Trevon Bluiett, J.P. Macura among new Xavier University Athletic Hall of Fame class

Xavier University announced its six-member 2023-24 induction class for the P. Douglas O'Keefe Xavier University Athletics Hall of Fame Wednesday, which will bring the Hall of Fame's total members to 159.

This year's class includes a pair of men's basketball players who led Xavier to its first-ever BIG EAST basketball championship and No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in Trevon Bluiett ('18) and J.P. Macura ('18), along with Rylan Bannon ('17), who helped lead Xavier baseball to back-to-back BIG EAST titles and NCAA Regional Final Appearances.

Phil Bucklew ('36) was a standout football player who is best known today as the Father of Naval Special Warfare.

Tommy Kauffmann ('11), a Mariemont High School graduate, was a two-time all-conference cross-country runner and qualified twice for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regional.

Sydney Liggins ('17) led Xavier women's tennis to a BIG EAST championship and the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

The details and timing of the Hall of Fame induction weekend will be announced at a later date, the school said in a press release.

Trevon Bluiett

Bluiett, a consensus All-America selection as a senior, is one of the most decorated players in Xavier history. Xavier made the NCAA Tournament in each of his four seasons, including a run to the Elite Eight in 2017 and the Sweet 16 in 2015. Bluiett's teams also made the second round in 2016 and 2018, giving him a school-record-tying seven NCAA Tournament wins for his Musketeer career.

Bluiett ranks second on Xavier's all-time scoring list (2,261) points and 12th all-time in rebounds (762). His 116 carer double-figure scoring games are just one shy of the school record and he's one of only 13 players in league history to be named a first-team All-BIG EAST selection three times (2016, 2017, 2018). He was also named to the All-BIG EAST Tournament Team for three years.

As a senior, Bluiett was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, Sporting News, USA Today, CBS Sports, NBC Sports and NCAA.com. That year, he helped lead Xavier to a 29-6 record, the program's first regular-season BIG EAST championship and first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Xavier finished with a school-record No. 3 ranking in the final AP Poll.

He finished sixth in the BIG EAST in scoring at 19.3 points per game and led the Musketeers in rebounds.

As a junior, Bluiett was named to the five-member 2017 All-West Regional Team after averaging 21.3 points over Xavier's four games in the NCAA Tournament. He began his professional career overseas after graduation and will play for Xavier's The Basketball Tournament (TBT) alumni team, Zip 'Em Up, in the Xavier regional at Cintas Center this weekend.

J.P. Macura

Macura finished his collegiate career 20th on Xavier's all-time scoring list with 1,491 career points. He also ranks ninth all-time in free-throw percentage (.798) and 11th in steals (166). One of the most popular and winningest players in Xavier history, Macura led the Musketeers to the NCAA Tournament in each of his four seasons, including the 2017 Elite Eight and 2015 Sweet 16. Along with Bluiett, he has tied a school record with seven career NCAA Tournament victories.

As a senior, Macura was second on the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game to help lead Xavier to a regular-season conference crown and the school's first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Macura averaged a team-high 23 points per game that year in the NCAA Tournament, including a career-high 29 points against Texas Southern. Macura was also part of the five-member 2017 All-West Regional Team after averaging 13 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals in the NCAA Tournament, including wins over Maryland, Florida State and Arizona. Macura will join Bluiett on Zip 'Em Up this weekend during TBT.

Phil Bucklew

Bucklew lettered three years on the football team and two years on the basketball team at Xavier in the 1930s. He distinguished himself as a solid tackle, fullback and tight end, while also seeing duties as a punter and kicker. Xavier football had winning seasons in each of his three years, going 17-9-1 overall.

On the basketball court, Bucklew played center on Xavier teams that went 9-1 in 1934 and 14-4 in 1935.

Bucklew played for the Cleveland Rams in 1937 and 1938 and later joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 1938. He was the founder and head coach of the Columbus Bullies in 1939 and led the team to three consecutive championships from 1939-1941, including two AFL titles. He was nominated for the Sports Illustrated Silver Anniversary All-American football team in 1961.

A lieutenant in the Navy, Bucklew earned two Navy Crosses for "extraordinary heroism" during the invasion of Normandy and the events in Sicily in 1943.

After graduation, Bucklew was an assistant coach and graduate manager of athletics at Xavier. Following World War II, he returned to Xavier and served as the head football coach and athletic director in 1946. Bucklew, who was buried with Military Honors in Arlington National Cemetary in 1992, was the 2023 Recipient of the Charles P. Gallagher Leadership Medallion, awarded for recognition of exceptional leadership accomplishments of the highest distinction in their field or professional career.

More: The unbelievable true story of Ohio's Phil Bucklew, and his decades of Navy service

Sydney Liggins

Liggins enjoyed an illustrious career at Xavier not only on the tennis court but in the classroom. She was selected to the 2017 All-BIG EAST team and the Collegiate Tennis Player of the Year by the Cincinnati Women's Sports Association as a senior. She finished with an 18-12 record at No. 1 singles and ended her career with 92 singles wins, good for third all-time in Xavier history.

She also had 59 doubles wins and her overall record of 151-69 ranks 10th all-time.

Liggins was the 2016 BIG EAST Player of the Year and the 2016 BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player, leading Xavier to a conference title and the NCAA Tournament. She finished the season with a No. 10 ranking in the Ohio Valley Region.

Rylan Bannon

Bannon was an eight-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft. He earned first-team All-BIG East honors two years in a row (2016, 2017) while leading the Musketeers to back-to-back BIG EAST titles and back-to-back NCAA Regional championship appearances. He finished his Xavier career with a .455 batting average in eight NCAA Tournament games, along with three homers and 12 RBIs.

Bannon was the 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection to the All-BIG East first team for a club that won the 2017 BIG EAST Tournament and advanced to the Louisville Regional Final. Bannon was one of the stars of Xavier's 2016 NCAA Tournament run to the regional final, collecting at least one hit in four of the Musketeers' games, going 6-for-17 (.353) with two homers, eight RBIs, five runs scored and three doubles. Bannon has appeared in seven career MLB games and is currently playing Triple-A ball in the Houston Astros organization.

Tommy Kauffmann

Kauffmann was a two-time All-Atlantic 10 performer in cross country and a two-time NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regional qualifier. He lettered all four years in cross country and track and field, finishing his career with a long list of school records: cross country 10K (31:10.00), cross country 8K (24:38.00), indoor track 3,000-meter run (8:17.80), indoor mile (4:16.41), indoor track 5,000-meter run (14:23.95), outdoor track 1,500-meter run (3:55.39), outdoor track 10,000-meter run (29:28.12) and outdoor track 5,000-meter run (14:13.02).

As a junior, he won the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships in the 3,000-meter race, breaking the meet and school record with a time of 8:20.97. He later lowered that time to 8:17.80. One year later, Kauffmann became the first male athlete to win an outdoor track and field championship at Xavier when he took the 10,000-meter run at the Atlantic 10 Championships.

In track, Kauffmann earned a spot on five Atlantic 10 All-Academic Teams and on seven consecutive Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Rolls. After Xavier, Kauffmann participated in the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2016 after hitting a qualifying half-marathon standard time (1:04.34) in Indianapolis.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Here are the 6 members for Xavier's 2023-24 Hall of Fame class