TOWSON, Md. – Towson's Athletics Hall of Fame has announced its 2021 class of inductees that includes former Tigers from football, golf, men's lacrosse and women's track in addition to two longtime administrators, all of whom will be honored at the 57^th Annual Induction Banquet set for Friday, October 16 at the Martin's Valley Mansion on the eve of the university's Homecoming Weekend.

The Hall of Fame was forced to cancel its 2020 induction banquet due to COVID-19 restrictions resulting in the carry over of inductees.

The seven inductees include Jermon Bushrod (football), Jeff Castle (golf), Dan Cocchi (lacrosse), Dan O'Connell (administration/media relations) Tina Shriver (track & field) and Sean Schaefer (football). Nance Reed (administrator) is being inducted posthumously). Towson's 1987-88 men's tennis team will be honored as a Team of Distinction.

Registration for the banquet will open in August.

Here's a snapshot of the seven inductees:
JERMON BUSHROD – Football (2003-06) – A four-year starter at offensive tackle for Towson, Jermon went on to a 12-year career in the NFL, becoming a two-time Pro Bowl selection. He came to Towson as a walk-on, later earning a scholarship. A 2007 Tiger captain, he earned All-Atlantic 10 postseason honors three times; honorable mention as a sophomore, second team as a junior and first team as a senior. He was a fourth round draft choice of the New Orleans Saints. As the 125^th player taken in the 2007 NFL college draft he was the highest draft pick of any Atlantic 10 player that year. After an understudy role with the Saints his first two years he became a fixture in the lineup, helping them to a Super Bowl championship in 2010. In 2013 he was traded to Chicago where he played three years for the Bears before moving on to the Miami Dolphins for two years. In 2018 he returned to New Orleans for a second tour with the Saints, competing for snaps as a utility lineman. He officially retired as a Saint in 2019. As a college player he made 38 consecutive starts. As a pro he was a starter in 128 of his 145 games played. Jermon was the recipient of the university's prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015.

JEFF CASTLE – Golf (2003-07) – Just the third golfer to enter Towson's HOF, Jeff is the men's program record holder for 54 holes with a 200 (-13) he carded at the 2004 JMU Invitational. That remains the record by six strokes. Still shares Towson's single round, 18 hole record of 63 (-8). He is the school record holder in career starts (48) and career rounds (118). His career 73.16 average is second all-time at Towson (record is 73.00 by Towson Hall of Famer Billy Wingerd). In his sophomore year he did not card a round over 74. A team captain, he was the medalist in the Towson Invitational his senior year. He was twice (2005 and 2006) named the Colonial Athletic Association's Player of the Year. He was All-CAA all four years, first team twice, second team twice. He was instrumental in helping the Tigers to two (2004, 2005) of the program's four NCAA Tournament appearances. He was Towson's 2006 Male Athlete of the Year. In 2010 he was one of just two Tigers named to the CAA's 25^th Anniversary Men's Golf Team. He was a three-time Golf Coaches Association of America All-Region selection, designating him as one of the Mid-Atlantic's top 15 college players each of those years. As an undergraduate he won the Maryland State Golf Association Amateur title. Later, he captured back-to-back Mid-Amateur titles (2013, 2014). He served as a Tiger assistant golf coach to Brian Yaniger for five years (2013-2018).
 
DAN COCCHI – Lacrosse (2000-03) - A four-year starter as a long stick defenseman he helped the Tigers to a pair of conference titles (American East 2001, Colonial Athletic Association 2003), earning Towson a trip to the NCAA Tournament each time. After the Tigers' 3-10 showing in 2000 he played a key role in Towson's 14-4 record the following year marking the biggest one-year turnaround in the history of college lacrosse. He was named a 2^nd team All-American that season. He was an honorable mention All-American in his junior and senior seasons. Dan was a 1^st team all-conference selection three straight years, and a 2^nd teamer in his freshman year. He was one of five Towson players named to the CAA's 25^th Anniversary Team. A captain in his senior he was named the CAA's Defensive Player of the Year in 2003. Dan closed out his career with 283 ground balls to rank 2^nd on Towson's all-time list. He played 10 years in the Major Lacrosse League with the Bridgeport Barrage, Long Island Lizards, Baltimore Bayhawks (MLL champions in 2005), the Los Angeles Riptide and the Denver Outlaws. He was selected to play in the 2006 MLL All-Star Game. Dan served as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Towson from 2011 to 2018 until he left to join the staff at Rutgers. In 2016 the Tigers led the nation with 7.26 goals allowed per game. Three of his players were named CAA Defensive Player of the Year. In 2016 he became just the second Towson player inducted into the Long Island Metro Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame, joining former Tiger great and Towson Hall of Famer Bob Griebe. He earned a Master's degree in educational technology from Butler University in 2005 while assisting former Tiger assistant coach Stan Ross on the Bulldogs' lacrosse squad.

DAN O'CONNELL - Athletic Media Relations (1979-2014) - Dan devoted 35 years of his professional career to Towson University, working in its athletic media relations office where he excelled at promoting the Tigers' teams and student-athletes on local, regional and national stages. His commitment to the promotion of their academic success as well as their athletic accomplishments developed into a national position with the College Sports Information Directors of America when he served on CoSIDA's signature outreach program, the Academic All-America committee, for 27 years. He eventually rose to the position of its vice-chairman for public relations. In 2008 he received CoSIDA's prestigious Lester Jordan Award for his longtime service on that committee. In 2016 he received CoSIDA's Lifetime Achievement Award.  During his tenure six Towson student-athletes were honored as NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients; they remain the only Tigers to date to be so recognized. A past ECAC-SIDA president, he was selected as the ECAC's Irving T. Marsh Service Award recipient presented to recognize excellence in the field of sports information. He served as P.R. Director for the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) from 2000-04. Among his duties at Towson he was responsible for the supervision of the student staff and the media relations intern program, mentoring numerous graduates who went on to careers in media relations and journalism. His penchant for detail led to the compilation of archival records and important historical references for Towson's 23 sports. The recipient of many publications awards, his 2009 Tiger Football Media Guide was rated second in the nation in the Football Championship Subdivision. Over his career he developed a competency for statistics keeping. While guiding Towson's media relations office through the evolution of computerized stats, his reputation as a sports statistician grew, initially working television and radio broadcasts of NFL games. Since 2006 he has served as the Assistant Director of Statistics for the Baltimore Ravens. He was the team's radio statistician at the 2001 XXXV Super Bowl.
 
NANCE REED - Administrator (1982-2013) – Nance helped guide Towson's Athletics Department through its growth as a NCAA Division I program and its development of women's sports in the NCAA. Before arriving at Towson she was the head field hockey coach at her alma mater, Michigan State where she was a four-year letter winner and a 1978 team captain. The Spartans posted a 24-17-2 record with Nance at the helm (1980-81). A native of Ridgewood, N.J., Nance joined the Tiger staff in August,1982 as Towson's head field hockey coach, assistant women's lacrosse coach and an administrative assistant. Nance coached the Tigers' field hockey squad for four seasons. She retired from coaching in 1986 to accept her appointment as assistant athletics director, becoming Towson's first female athletics administrator as the Tigers continued transitioning from the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) to the NCAA. She was charged with developing and overseeing student-athlete centered activities, including compliance, academic services, financial aid, student services/life skills and eligibility. In 2001 she assumed responsibility for the oversight of Internal Operations that included budgets, facilities, team support services and equipment. She was a member of the athletics group responsible for overseeing the $32 million Unitas Stadium renovation completed in 2003. Her supervision of the business staff included managing the growth of the department's operating budget from $7 million to $15 million while helping to coordinate policies and practices for scheduling, travel, equipment requests and video services. In 2010 Nance was named Senior Associate Director of Athletics for team administration, a position that essentially gave her responsibility of coordinating administrative oversight for all of Towson's intercollegiate sport programs. Over the course of her career Nance served on numerous conference committees and boards representing the Tigers in America East, the Big South, the ECAC and the Colonial Athletic Association. At the national level she was a peer reviewer in the NCAA Athletics Certification program. She served on the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) nomination committee. From 1999-2004 she was a member of the NCAA Field Hockey Committee. She sat on the NCAA Championship/Game Management Cabinet from 2005 to 2011. She was instrumental in bringing four NCAA Women's Lacrosse Final Four National Championships to Unitas Stadium (2008-09-10 and 2014). Nance was involved in several signature leadership programs. She participated in the initial Towson University Staff Leadership Institute and the NACWAA/Higher Education Resource Services inceptive Institute for Administrative Advancement. In 2008 she was invited to participate in the NACWAA Institute for Athletics Executives. Among her honors she was recognized by the National Association for Girls and Women in Sports with its Pathfinder Award, selected by the NACWAA as its I-AA Administrator of the Year and cited by the All-American Football Foundation with its Outstanding Senior Associate Athletics Director Award. After leaving Towson in 2013 Nance started a consulting business, Sports CORE 4 Athletes, specializing in helping prospective student-athletes and their parents understand and navigate through the collegiate athletics recruiting process. She passed away on November 19, 2020.

SEAN SCHAEFER – Football (2005-08) – A four-year starter at quarterback he finished his career as Towson's all-time passing leader with 11,644 yards. He is the only Tiger quarterback to throw for over 10,000 yards and at the time of his graduation he was just the 20^th quarterback in FCS history to surpass the 10,000 yards mark. He is also the program's career leader in total offense (11,415 yards), passing attempts (1,321), completions (1,044), completion percentage (.648). His single game records include most consecutive passes completed (15), most TD passes (5, tied) and completion percentage (29-33 for .879). He is second all-time with 76 TD passes. His most memorable game came when he led the Tigers on a 67-yard, 4-play drive in the final 22 seconds as Towson upset No. 14 Richmond 23-21 with Sean's 14-yard TD pass as time expired providing the game winner. He was named National Player of the Week for that performance. During his career he was named Player of the Week 4 times in the Atlantic 10, 3 times by the Sports Network and twice by the ECAC. He was a 3^rd team All-CAA selection in 2008.

TINA SHRIVER – Track/Cross Country (1981-85) – The Female Athlete of the Year in 1983, Tina was the NCAA Division II heptathlon national champion in 1982, earning All-American honors in track. Earlier in the year she set the school and EAIAW record by winning the event with 5005 points, finishing first in five of the seven events. The following year her 5,041 points set a school record for the event when she won the Eastern EAIAW Division I heptathlon title. Prior to that she won the Mason-Dixon Conference heptathlon with a conference record 4,883 points. In 1984 she set the program record for the javelin with a 135'6" throw, a record that stood for 31 years. In 1983 she set the school record for the indoor pentathlon with a score of 3420. That mark stood for 23 years and is now 3^rd best on Towson's all-time list. She finished 3^rd in the 1983 Eastern AIAW Division I Regional with 3,634 points, two points out of second place. Tina earned the Most Valuable Athlete Award in the 1983 East Coast Conference Outdoor Track Championships. She won the 1984 ECC Indoor Pentathlon title by 475 points over the runner up. As a freshman she set a school and Mason-Dixon Relays meet record with a 14.7 in the 100-meter high hurdles.

TEAM OF DISTINCTION – The 1987-88 Tiger Men's Tennis team posted an impressive 24-2 dual match record that included all-time program single season bests for number of victories (24), shutouts (7) and winning percentage (.923). A 19-match win streak was the program's longest ever. Under the direction of Towson Hall of Fame coach Tom Meinhardt, Jim Shepard (31-1), Josh Eventoff (29-1), Tom Campbell (19-4), Ron Kuchinski (17-9), Vince LasCasas (14-3) and Rob Krizek (17-1) combined for a 127-19 record in singles play. The squad earned three tournament titles. The Tigers dominated the 1988 ECC Tournament. Shepard, a Hall of Fame member and Eventoff each won singles championships and teamed to capture the number one doubles title too. Brooks and Kuchinski were number three doubles conference champions. Coach Meinhardt, who passed away in 2017, was named ECC Coach of the Year for a second time. Its ECC championship was Towson's first-ever conference tennis title. The Tigers also took first places in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament and the Tiger Fall Classic.