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Patrick Willis, Joe Carter lead NFHS National High School Hall of Fame Class of 2026

Lawrence Andrew Fernandezby: Lawrence Fernandez03/11/26lawandfern

Former NFL linebacker Patrick Willis and two-time World Series Champion Joe Carter lead the National Federation of State High School Associations National High School Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Joining them are ten other athletes, coaches, officials, and administrators. As announced on the NFHS website, they will be inducted on June 29 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Willis was a football and basketball standout at Tennessee’s Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central High School. He earned two All-State selections and a regional Most Valuable Player Award. Willis was also the first Tennessee high school football player to be nominated Mr. Football as a linebacker and as a tailback.

After high school football, Patrick Willis played for Ole Miss and became the 2006 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He is also a two-time All-American and a two-time First-team All-SEC member. These achievements prompted the San Francisco 49ers to select him in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. In eight seasons with the 49ers, the Pro Football Hall of Famer received seven Pro Bowl and six All-Pro (five First-team) selections.

Meanwhile, Joe Carter contributed to the Toronto Blue Jays’ back-to-back World Series victories in 1992 and 1993. Before becoming a five-time MLB All-Star and a two-time Silver Slugger awardee, Carter was a three-sport athlete in Oklahoma’s Millwood High School and earned All-State honors in track.

The other athletes joining Patrick Willis and Joe Carter in the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame Class of 2026 are:

Alisha Glass Childress – a former volleyball standout at Leland High School who went on to win three NCAA championships with Penn State

Jordan Larson – a four-time Olympic volleyball athlete who traces her roots to Nebraska’s Logan View High School

Krissy Wendell-Pohl – a two-time NCAA hockey champion at the University of Minnesota who also became Park Center High School legend

Complete list of NFHS High School Hall of Fame Class of 2026 inductees

  1. Patrick Willis – football, basketball
  2. Joe Carter – baseball, track
  3. Jordan Larson – volleyball
  4. Alisha Glass Childress – volleyball
  5. Krissy Wendell-Pohl – ice hockey
  6. Jan Barker – head coach who led Amarillo (Texas) High School to 10 Texas University Interscholastic League Class 5A state volleyball championships
  7. David Gentry – winningest football coach in North Carolina history who led Murphy High School to nine North Carolina High School Athletic Association Class 1A state football titles
  8. Flo Valdez – multi-sport coach at Roswell (New Mexico) High School who finished her career as the outstanding volleyball coach at Franklin High School in El Paso, Texas.
  9. Burney Jenkins – three-sport official from Kentucky with 50 years of service
  10. Mary Lou Thimas – Massachusetts field hockey and lacrosse official for 60 years
  11. Steve Savarese – led the Alabama High School Athletic Association from 2007 to 2021
  12. Craig Ihnen – former Iowa High School Speech Association director for 28 years