COLUMBIA, S.C. — Six-time NBA all-star Jermaine O’Neal and Super Bowl champion Robert Brooks are among the newest members of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.
The group, that included Chino Smith, a .400-hitter for the Negro Leagues, was announced Monday. The eight-member class will be enshrined during ceremonies in May.
O’Neal went directly from a Columbia high school to the NBA, where he played for seven teams over 18 seasons. He was drafted by Portland at age 17. O’Neal’s most successful stint was with Indiana from 2000-2008 when he made the NBA all-star team six straight seasons from 2002-2007.
Brooks, who played at South Carolina, spent from 1992-98 with Green Bay. He was injured midway through the 1996 season and missed the Packers’ Super Bowl win. Brooks is known for popularizing the “Lambeau Leap” while there and is part of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
Smith, from Antioch, South Carolina, played six seasons in the Negro Leagues where he finished his career with a .423 batting average.
Others named to the hall were former Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton, ex-Clemson quarterback Woody Dantzler, Olympic hammer thrower Dawn Ellerbe, past Clemson men’s golf coach Larry Penley and longtime South Carolina men’s soccer coach Mark Berson.