NETANYA, Israel (Press Release) — The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday announced the athletes and media personnel who will be inducted later this year as the class of 2026, joining over 500 sports figures who have been so honored since 1979.
THE 2026 CLASS
Marv Albert
Media
Albert was referred to as “the voice of basketball”. From 1967 to 2004, he was the voice of the New York Knicks and was best known nationally for his work as the lead announcer for both the NBA on NBC and NBA games on TNT. In addition to basketball, he called a variety of other sports, such as American football, ice hockey, horse racing, boxing, and tennis including eight Super Bowls, nine NBA Finals, and seven Stanley Cup Finals. He also called the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and was a reporter for two World Series. He won 8 Emmy Awards and is in multiple Halls of Fame including the National Jewish Museum Sports Hall of Fame, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame, and the Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
Jay Berger
Tennis
Berger reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals singles ranking of World No. 7 in 1990. An all-American at Clemson, Berger was named Tennis Magazine’s Junior Player of the Year in 1985. He turned pro in 1986 and quickly won ATP events in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. Berger defeated multiple International Tennis Hall of Famers/Grand Slam Champions including Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker. In Davis Cup play, he represented the U.S. in 1988 and 1990. Knee injuries forced his retirement but he went on to coach the U.S. Olympic tennis team in 2012 and 2016.
Omri Casspi
Basketball
Casspi was the first Israeli to play in the NBA after being drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft as a small forward and power forward. As a rookie, Casspi was chosen to participate in the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge. He played professionally for 15 years including 10 years in the NBA. Casspi played for the senior Israeli national team in international competition and was the team’s captain at the 2015 EuroBasket. Casspi was one of seven athletes to have been honored with participation in the torch lighting ceremony of the 2017 Maccabiah Games.
Carolina Duer
Boxing
Duer was the International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight champion, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion, and the WBO super flyweight champion. She is the eighth Argentine woman to hold a WBO boxing championship, and the first Jewish one. Duer began to announce boxing in 2014 on National Public Television.
Julian Edelman
American Football
Edelman was an American former professional football wide receiver and punt returner who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the New England Patriots. Edelman became a primary offensive starter in 2013 and was a staple of the Patriots’ receiving corps until his retirement after the 2020 season. One of the NFL’s most productive postseason receivers, Edelman ranks third in postseason receiving yards and receptions and holds the Super Bowl records for punt returns and first-half receptions in a single game. A three-time Super Bowl winner, he was the receiving yards leader during his victories in Super Bowl XLIX, and Super Bowl LIII where Edelman was named the Super Bowl MVP, accounting for more than half his team’s receiving yards. In 2014, Edelman wore an Israeli-American flag pin on his hat during a game against the Denver Broncos at Gillette Stadium. He also voiced support for the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting: Edelman wore an Israeli flag hat following the Patriots’ victory over the Green Bay Packers on November 4, 2018 and wore a pair of customized cleats bearing the hashtag #strongerthanhate in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers six weeks later. He was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame in 2025.
Robert Fein Z”L
Weightlifting
Fein was an Austrian Olympic Champion weightlifter, winning the gold medal in the lightweight class at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The following year, he won the silver medal at the 1937 World Weightlifting Championships and set his 23rd world record that year. One year later, he was barred from competing in weightlifting, because he was Jewish, and he never competed again.
Dezso Földes Z”L
Fencing
Foldes was an outstanding fencer who won Gold medals as a member of Hungary’s saber fencing team at the 1908 Summer Olympic Games and the 1912 Summer Olympic Games. Each of his Hungarian Olympic teammates (Jeno Fuchs, Oskar Gerde and Lajos Werner) have been enshrined into the IJSHOF. Foldes immigrated to the U.S. after the 1912 Olympic Games, settled in Cleveland, Ohio and established a hospital clinic for the poor.
Yuri Foreman
Boxing
Foreman was the World Boxing Association’s super welterweight world champion. He won national amateur titles in Israel before moving in 1999 to Brooklyn, where he won the New York Golden Gloves tournament. In 2004, he signed with Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotion company and quickly rose up through the professional welterweight rankings. On November 14, 2009, he won a 12-round decision over Daniel Santos to become the WBA’s world super welterweight title holder. He finished his professional career with 35 wins, four losses. Foreman was ordained as a rabbi in 2014.
Noemie Fox
Canoeing
Fox is an Australian slalom canoeist who won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in the kayak cross, becoming the first-ever Olympic champion in that event. Fox’s 2024 Olympic victory meant that she and her sister Jessica (who was inducted into the IJSHOF in 2022) joined the exclusive club of siblings who have won individual gold medals at the same Olympics. In addition, she has won two world championships and came in second place once. Noemie’s Mother, Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, was also inducted into the IJSHOF in 2018.
Lydia Hatuel-Czuckermann
Fencing
Since 1971, Lydia Hatuel Czuckermann has been a defining figure in Israeli fencing, combining elite athletic achievement with decades of leadership and service to the sport.
A member of Israel’s senior national team from 1978 and part of Olympic squads beginning in 1979, she met the Olympic qualification standard five times and competed in three Olympic Games: Los Angeles 1984, Barcelona 1992, and Atlanta 1996. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, she carried the Israeli flag at the Opening Ceremony, a moment of profound national pride. She was twice prevented from competing due to principled national decisions in 1980 and 1988.
Internationally, she ranked as high as 8th in the world, finished 8th at the 1991 World Championships, earned multiple top-eight World Cup finishes, and captured two bronze medals at “Super A” Grand Prix events in 1996. From 1996 to 1997, she was ranked among the top 16 fencers globally.
Nationally, she won the Israeli Senior Championship 16 consecutive times, an Israeli record recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
After overcoming a severe injury following the birth of her second son, she made an inspiring comeback, reclaiming the Israeli national title in 2004 and leading her team to fourth place at the European Senior Team Championships.
Beyond competition, she has served as Chair of the Israel Fencing Association, a member of the Executive Board of the Olympic Committee of Israel, and a founding member of the Olympic Athletes’ Committee. Her legacy reflects excellence, resilience, and lifelong leadership in Israeli sport.
Basketball
Nancy is a two-time Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, BIG3 Head Coach, 2018 Champion, and two-time Coach of the Year. She is a two-time Olympian and silver medalist (1976), and the mom of T.J. Cline. Her coaching career has included the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, and the BIG3, and at each step along the way she has broken barriers, elevated the profile of women in the game, and helped develop the current and next generation of basketball players. Under her leadership, Team Power won the BIG3 Championship in 2018, making her the first female coach to win a title in a men’s professional league. She helped the United States win medals at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal (silver medal), the 1979 World Championships in Seoul (gold medal), the 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games in Mexico (gold medal) and Puerto Rico (silver medal), and the gold medal in the 1979 Jones Cup in Taipei. After winning consecutive AIAW National Championships and one WNIT Championship at Old Dominion University, Nancy was a three-time All American and two-time national player of the year in collegiate basketball for the Monarchs. She was the first pick in the first-ever women’s pro league, the Women’s Basketball League (WBL), for the Dallas Diamonds in 1980. In 1985, the Diamonds won the championship in the WABA and Nancy was Player of the Year. She played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the Summer Pro League in 1981 for Pat Riley in preparation for her upcoming season with the Diamonds. In 1986 and 1987, Nancy joined the USBL, becoming the first woman to play in a men’s professional league, in 1986 with the Springfield Fame and in 1987 with the Long Island Knights. The Lieberman Award, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, recognizes the top point guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball for their floor leadership.
Al Michaels
Media
Michaels began working on network sports television in 1971, He worked for nearly three decades with ABC Sports covering Major League Baseball as their lead announcer, college football, Monday Night Football, college basketball, the Indianapolis 500, ice hockey, track and field, horse racing (including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes), golf, boxing, figure skating, road cycling, and many events of the Olympic Games (including the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics) as well as the Olympic trials. He also served as the studio host for the Stanley Cup Finals from 2000–2002. He won many awards including 5 Sports Emmy Awards, won the National Sportscaster of the Year Award 3 times and was voted by the ASA as one of the Top 50 Sportscasters of All Time. His Hall of Fames include the NSMA Hall of Fame, The Television Academy Hall of Fame, The Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award – Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Ford C. Frick Award winner – Baseball Hall of Fame plus he has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Bruce Pearl
Basketball
Pearl was an American college basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team for 11 seasons. In 2025, Pearl was named Co-AP Coach of the Year (with Rick Pitino). Prior to Auburn, he served as the Head Coach at Tennessee, Milwaukee, and Southern Indiana. Pearl led Southern Indiana to a Division II national championship in 1995, during which he was named Division II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. In Division I, his teams won four conference championships, four conference tournament championships, qualified for eleven NCAA tournament appearances and two Final Four appearances. Pearl was the second-fastest NCAA coach to reach 300 career victories. Pearl was named Coach of the Year by Sporting News in 2006 and was awarded the Adolph Rupp Cup in 2008. He also served as the head coach for the Maccabi USA men’s basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2009 Maccabiah Games. Pearl was the first president of the Jewish Coaches Association. The Algemeiner named Pearl one of 100 people positively influencing Jewish life in 2022.
Morgan Pressel
Golf
Morgan Pressel is a major champion professional golfer who has been a prominent figure in the game since her early teens. At age 12, she became the youngest player ever to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, and at 18 she made history as the youngest LPGA major champion with her victory at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She rose to a career high world ranking of No. 4 and represented the United States six times on the Solheim Cup team, later serving as an assistant captain in 2023 and 2024. Following her playing career, Pressel transitioned to broadcasting and is now a lead analyst for Golf Channel and NBC Sports. In 2025 she was named captain of the U.S. Team for the 2026 PING Junior Solheim Cup. Beyond golf, Pressel is deeply committed to philanthropy. Through the Morgan Pressel Foundation, she has raised significant funds and awareness for breast cancer research and patient support, honoring her late mother’s legacy and using her platform to make a lasting impact off the course.
Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum
Paralympian
Rubin-Rosenbaum represented Israel at 7 Summer Paralympic Games and she won an astonishing 31 Paralympic medals including 15 Gold Medals. She competed in multiple events including track & field, swimming, table tennis and wheelchair basketball. Her first Paralympic Games were at the 1964 Summer Paralympics Games and her last was at the 1988 Summer Paralympic Games. She is the most decorated Israeli Paralympian in history.
Red Sarachek Z”L
Basketball
Sarachek was a basketball coach and athletic director at Yeshiva University in New York City from 1940 to 1969. He was also a mentor of legendary coaches such as Red Holzman (New York Knicks and IJSHOF Hall of Famer), Lou Carnesecca (St. John’s), and Jack Donohue (Holy Cross). Yeshiva, under Sarachek, has been called “the birthplace of modern basketball” due to his innovative ball-handling schemes. Sarachek designed and implemented motion offenses, trapping defenses, plays to beat zone defenses and creative in-bound plays. His schemes were admired and copied by coaches around the country. His story is featured in The First Basket, the first and most comprehensive documentary on the history of Jews and basketball. In 1948-1949, Saracheck coached two of the top professional teams in what was known as the Eastern League at the same time. Legend has it that the two teams met in the playoffs and caused a new ruling barring the practice. He has been inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame, the New York City Hall of Fame and the Yeshiva University Hall of Fame.
Danny Schayes
Basketball
Danny Schayes was an American professional basketball player who was an Intercollegiate All-American and Academic All-American while playing for Syracuse University and played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 1981 until 1999. He was selected in the first round of the 1981 NBA Draft with the 13th overall pick by the Utah Jazz and was the second center selected that year. At 6’11” and 235 pounds, he played both the center and power forward positions in the NBA and appeared in more than 1,200 NBA games during his career. Schayes is a three-time Maccabiah Games gold medalist, winning two as a player and one as a coach. He is the son of the late Dolph Schayes, who was selected for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (IJSHOF). Danny Schayes was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the Syracuse University Hall of Fame, and was named to the Syracuse University All-Century Basketball Team.
Diego Schwartzman
Tennis
Schwartzman reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world ranking of No. 8 in 2020. In 2016, the Argentinian won his first ATP tournament, the Istanbul Open. He would go on to win another three ATP singles events. At 5 feet and 7 inches tall, he was known for his speed, tenacity and return of serve and led all ATP players in percentage of second-serve return points won in 2017 and 2019. He defeated multiple world top 10 players including Rafael Nadal, Taylor Fritz, Marin Cilic, and Alexander Zverev. Schwartzman represented Argentina in the 2015 Davis Cup and at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Doron Shaziri
Shooting
At the World Paralympic Championships, he became a World Champion winning Gold and Bronze Medals in 2006, and Bronze Medals at the 2010 & 2014 Games. Representing Israel, Shaziri won a total of 8 silver and bronze medals competing at the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games. He was selected to be a flag bearer at the 2012 Paralympics opening ceremony where he also won a silver medal. Shaziri lost his leg in 1987 when he was struck by a mine while working as an Israel Defense Forces recruit patrolling the Israeli-Lebanon border. In 1994, he established his own business constructing wheelchairs for injured veterans.
Andre Tippett
American Football
Tippett was a former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the New England Patriots. A second-round pick in the 1982 NFL draft, Tippett was selected to five Pro Bowls and was named first-team All-Pro twice in his career. He currently serves as the executive director of Community Affairs for the New England Patriots. He was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. Lastly, he was selected to the Patriots Team of the Century in 2000.
Preceding provided by the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame