The 31st Annual Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony will be held on Monday, October 16 at 7 p.m. at the Oncenter in Syracuse.
The 2017 class of new inductees into the GSSHOF includes the following.
Leo Ferris: former Syracuse Nationals general manager who worked with owner Danny Biasone to institute the 24-second clock in the National Basketball Association.
Tom Fletcher: Christian Brothers Academy basketball and baseball star who starred in baseball at Le Moyne College and also played on the college’s basketball team. Also an accomplished golfer, he won the 2015 New York State Senior Amateur golf title
Dennis Hennigan: CBA graduate and current local attorney (partner at Costello, Cooney & Fearon PLLC) who became a high-level college football referee and administrator, including serving as head referee in 15 bowl games. That included the 2004 Bowl Championship Series national championship game at the Sugar Bowl.
Len Lasinsky: Syracuse/Baldwinsville native who was named 1983 New York State Junior Golf Champion, won four straight Herald Amateur golf tournaments from 1989-1992, and was 1991 New York State Men’s Amateur Golf Champ. He was also a star college golfer. Lasinsky accomplished all of these feats while struggling with kidney disease. He died at the age of 39 in 2007.
Joe Mazella: Successful Henninger High School boy’s basketball coach who grew up in Lyncourt and graduated from Bishop Grimes High School and SUNY Cortland. Over a 15-year head coaching career at Henninger, his teams won one state title, finished second twice, and won numerous league, sectional titles, and regional titles. The Henninger High School basketball court was named “Joe Mazella Court” following his death in 2009 at the age of 51
Bob McKenney: Current Bishop Grimes High School boys’ basketball coach who has won more than 550 games during his career in Vermont and New York state. As coach of Jamesville–Dewitt High School for 19 seasons, his teams won five New York State boys’ basketball championships, including four in a row.
Dan Sheehan: Le Moyne College men’s lacrosse coach who has led his program to five NCAA D-II national lacrosse championships. As a player, he starred on state-championship winning teams at West Genesee High School and played collegiately at Ithaca College.
Kathy Taylor: Very successful Fayetteville Manlius High School girls’ lacrosse head coach, and later women’s lacrosse head coach at SUNY Cortland and Le Moyne College. Won two state girls’ championships at FM, made four straight Final Fours in D-III Women’s lax at Cortland and three consecutive D-II Final Fours at Le Moyne.
The GSSHOF announced the new class at a news conference held Monday at the Sports Hall of Fame Showcase at Drivers Village in Cicero.
With the eight new inductees, a total of 232 men and women will have been inducted into the GSSHOF since the first Induction Ceremony in 1987, the organization said.
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