The inaugural class of the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame announced Thursday will include Bears legends George Halas, Red Grange and Dick Butkus.
Halas helped the Illini football team win the 1918 Big Ten Conference championship and also played basketball and baseball while earning a degree in civil engineering. Halas thought so much of his alma mater that he replicated its navy and orange colors with the Bears.
Grange was named the greatest college football player of all time by ESPN in 2008.