Class of 2024 Hall of Honor Inductees Announced

Class of 2024 Hall of Honor Inductees Announced

Class of 2024 Hall of Honor Inductees Announced

Monaca, PA - Penn State Beaver Athletics is proud to announce the class of 2024. The Hall of Honor has been a part of Penn State Beavers athletics since 2018 inducting 30 former athletes, administration, and coaches to honor and recognize their hard work, dedication, passion for Penn State Beaver Athletics. Now introducing the next 5 inductees into the Hall of Honor:

Introducing our first inductee is Cassandra Flower she attended Penn State from 2012-2017 and was a member of the Women’s Basketball team. During her time here she received the USCAA All-American Honorable Mention, PSUAC All-Conference 2nd team, All Tournament in the USCAA National Championship, and PSUAC All-Conference Honorable Mention. After graduation she worked as an Intervention Specialist with juveniles on probation, but then became a caretaker for her father and is now in pursuit of furthering her education. 

Next up is Alex Filippi he attended Penn State from 2009-2013 and played for the Men’s Baseball Team. While here he earned awards such as four-time PSUAC All- Academic awards, three-time PSUAC All-Conference awards, three-time USCAA All-Academic, as well as USCAA All-American and was a PSUAC Conference Championship Team Member. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management but has gone back and acquired another bachelor’s degree in nursing and moved into a career in healthcare for the past 8 years. He now works as an assistant unit manager at AHN Hospital in Wexford. In his spare time, he spends time with his wife (Neeka) and son (AJ), as well as hangs out with his friends who are also alumni baseball players or is working on charity events for the nonprofit (The JP Recovery Foundation) that is in honor of his brother John Paul.

 Another inductee is Vanessa Jackson she attended Penn State from 2016-2019 and was a member of the Women’s Softball Team. During her time here she received a great number of awards including four-time PSUAC All-Academic, four-time PSUAC All-Conference 1st Team, three USCAA 1st Team All-Americans, USCAA 2nd Team All-American, PSUAC Newcomer of the Year, PSUAC West Player of the Year, PSUAC West Pitcher of the Year, and PSUAC Pitcher of the Year. After graduation she attended Georgetown University and obtained her master’s degree in Sports Industry Management. During which was the graduate assistant for the USCAA as the coordinator of marketing events. She since then has gained a full-time job with the athletics department at Penn State Beaver in 2021 as the athletic coordinator and is currently an assistant coach with the softball team.

Up next is Ron Nichols he was the Athletic Director and Baseball Coach from the years 1999-2003. He was awarded the USCAA Garth Pleasant Athletic Director of the Year.  Following those years Ron went on to another Penn State School which was Penn State New Kensington before becoming a teacher at Deer Lake School District. He taught health and physical education, but would rather it be called “wellness instructor” because he approached the subject with a focus on lifelong learning. He was named the 2015 Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

The last inductee will be Rob Agurs he was from Penn Hills in Pittsburgh, PA he attended Penn State from 2011-2014. While he was here, he achieved awards such as two-time USCAA 1st Team All-American, two-time PSUAC All-Conference 1st team, PSUAC Player of the Year, PSUAC All-Conference 2nd Team, two-time PSUAC Player of the week D2, and member was a member of the 2010 PSUAC All-Decade Team. He also had 1,383 points in 2 years and then transferred to Clarion where he finished with a career total of 1,937 points. After completing that season, he went to play international basketball in Sicily for 3 years and had a daughter named Bella.

To conclude, all of the inductees will be attending the Hall of Honors to receive their awards but due to our tragic loss of Rob Agurs his family will be attending to accept his awards on his behalf. The award ceremony will start at 7:15 EST and will be broadcasted on the Rise and Roar Network.