Jasper High School announces its Athletic Hall of Fame class for 2026.

Five inductees will be enshrined in the banquet ceremony on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at the Calumet Lake Event Plaza.

Jody Giesler, a 1957 graduate, was named to the 1957 Indiana Basketball All-Star Team and was also selected to the 1982 Silver Anniversary Team by the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. He was Texas Wesleyan College MVP in 1961, a three-time All-Big State Conference player, and the Cotton Bowl Tourney MVP in 1959.

Julie Giesler Ruhe, a 2000 graduate, is Jasper girls’ basketball all-time leading scorer with 1,337 points. She was a basketball All-State second team in 1999, was All-Conference four years, and was awarded an athletic scholarship to Vincennes University.

Phil Kendall, a 1996 graduate, was the Indiana Mr. Baseball Runner-Up in 1996. He was MVP of Jasper’s 1996 baseball state champions, was selected in the 5th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, and pitched four years of minor league professional baseball.

Bob “Chesty” Luegers, a 1960 graduate, was named to Indiana’s 1985 Silver Anniversary All-State Basketball Team. He was selected the No. 1 player on the Indiana South All-Star team in 1960 and participated in the East-West National High School All-American games in Houston, Texas.

Jerry Schmidt, a 1963 graduate, was named fullback on the 1962 Indiana All-State football team. He started several games at defensive guard/tackle at the University of Illinois, and was also offered football scholarships by Ohio State, Notre Dame, Purdue, and Indiana.

The inductees, or their representatives, will also be introduced at the Jasper football game on Friday, August 28th.

The inductees were chosen by an anonymous 10-member selection committee.

The 1976 and 1977 football Semistate champions will be honored as this year’s Golden Anniversary Teams at the August 29th banquet, and the boys’ tennis 2001 Semistate Runner-up will be honored as the Silver Anniversary Team.

Nominations from the public are now being accepted for the 2027 Hall of Fame class.

A nomination form can be accessed at jasperathleticshof.touchpros.com or by contacting Athletic Director Phil Kendall at pkendall@gjcs.k12.in.us. All nominations will be kept on file to be considered in future years.