GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Whether it’s at the high school, collegiate or professional level, athletic success is celebrated in West Michigan, and the fact that 176 individuals and 16 teams are enshrined in the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame is evidence of this.
But it’s not just the elite athletes that deserve highest honors. The coaches that mentored them and the broadcasters that told their stories are also integral parts to the West Michigan athletic landscape, and the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame is taking that into account for its 2025 class.
Comprising the organization’s 53rd class are Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein, NBA coach Jim Boylen, pro basketball player Ben Handlogten, state champion softball coach Cheri Ritz, college baseball world series-winning coach Doug Wabeke, veteran broadcaster Rick Berkey and semipro baseball team, the Colored Athletics.
An induction ceremony for the inductees will be held Tuesday, Oct. 14 at Van Andel Arena, with a social hour beginning at 6 p.m., followed by the 7 p.m. ceremony. Tickets are $35 and are still available at the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame website.
“It’s another incredible class that demonstrates achievement as athletes at the highest levels but also recognizes coaching, mentorship and media impact in our community,” Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame chairman Mark Kimball said in a press release. “The Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame is excited to recognize and honor them.”
40th Annual Crim Festival of Races
Dathan Ritzenhein catches his breath after he won the 40th Annual Crim Festival of Races in Flint in 2016.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com
Ritzenhein enters the Hall of Fame after a stellar running career that started with setting national distance records at Rockford High School, before winning the 2003 NCAA cross country individual national title at the University of Colorado. He is a three-time winner at the USA Cross Country Championships and competed for Team USA at the London Olympics. Ritzenhein is currently the head coach at On Athletics Club in Boulder, Colo.
Jim Boylen
FILE - In this March 10, 2020, file photo, Chicago Bulls coach Jim Boylen cheers on players during the first half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Chicago. Boylen's future is the biggest issue hanging over the Bulls, who were left out when the NBA’s Board of Governors approved a 22-team format to restart the pandemic-interrupted season next month in Orlando. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File)AP
Boylen grew up in East Grand Rapids and starred for the Pioneers’ high school basketball team, before continuing his hoops career at the University of Maine. He remained in the game as a coach and has spent the greater part of three decades in the NBA, winning championships with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995 and the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Boylen made his NBA head coaching debut with the Chicago Bulls in 2018 and spent two seasons in that role. He also served as head coach for four seasons at the University of Utah, leading the Utes to Mountain West regular season and tournament championships and an NCAA tournament berth in 2009.
Ben Handlogten
Cliff Robinson (30) and Jason Collins (35) of the Nets defend against Ben Handlogten (44) of the Jazz, during NBA during an NBA game from the 2005 season.SL
Handlogten earned all-state honors at South Christian High School, before continuing his basketball career at Western Michigan, where he garnered Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team recognition in 1993, then capped his career in Kalamazoo with first team all-conference honors as a senior in 1996. He still holds WMU’s record for field goals in a game without a miss (13), and his career totals for rebounds (833), steals (142), blocks (116) and double-doubles (28) are still top-10 in program history, as does his 53.4 career field goal percentage.
After his collegiate career, the 6-foot-10 Handlogten went on to play professionally, appearing in 38 games with the Utah Jazz in 2003, in addition to a stint with the Grand Rapids Hoops of the Continental Basketball Association and several seasons in Europe.
Jenison hosts Wayland for softball doubleheader
Wayland head coach Cheri Ritz addresses junior Madi Ludema (10) on Thursday, April 17, 2025 during the first game as the Jenison Wildcats host the Wayland Union Wildcats a softball doubleheader at Jenison High School in Jenison, Mich. Wayland beat Jenison 8-6 in the first game.Arthur H. Trickett-Wile | MLive.com
Ritz was a four-sport athlete at Wayland High School, then went on to star on the softball diamond at Michigan State, before returning to her alma mater, where she has been the softball coach since 1995. She earned her 1,000th head coaching win in 2023, and Ritz’s teams have collected 24 conference championships, 26 district titles, nine regional crowns and state championships in 2006 and 2015. She was named the 2015 national high school softball Coach of the Year and is a 2020 inductee to the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Doug Wabeke
Doug Wabeke (MLive File Photo)mlive file photo
Wabeke was a multisport star at Zeeland High School, before playing baseball at Grand Rapids Community College and Central Michigan University. The San Francisco Giants selected Wabeke in the 42nd round of the 1980 MLB Draft, and he went on to play four seasons of minor league ball, before starting a long and successful coaching career. At Grand Valley State, Wabeke was the 1984 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, then went on to spend 16 season at GRCC, where he led the Raiders to 15 league titles and four college world series championships (1996, 1997, 2003 and 2004), which earned him induction into the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2022.
Wabeke died in November 2023 at age 65.
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Steve Kaminski, Jeff Gordon, Rick Berkey
Grand Rapids Press journalist Steve Kaminski (left), driver Jeff Gordon (middle) and broadcaster Rick Berkey (right) at Berlin Raceway in 1989Tom DeVette
Berkey is an award-winning broadcaster that has been on the West Michigan airwaves for the last 44 years, and he heads to the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame as the Warren Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Berkey currently hosts a trio of high school football shows – Pigskin Party 6 p.m. Monday, the High School Tailgate Show 6 p.m. Friday and the High School Scoreboard Show after Friday night’s games have wrapped up – all of which air on 96.1 The Game. Berkey also does play-by-play for Davenport University football and basketball, and he has written two children’s books.
Rounding out the 2025 inductees is the Colored Athletics, the city’s first Black baseball team and one that played a significant part in Grand Rapids’ semipro baseball scene in the first half of the 1900s. Organized by William Mabin in 1900, the Athletics regularly played in front of crowds numbering more than 2,000 at Ramona Park along the shores of Reeds Lake, and the club featured many athletes that went on to play in the Negro Leagues. Jess Elster took over the team in 1906, played for the club until 1922, then managed the Athletics until his death in 1950.
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