MACON, Ga. — For the third year in a row, a trio of Georgia Bulldogs entered the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame when the Class of 2026 induction ceremony was held at the Macon City Auditorium on Saturday night.

Former NCAA champion gymnast Leah Brown, football kicker John Kasay, and women’s basketball player Bunny Fuller Harris were part of a 10-member class to join the Hall, which has more than 100 former Georgia student-athletes, coaches and other members with ties to UGA Athletics.

Brown is one of the most decorated student-athletes in UGA history. The Atlanta native was a 14-time All-American for the GymDogs from 1994-97 and ranked number one nationally in the All-Around, Vault, and Floor competition and No. 2 on bars in 1997. She scored a 10.0 16 times on vault and three times on floor during her career. Brown was the first gymnast in NCAA history of score a 10.0 in her first collegiate meet. She was the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Award for Black Issues in Higher Education in 1995.

 

After receiving her undergraduate degree in genetics, she joined the U.S. Navy in 1999 and attended medical school at Ohio State. She did her internship at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego before serving as a battalion surgeon at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. In 2006, she was deployed as a Medical Aid Station Director during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  In 2012, Brown was deployed to Afghanistan to serve as the Orthopedic Surgery Department Head during Operation Enduring Freedom. During her deployment she was awarded the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal and Navy Commendation Medal. 

Since 2013, Brown has served as an orthopedic surgeon with the U.S. Navy Reserves, along with running her own practice in the Phoenix, Arizona area. She was inducted into the UGA Circle of Honor in 2016 and in 2023 served as the UGA Spring Commencement speaker.

An Athens native and the son of former Georgia player and assistant coach  John Kasay Sr., Kasay was a four-year letterman at UGA (1987-90), He finished his collegiate career with 217 total points, converting 46-of-65 field goals and 79-of-82 extra points. 

As a freshman, the lefty kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Bulldogs to a 20-17 victory over Arkansas in the 1987 Liberty Bowl. Following his senior year, Kasay was named third-team All-America by Football News and second-team All-SEC.

He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 1991 NFL Draft. Following the ’91 season, he was named to the All-Rookie team by the Professional Football Writers Association. Kasay went on to play for Seattle for four years leading the Seahawks in scoring all four years and left the team with the highest field goal percentage in team history.

He then signed with the Carolina Panthers where he played for 15 seasons, making the NFL Pro Bowl in 1996, the same year he led the NFL in scoring. He finished his career in 2011 with the New Orleans Saints but in 2013, signed a one-day contract with Carolina so he could retire as a Panther. Kasay kicked 461 field goals in his NFL career and accounted for 1,970 points.

Harris was a star at Taylor County (Ga.) High School, scoring over 2,200 points, and averaging 22 points per game, while holding a personal winning streak of 100 straight games, including four championships. 

She played collegiately at Middle Georgia College (1972-74) where she led her team to a junior college state championship before transferring to UGA (1974-76), becoming a two-year letterwinner, and the leading scorer in the Lady Bulldogs’ first-ever winning season, while averaging 18.9 points a game. 

Harris has also written a book about her high school days titled “There Was Once a Team”, about the Lady Vikings and the state-record 132 straight wins and five state championships from 1967-72.

Since the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame held its first induction in 1971, at least one Bulldog has been inducted every year except 1975. In 2024, former Bulldog pitcher Cris Carpenter, former linebacker Thomas Davis, Sr., and longtime Sports Communications Director Claude Felton went in together. Last year, former gymnast Courtney Kupets Carer, football halfback Theron Sapp and women’s tennis coach Jeff Wallace were inducted.