Mitch Barnhart finds himself amidst another headline this week, but this time in much more positive fashion. The current UK Athletics Director was inducted to the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame on Monday. The ceremony was held at the Galt House in Louisville.

Barnhart has been the UK AD since 2002 and led the Wildcats’ program to unprecedented success during that time. UK has earned top-20 finishes the last five years in the national all-sports standings, including a ninth-place finish in 2022 that is the highest in school history.

The school has produced six national championships (men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, rifle) and first-ever Southeastern Conference titles in baseball, men’s golf, women’s tennis, and women’s swimming & diving.

Kentucky also has a current streak of six consecutive football bowl games, 20 consecutive semesters of a department-wide 3.0 grade-point average, and thousands of hours of annual community service.

Barnhart was joined by Sue Feamster, a pioneer of women’s varsity athletics at UK. She was the UK Women’s Basketball Coach from 1971 to 1976 and became the first director of women’s athletics in 1974 where she held that position until 1978 when the departments merged. Feamster was then assistant AD from 1978-1986.

Joining Barnhart and Feamster in the 45th KSHOF class were Michael Bush and Dallas Thornton. Bush was a football star at Louisville Male High School, University of Louisville and in the NFL. Thornton was a basketball star at Male, Kentucky Wesleyan college and for the Harlem Globetrotters in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

The KSHOF recognizes athletes and sports figures who are Kentucky natives or who participated in their respective sport or made a significant impact in their sport in the state of Kentucky. They’re owned by the Louisville Sports Commission — a Kentucky-based non-profit.

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