USA Diving team at the 2007 Pan American Games. He earned the United States Olympic Committee Diving Coach of the Year award in 1999 and the Mike Malone Memorial Award given for outstanding contributions to diving by the national governing body of the sport in 1992. Stillson received the Paragon Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2015 for his outstanding contributions to competitive diving and USA Diving’s Phill Boggs Award in 2017 for individual excellence and giving back to assure the sport’s continued success. He was a 2024 inductee in the Texas Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame. He was a high school All-American at Campbell High (California) and went on to compete at Ohio State where he earned NCAA All-America honors on 3 meter his senior year.

For additional information on purchasing tickets to the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet, call 214-768-4314 or email Jeff Lockhart at [email protected].