HOF Media

Name: Dave Reynolds

Year Inducted: 2011

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations:
Peoria Journal Star
Bradley University

Biography:  Dave has covered college and high school basketball for the Peoria Journal Star throughout his 30+ years at the newspaper.  He has been the beat writer for Bradley men's basketball for nearly 30 of those seasons.  Dave was selected Illinois Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscaster and Sportswriters Association in 2010 and 2011.  He has been a part of the newspaper's boys' state finals coverage team since 1983.

Name: Neal Ormond III

Year Inducted: 1984

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations:
WMRO-AM
West Aurora High School

Biography:   At the time of his 1984 Hall of Fame induction, Neal Ormond III was in his 20^th year as a sportscaster for high school and college basketball, football, and baseball in the Aurora area for radio station WMRO-AM. His primary assignment was coverage of West Aurora High School, his 1958 alma mater.   As the voice of the Blackhawks, had covered 47 of the highly contested West Aurora-East Aurora basketball games. He sportscast five state baseball finals and the previous 13 Pontiac High School tournaments, along with the previous 19 Illinois State High School finals. At WYBC-AM-FM in New Haven, Conn., from 1958-1962, Ormond was chief sportscaster for all Yale University play-by-play. From 1962-1964 he served as KZSU-AM broadcaster of Stanford University football and basketball. During 1969-70, he served as newscaster and sportscaster for all Fox Valley area high schools and Northern Illinois University. Always available, Ormond has served as emcee of numerous school sports award dinners.

Name: Franklin O'Leary

Year Inducted: 1984

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations:
WJOL-AM
WLLI-FM
 

Biography:  Franklin O’Leary, who attended (Chicago) Hyde Park High School, DePaul University, and the University of Illinois, began covering and broadcasting basketball for Joliet radio stations WJOL-AM and WLLI-FM in 1965. His primary concerns were Lockport, Lincolnway, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, New Lenox-Providence, Joliet East, Joliet West, and Joliet Central high schools.  O’Leary has been courtside at Champaign for the Class AA State Tournaments including appearances of Lockport- 1973, 1978, and 1980 and Joliet Central 1966, 1970. O’Leary has also been mikeside for Lockport and Joliet Junior College Football.

Name: Joe Morrissey

Year Inducted: 1984

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations:
Galesburg Register Mail

Biography:  Joe Morrissey retired in May of 1981, after writing and serving as sports editor of the Galesburg Register-Mail. Barry Swanson, who played basketball at Galesburg High School and then served as its basketball coach, may have described Morrissey the best: “Joe Morrissey was a great high school sports reporter and editor. He gave many of us a gift that we will always cherish. His dedication to sports and young people never diminished during his tenure… His writing accurately and succinctly captured the moments of Silver Streak basketball history that many still consider legendary… As a youngster and Silver Streak fan, I could hardly wait to read Joe Morrissey’s account of the previous night’s game… As a player I appreciated Joe’s accurate reporting and concise language. He made the game almost as exciting as it actually had been… As a coach I even appreciated more the fact that Joe was rarely negative or critical of our team or the opponents… He too was a legend in his field of endeavor…” Morrissey served 19 years as sports editor and from 1963-1979 covered the state high school tournament. Morrissey, as late as 1980, was an Associated Press sports writing winner and certainly earned this tribute from former Galesburg coach, John Thiel: “One of the things that separates Joe from other writers is that he’s not a frustrated jock who second-guesses everybody. He’s a very knowledgeable writer who was determined to do his best and do it honestly. I’ve always had 1,000 percent respect for Joe and his ability.”  Morrissey was the author of three books — On the Rebound, Sports Memories and The Silver Streaks Years — all reprising columns, stories and anecdotes from his career with The Register-Mail.  Joe, a great fan of his beloved Cubs, died on January 14, 2016.