Vote for Alaska’s top sports figures
- Mark Sabbatini
- 17 hours ago
- 3 min read
Public can help decide 2026 Alaska Sports Hall of Fame selections
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Don’t get too full of turkey when you can still consume the golden goose.
The Alaska Sports Hall of Fame class of 2026 will be finalized in early December, and the public can vote through the end of this month as 49 Alaska athlete candidates and 31 moments in Alaska sports history are up for consideration.
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé 2007 graduate Talisa Rhea and Hydaburg’s George Nix are strong southeast Alaska candidates, but the field is deep across the state.
Rhea, as a 5-foot-11 Crimson Bears guard, was a four-time all-state tournament selection, two-time Alaska 4A Player of the Year, Anchorage Daily News Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the Year. In college she was a two-time all-Pac 10 honorable mention at Oregon State (2007-10), and earned two bachelor of science degrees (Oregon State and Seattle University, both with high honors and as a starting co-captain) before playing professional basketball overseas in Poland (2012-13). She then earned a masters of sports management at the University of Illinois in 2016. She had been hired by the WNBA’s Seattle Storm as a video coordinator in 2015, was promoted to director of basketball operations in 2016 and assistant general manager in 2019. In 2021, she was promoted to her current position of general manager.
Nix was born in 1895 in Howkan — a village located on Long Island, just south of Prince of Wales Island where villagers resettled later in Hydaburg. The young Haida wrestled, boxed, ran track and played basketball when sent to an Oregon boarding school. He then attended Haskell Institute in Kansas, where he played football against the best college players of that day, then for the Hominy Indians — an all-Native American professional team from Oklahoma. He later played for the NFL’s Buffalo Rangers, a forerunner of the Buffalo Bills. Nix was released midway through the season with the Rangers, but returned to the Hominy squad and helped win the team’s greatest victory, a 13-6 win over the reigning world champion New York Giants. He died in 1978 at age 83.
To see the full list of candidates click on the link below (then hover your cursor over The Hall & Selection Process and click on Candidates):
Click on a candidate’s portrait to read their selection biography. Vote for five Persons (top choices first) and three Moments. To vote click on the Vote Now button.
If you don’t see your choice among the 49 people or 25 moments on the candidates page, use the write-in option by clicking on the link below (and then fill out the Submit Your Recommendation form shown):
The results of the public vote and public submissions must be reviewed by the selection panel before they complete their own ballots. The cumulative public vote is equivalent to each selection panel ballot. There are nine ASHOF selection panel votes and the 11th ballot is the combined vote from all the living ASHOF inductees.
The Alaska Sports Hall of Fame will announce the new class shortly after the selection panel meets Dec. 7. The induction ceremony will be in late spring.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com. Stolpe is a member of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Selection Panel.
