The five newest members of the Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame will be inducted in September. The 2021 Hall of Fame Class includes Kyrie (Dorn) Adams (volleyball), Pat Bussey (wrestling), Robert Karlsson (men’s golf), Megan (Frazee) Leuzinger (women’s basketball) and James McKnight (football/men’s track & field).
The Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held Sept. 3 at the Alumni Ballroom on the third floor of the Montview Student Union. Additionally, the five-member class will receive special recognition during the Campbell football game on Saturday, Sept. 4.
Adams helped Liberty volleyball post 20 or more wins during each of her four seasons on the court, including two Big South regular season titles, two Big South Tournament victories, and the program’s first two trips to the NCAA Volleyball Championship in 1997 and 1999. She was a three-time all-Big South selection and was named the Big South Player of the Year and Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1998.
Bussey was a two-time NCAA Division II All-American, following a pair of top 10 finishes at the NCAA Division II national championships in 1985 and 1986. Liberty finished in 15th place at the 1983 NAIA National Championship behind Bussey, the Flames’ highest finish at the NAIA level before transitioning to the NCAA Division II level. In 1985, Bussey finished in fifth place at the NCAA Division II national championship and in sixth place at the 1986 Division II national championship. Liberty finished in fifth place at the 1986 national championship event, the highest national finish by a Liberty athletics program any level of NCAA competition.
Karlsson was named the Big South Freshman of the Year in 2009, was a four-time all-Big South selection, and a two-time Big South Men’s Golfer of the Year (2010 and 2011). He led the Flames to Big South titles in 2011 and 2012, the first two in program history. Liberty would claim the NCAA Greensboro Regional title in 2012 and make the program’s first-ever appearance at the 2012 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. The Flames finished the event in 10th place, the highest finish by any team at an NCAA Division I national championship event in Liberty Athletics history.
Leuzinger is one of the most accomplished women’s basketball players in program history, twice being named Big South Player of the Year (2008 and 2009) and finishing her career third on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,883 points. She was also a two-time Big South Female Student-Athlete of the Year (2008 and 2009( and was named Associated Press All-American honorable mention in 2009. She was selected by the San Antonio Silver Stars with the 14th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft where she played two seasons in the WNBA and seven more overseas in Europe.
McKnight played in three seasons for the Flames’ football program, finishing his career with 1,948 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. During his junior and senior seasons, he joined the track & field squad and helped the program capture its first-ever conference title as a senior at the Big South Outdoor Track Championship in 1994. He finished his career with three school records, including the school record for the indoor long jump that has stood for nearly 30 years. He played for 11 years in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, and New York Giants, finishing his professional career with 3,595 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.
