Houston Sports Hall Of Fame Announced

HOUSTON, TX — A trio of former pro athletes who played all or most of their careers in Houston are parts of multiple halls of fame, from state and regional to national halls. But now the they'll be the inaugural inductees in the Houston Sports Hall of Fame.

And they all wore No. 34 in Houston.

During an announcement at Thursday night's first Houston Sports Awards at Hilton Americas in downtown Houston, folks learned that former Oilers running back Earl Campbell, former Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan and former Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon will be the first class.

Oh, the list of potential inductees in the future can be a rather lengthy list, but what a heck of a start. The Houston Sports Hall of Fame will be built in the GreenStreet section of downtown Houston.

Organized by the Houston Sports Authority, the event was established to honor greatness in Houston sports and to also recognize great feats off the field, like J.J. Watt's Sportsmanship Award, Astros GM Jeff Luhnow named Executive of the Year and former Rockets owner Leslie Alexander getting the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was named Athlete of the Year and Astros manager A.J. Hinch was named Coach of the Year. Astros third baseman Alex Bregman won Moment of the Year for his walk-off single in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series.

University of Houston defensive lineman Ed Oliver won College Athlete of the Year and St. Pius quarterback Grant Gunnell won High School Athlete of the Year.

Image: (From left) Hakeem Olajuwon, Nolan Ryan and Earl Campbell are recognized during the Houston Sports Awards on February 8, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images for Houston Sports Awards)