The 2026 class will also be recognized during MSU’s Sept. 12 football game against Eastern Michigan University. MSU has previously inducted 193 Spartans, who are displayed in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center.

Kalin Lucas

Lucas leaves Michigan State as the program's all-time leader in free throws made, hitting 507 of his 637 attempts from the line. The former men's basketball player's name is also scattered throughout the record book elsewhere: third in games played (141), fourth in field-goal attempts (1,575), fifth in scoring (1,996 points), games started (119) and sixth in assists (558).

After a four-year career, Lucas left as MSU’s all-time leader in free throws made (507/637). He finished third in games played (141), fourth in field-goal attempts (1,575), fifth in scoring (1,996 points) and started in 119 games. 

Lucas, born and raised in Michigan, has earned his place in MSU basketball infamy. Lucas was born in Detroit and played high school ball at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Preparatory High School before his recruitment to MSU. During his freshman season, Lucas averaged 10.3 points and .381 assist, landing him fifth in the Big Ten. That year, Lucas appeared in 36 games, starting in 17, including the last 12 of the season. 

Between seasons, Lucas was chosen among select college basketball players to be a counselor at LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio, which played host to some of the best high school players in the nation.

By Lucas’ junior year, he averaged 14.8 points and four assists per game in a consistent starting role. In the first month of his junior campaign, he became the 40th player in MSU history to score 1,000 career points in a 20-point performance against Florida.  

He started every game his senior year, solidifying himself as one of the greatest Spartan point guards. Lucas averaged a team-leading 17 points per game with a keen sense of the floor at all times. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. 

Izzo called Lucas to tell him the news of his induction. Lucas said the induction will be special, especially near Grind Week, the yearly reunion of former MSU Basketball players at the beginning of the season.

“That call from Coach Izzo turned it into a day that I won’t forget,” Lucas said in an MSU Athletics press release. “It's going to be emotional, but I think it's going to be cool too, just because it's around the time of Grind Week. That will make it even more special.  All the guys are going to be back, all the players I’ve played with, past players that I’ve watched and got a lot of respect for, and I think it's going to be just a whole big event.”

Lindsay Bowen

MSU’s All-time leader in three-pointers will soon hear her name next to the greatest Spartans of all time. Bowen was an integral part of the 2005 MSU women’s basketball team that took down University of Tennessee to reach the National Championship for the first time. 

With over four years in East Lansing, Bowen started in every game. She averaged 40% from the three-point line and posted an average of 13.3 points per game. Her 219 long balls are tied for 14th in Big Ten History.

Bowen will join her two teammates, Kristin Haynie and Liz Shimek, who have already been inducted.

“I was very shocked. I did not expect that, but obviously very happy, excited, and honored to get to be in the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. That's so cool,” Bowen said. “I've grown up a Spartan fan since I was really young. I dreamed of going to Michigan State. That was always my dream, but I never dreamt that I would be a Hall of Famer.” 

Tico Duckett

4,176 career rushing yards and 26 touchdowns — all without missing a game. An all-time great MSU running back, Tico Duckett, will be remembered for a bruising running attack under head coach George Perles that left defensive lines disoriented.

Duckett’s emblematic sophomore campaign was solidified when he rushed for 10 touchdowns on a Big Ten-leading 1,376 rushing yards. Duckett finished the season earning first-team All-Big Ten honors while being named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. MSU finished as Big Ten co-champions that season with an 8-3-1 record. 

Duckett was the first Spartan to have three 1,000-yard rushing seasons and the third to run for more than 4,000 yards over a career. 

Duckett said being inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame will top the list of his life’s honors.

“This is number one for sure, it ranks at the top no question,” said Duckett. “Any time you’re inducted into any kind of Hall of Fame, whether it’s sports or something else, it’s just an exclamation point on your career. It’s that final drop in your career, and it’s something that nobody can take away from you, you’ve earned it.”

Dan Currie

Two-time NFL Champion and MSU All-American Linebacker Dan Currie will posthumously be inducted with this year’s Hall of Fame group. 

From 1955-57, Currie became a prominent force on the Spartans' offensive line. In his final season, Currie finished eighth in Heisman voting, and the following spring was drafted third overall by the Green Bay Packers. After a league-worst 1-10-1 season, the Packers hired infamous head coach Vince Lombardi. After that poor season, Lombardi said Currie was the only player on the roster who would not be traded or released, according to Packers’ team historian Cliff Christl.

His NFL career came to an end in 1967 with the Los Angeles Rams. Currie earned first-team All-Pro honors in 1962 and went to the Pro Bowl in 1960. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1984. Currie died at Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas in 2017.

Sue Latter-Addison

When Latter-Addison was 16 in 1973, while running at Clarkston High School, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 1972 ruling allowing girls to compete in non-contact varsity sports with boys in Michigan. From there, she became one of the greatest women runners of her time. 

That first year she was allowed to compete in high school, she won the 440-yard dash and 880-yard run at the first Michigan girls' high school state meet. Originally planning to attend Central Michigan, she switched to MSU after a Title IX ruling gave her the ability to compete in East Lansing. 

Latter-Addison became an All-American and conference champion as a Spartan. In 1977, she finished ahead of two Olympians to win the 800-meter run in AAU Nationals. That win allowed her to compete at the World Cup in Germany the same season, while she later competed on six U.S. national teams.

“One thing I learned at Michigan State was tenacity,” Latter-Addison said. “I missed the Olympic team (in 1984) by three-tenths of a second. I made a lot of national teams, but not that one. Even though I was probably depressed for a month, it helps you in your coaching because you realize you’re only as good as your last race. There’s going to be ups, there’s going to be downs, there’s going to be injuries, but if you love the sport, you do it for more than just the wins.”

Leah O’Connor-Falland and track and field coach Walt Drenth:

There haven’t been many other runners like O’Connor-Falland at MSU, and alongside her championship coach, Drenth, she didn’t lose often.

Drenth, who coached from 2004-20, and O’Connor-Falland, who ran from 2011-15, made an everlasting mark on MSU track & field. Under Drenth, MSU women’s cross country won five conference titles, and the track & field team topped the conference in 2015. With Drenth and  O’Connor-Falland, MSU’s 2014 NCAA women’s cross-country national championship is the most recent national team title at MSU.

“Without exaggeration, Drenth taught me some of the most important lessons of my young adult life, lessons that still echo in my mind more than a decade later,” O’Connor-Falland said. “Ironically, one of the greatest was learning to slow down. He taught me to be brave in the face of the unknown, to embrace discomfort, to trust the process, and to remember to breathe. Those things sound simple, but they're not. Above all, he taught me that asking for help isn't a weakness, it's part of becoming the best version of yourself. His legacy extends far beyond the years we spent together, but I'm incredibly proud to be inducted alongside him and to celebrate the impact he's had on generations of athletes.”

Over his tenure, Drenth was a six-time Big Ten Coach of the Year. His athletes saw two individual NCAA titles, 37 Big Ten titles, 51 NCAA Championships berths and 180 All-American honors. 

“I feel a great sense of gratitude for the people that I worked with at Michigan State,” Drenth said. “The athletes, the staff, and everyone who helped us become competitive. You don’t become competitive in a vacuum, so I’m grateful for all of the people at MSU that chose to surround themselves within our program.”

For O’Connor-Falland, her success was bountiful. She accumulated several awards, including being the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Athlete of the Year in 2015. In the same season, she won the women’s mile run at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships with the fastest time (4:27.18) in NCAA Championships history until 2024.