NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor for Athletics and University Affairs and Athletic Director Candice Storey Lee today announced the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame’s newest class, with enshrinees representing eight varsity programs across more than 60 years.
Whether making history on the Olympic medal stand, playing in Super Bowls or writing novels that inspired Hollywood blockbusters, the Class of 2024 is an eclectic and accomplished bunch. Enshrinees followed different paths to a place among Vanderbilt’s all-time greats. But wherever life took them, they shared a commitment to reaching the full heights of their athletic, academic and individual potential—as well as a shared starting point for their journeys: Vanderbilt.
- Pedro Alvarez, baseball
- Chris Brady (Wolfe), women’s golf
- Luke List, men’s golf
- John Ed Miller, men’s basketball
- Pat Toomay, football
- Leslie Vidmar (Rubino), track and field
- Ralph Webb, football
- Lily Williams, cross country and Olympics
- Brenard Wilson, football pioneer
- Christina Wirth (Ricketts), women’s basketball
Vanderbilt will also honor the 1965 men’s basketball team that Miller and fellow Hall of Fame member Clyde Lee helped lead to an SEC title and NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance.
Official induction ceremonies will be Feb. 28; more details will follow. This year’s class allows the Hall of Fame to eclipse the century mark in membership, with 106 former student-athletes, coach, staff and legends now enshrined.
Pedro Alvarez, baseball
Alvarez was a cornerstone of head coach Tim Corbin’s early teams. He debuted by hitting a program-record 22 home runs, earning 2006 SEC Freshman of the Year honors and national freshman of the year honors from multiple media organizations. He was a two-time first-team All-American in three seasons and left as the program’s all-time home run leader.
The No. 2 overall selection in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, Alvarez debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates just two years later. In nine MLB seasons with the Pirates and Orioles, he hit 136 home runs. In 2013, he led the National League with 36 home runs, was named an All-Star and received the Silver Slugger Award as the NL’s best hitting third baseman.
Chris Brady (Wolfe), women’s golf
Brady made Vanderbilt history on the golf course, and she’s still making it as a Hall of Fame inductee. She joins her mother, former women’s golfer Peggy Harmon Brady, in the Hall of Fame, the first mother-daughter combination so enshrined.
Brady earned All-SEC honors in each of her first three seasons, including first-team accolades in 2005. She was also named a third-team All-American in 2006. Setting a standard that still hasn’t been exceeded, she was Vanderbilt’s first four-time individual medalist and won at least one tournament in each of her first three years. A three-year captain, she was part of teams that won the program’s first SEC and NCAA regional titles and finished fifth in the NCAA Championships.
Brady went on to compete professionally in LPGA and Futures Tour events.
Luke List, men’s golf
List set a new standard of golf excellence from almost the moment he arrived at Vanderbilt. In 2004, his third-team honors marked the first All-America recognition for a Vanderbilt freshman men’s golfer. He also earned First-Team All-SEC honors and finished second in that year’s U.S. Amateur at renowned Winged Foot Golf Club in New York.
List went on to earn First-Team All-SEC and honorable mention All-America honors in each of his last three seasons with the Commodores. In 2005, he was the individual medalist at the Mason Rudolph Championship. In a decorated professional career, List has reached the top 50 in the world rankings and is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour.
John Ed Miller, men’s basketball
Miller competed for championships in Memorial Gymnasium before he ever took the court for the Commodores in the 1960s—he led Union City to the state high school tournament, which was then played in Vanderbilt’s iconic gym. But it was as a star of one of the first golden eras of Vanderbilt men’s basketball that he helped the Commodores to their first SEC title in 1965.
Playing alongside Hall of Famer Clyde Lee, Miller was captain and point guard on the 1964–65 juggernaut that went 24-4. He was at his best in big moments, beating No. 1 Kentucky with a game-winning shot in 1964 and hitting two late free throws to beat the Wildcats again in 1965. Miller has also been inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
Pat Toomay, football
Toomay was a dominant pass rusher who proved to be as adept at writing about life in football as he was at creating havoc in opposing backfields.
Toomay was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round of the 1970 NFL Draft (the same draft in which the Cowboys selected Vanderbilt teammate Bob Asher). He played 10 NFL seasons and was the first Commodore to play in the Super Bowl when the Cowboys reached Super Bowl V. He and Asher became the first Commodores to win a Super Bowl when the Cowboys won Super Bowl VI. In 1977, with the Raiders, he led the AFC in sacks.
He is the author of several novels, including On Any Given Sunday. He appeared in Oliver Stone’s film adaptation of the novel.
Leslie Vidmar (Rubino), track and field
Setting the stage for today’s impressive throwers, including NCAA champion Veronica Fraley, Vidmar was a two-time All-American in the shot put at the close of the 20th century. She joins teammate Ryan Tolbert Jackson in representing track and field in the Hall of Fame.
In 1997, Vidmar became just Vanderbilt’s third All-American in outdoor track and field and the first thrower to earn that distinction. A year later, she became the second Commodore to earn indoor All-America honors. As a measure of her dominance, the outdoor program record she set in shot put in 1998 not only stood for 24 years but remained nearly 10 feet better than any challenger until Divine Oladipo set the new standard in 2022. Vidmar also held the indoor program record in weight throw and outdoor record in discus when she left.
Ralph Webb, football
The Vanderbilt football record book isn’t Webb’s biography, but it’s a good place to start. Webb is the school’s all-time leading rusher, smashing the previous mark by more than 1,000 yards. He also holds the single-season record with 1,283 rushing yards in 2016 and ranks fourth on the same list with 1,152 yards in 2015.
You know you did something right on the field when you keep company with Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker in the SEC record book, and the former Georgia standout is the only player in conference history who amassed more rushing attempts than Webb. Webb led the Commodores in rushing yards in each of his four seasons and is one of only four players to rush for at least 200 yards in a game.
Lily Williams, cross country and Olympian
A runner on the cross country team during her time at Vanderbilt, Williams in those days mostly used a bike to explore Nashville and relax. But after finding new outlets for her competitive spirit upon graduation, she took up competitive cycling and became Vanderbilt’s first female Olympian, gold medalist and two-time medalist.
In 2021, during the Tokyo Olympics, Williams helped the United States win bronze in track cycling’s team pursuit—a high-speed test of nerves on the steep-banked track. She improved on that as part of the American gold medal entry in team pursuit in the 2024 Paris Olympics. An accomplished road racer, Williams has also participated in the pioneering Tour de France Femmes.
Brenard Wilson, football
Wilson was a pioneer and defensive cornerstone in the mid-1970s. The Florida native was a Second-Team All-SEC selection at safety in 1976-77—the team’s only All-SEC selection in 1976. He still ranks second in program history in single-season and career fumbles recovered.
Wilson played seven NFL seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, starting more than 60 games and intercepting 17 passes. He was part of the Eagles team that reached Super Bowl XV at the end of the 1980 season, alongside Vanderbilt Hall of Famer Dennis Harrison. Wilson and Harrison were the third and fourth Commodores to reach the Super Bowl.
Christina Wirth (Ricketts), women’s basketball
Wirth was a standout scholar and a prolific scorer during a highly successful era for women’s basketball. An impact player from almost the moment she arrived, Wirth hit at least 40 percent of her 3-point attempts in each of her first three seasons and led the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage as a junior.
But it was as a senior that Wirth cemented her Vanderbilt legacy with one of the most decorated seasons in program history. On the court in 2008–09, Wirth earned First-Team All-SEC honors and led the team in scoring for the second season in a row as Vanderbilt went 26-9. Off the court, she was named an Academic All-American and honored as the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She also received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
