Baseball

Conference USA Announces 2025 Hall of Fame Class

DALLAS – Conference USA is proud to introduce its 2025 Hall of Fame class, consisting of five distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to their respective sports and to the history of the league. This year’s inductees include three exceptional student-athletes and two active coaches from four different sports and three institutions.
 
Meet the CUSA Hall of Fame Class of 2025 
 
Brandon Doughty and Jessica Lucas are the second and third student-athlete honorees from WKU. Doughty is the third quarterback to join the CUSA Hall of Fame, while Lucas is the first volleyball setter. Current Hilltopper head coach and defending CUSA Coach of the Year Travis Hudson becomes the first volleyball coach to enter the league’s hall of fame. Also joining the 45 current members of the CUSA Hall of Fame is Middle Tennessee head women’s basketball coach Rick Insell, the reigning CUSA Coach of the Year. Rounding out the 2025 Class is current Toronto Blue Jay and former Southern Miss pitcher Nick Sandlin.
 
“It’s an honor to celebrate the announcement of our 2025 Hall of Fame class,” said Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod. “Each member has made a lasting impact on their sport and on the history of our league. Their remarkable achievements and contributions have shaped the legacy of Conference USA, and we are proud to recognize them as part of our seventh Hall of Fame class. We deeply appreciate their dedication and excellence and look forward to sharing their stories and honoring the role they’ve played in the growth of our conference.”
 
The league’s Hall of Fame Committee selects the nominees, and the league’s Athletics Directors serve as the voting panel for the CUSA Hall of Fame. The inaugural class was introduced in 2019 with 20 student-athletes, three coaches and two administrators. Current and future CUSA Hall of Fame class size will be a minimum of one inductee and a maximum of five inductees per year. 
 
2025 CONFERENCE USA HALL OF FAME CLASS
 
Brandon Doughty, WKU, Football (2014-15)
  • 2015 CUSA Michael L. Slive Male Athlete of the Year, CUSA Most Valuable Player and CUSA Championship Game MVP
  • First Hilltopper to receive Heisman votes
  • 2015 Miami Beach Bowl MVP
  • 2015 Third Team All-American (Athlon Sports), 2015 Honorable Mention All-American (Sports Illustrated)
  • 2015 CUSA First Team, 2015 CUSA First Team (Phil Steele)
  • 2015 Senior CLASS Award Finalist, 2015 Manning Award Finalist, 2015 Unitas Golden Arm Finalist
  • 2015 Maxwell Award Semifinalist, 2015 Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalist
  • 2014 CUSA Most Valuable Player
  • 2014 Sammy Baugh Award Winner
  • 2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Offensive MVP
  • Doughty quarterbacked the Hilltoppers to their first-ever FBS conference championship, first-ever Associated Press Top 25 ranking and a second consecutive bowl victory. The Hilltoppers dominated CUSA play, winning by an average margin of 27.1 points, the second-largest margin by a league champion ever. They were also the first team to go undefeated in conference play and win the championship game.
  • In 2014, Doughty posted one of the finest seasons by a collegiate quarterback in the history of the game as he led the FBS in passing yards (4,830), passing touchdowns (49), and points responsible for per game (24.2) during his senior campaign.
  • Doughty holds 37 WKU school records (17 career, 14 season and 6 game) including four CUSA records (career completion percentage, career passer efficiency rating, TD passes in a season and single game passing yards.
  • Doughty was drafted in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins 
  Jessica Lucas, WKU, Volleyball (2014-17)
  • Setter Jessica Lucas was a four-time All-American at WKU and three-time CUSA Setter of the Year. Lucas helped WKU to 123 wins over her four years, including a 57-3 record in CUSA regular season matches. The Hilltoppers won the regular season and CUSA Tournament all four years Lucas played on The Hill and twice advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s 2nd Round. Lucas earned Tournament MVP honors in 2015.
  • Lucas, WKU’s career record holder with 5,338 assists, played in 138 matches and 478 sets during her career. She also finished her career No. 9 on WKU’s career block assist list with 251. Her career hitting percentage of .345 still ranks No. 8 today in school history. Lucas is currently 6th in CUSA career assists.
  • In addition to being named CUSA Setter of the Year three times, Lucas was named First Team All-Conference in all four seasons at WKU. Lucas was named AVCA All-Region all four years. She was a CUSA All-Academic selection and a member of the CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
  • Lucas earned Senior CLASS Award First-Team All-America Status in 2017. After becoming the second player in program history to be named a finalist for the award, she was the first Lady Topper to land on the award's first team. 
Nick Sandlin, Southern Miss, Baseball (2016-18)
  • Chosen as the league's Michael L. Slive Male Athlete of the Year for 2017-18
  • Semifinalist for both the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Award for top collegiate baseball player in 2018
  • In 2018, Sandlin won the C Spire Ferriss Trophy, given to the best collegiate baseball player in Mississippi, was named Conference USA's Baseball Pitcher of the Year and received the National Pitcher of the Year Award from Perfect Game/Rawlings.
  • Led the Golden Eagles to a 44-18 record, both the CUSA regular season and tournament titles, the first time USM had achieved that feat since 2003, and its third-straight – and 15th overall – trip to the NCAA Tournament.
  • The right-hander held a career 1.70 ERA for USM with head coach Scott Berry stating “he’s probably the best I’ve ever had” during a press conference when Sandlin signed with Cleveland.
  • In 2017, voted All-America by several publications including a first-team honor by Perfect Game/Rawlings, second team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and a third-team nod by Collegiate Baseball.
  • In 2016, named Freshman All-American by Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball as the team’s primary closer, earned Conference USA All-Freshman accolades, along with the CUSA Commissioner’s Academic Medal, and Commissioner’s Honor Roll status.
  • Called up to the majors in 2021, currently with the Toronto Blue Jays
Travis Hudson, WKU, Volleyball (2014-present)
  • No one is more synonymous with Conference USA Volleyball than Travis Hudson, and no program has done more to elevate the league’s national profile than the one he has built.
  • Travis Hudson enters his 31st season as WKU’s Head Volleyball Coach in 2025. The WKU Athletics Hall of Famer (inducted 2024) has amassed 780 career wins, surpassing Ed Diddle for the second-most among any Hilltopper coach in a single sport. In his 30 seasons, Hudson has led WKU to an astounding 34 conference championships and 17 NCAA Tournament appearances. Throughout his career, he is a 12-time Conference Coach of the Year and has coached 12 Conference Players of the Year, 13 All-Americans (including four, four-time All-Americans) and 68 first team All-Conference honorees.
  • Since joining CUSA in 2014-15, Hudson’s Hilltoppers have won 19 of a possible 22 CUSA championships (11 regular season, nine tournament). He has been named Conference USA Coach of the Year seven times, thanks in part to WKU’s record-setting, active, 92-match winning streak in conference regular season play.
  • Forty-six Hilltoppers have earned All-Conference honors, with seven CUSA Players of the Year in 11 seasons. Five times, a Hilltopper has been named Freshman of the Year with five CUSA Setter of the Year selections.  
Rick Insell, Middle Tennessee, Women’s Basketball (2013-present)
  • MTSU captured its fifth CUSA Basketball Championship title in 2024. Insell also owns four CUSA regular season championships, most recently in 2025.
  • In 2024, the Lady Raiders became the second team in CUSA history to cap off an undefeated league campaign and win the CUSA title (16-0). Insell has guided MTSU to four consecutive 25-win seasons and three NCAA Tournament appearances in the last five years.
  • Insell has earned two CUSA Coach of the Year awards, most recently in 2025.
  • Since the Blue Raiders joined CUSA in 2013, Insell has coached three CUSA Players of the Year, three CUSA Sixth Players of the Year, four Freshman of the Year, two overall CUSA Female Athletes of the Year, and two CUSA Defensive Players of the Year.
  • He’s also produced 37 CUSA All-Conference selections, 48 CUSA Players of the Week, 16 CUSA All-Tournament Team members and five tournament MVPs.
  • Insell has more than 1200 wins in his career, including 489 as a collegiate head coach with 169 in Conference USA.
  • An eight-time Hall of Fame member, he has been inducted into the following during his CUSA tenure: Cannon County Sports (2013); Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (2017); Blue Raiders Sports (2017); Basketball Coaches Association of Tennessee (2021). Inducted prior to CUSA: (TSSAA (2003); National High School (2007); Naismith Basketball Morgan Wooten Lifetime Achievement (2010); Tennessee Sports (2012).
  • Middle Tennessee’s all-time winningest coach (men or women), he has produced six All-Americans and four WNBA draft picks.

 About Conference USA
Conference USA is an NCAA Division I conference championing success in college athletics through dedicated leadership, dynamic partnership, and diverse membership. Founded in 1995 and based in Dallas, CUSA is home to 12 schools: Delaware, FIU, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Missouri State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, UTEP, and WKU.

 
-ConferenceUSA.com-