Harold Alfond, whose name has become synonymous with benefiting athletics at the University of Maine, is one of six individuals who will be inducted into the university’s Sports Hall of Fame in ceremonies during the Homecoming weekend of Oct. 5.

Inducted into the UM Hall of Fame along with Alfond will be New York Yankees coach Carl “Stump” Merrill, former women’s basketball star Emily Ellis Throckmorton, Seattle Mariners pitcher Bill Swift, former men’s basketball great Rufus Harris, and former Buffalo Bills linebacker Chris Keating, who starred for the Black Bear football team.

The UM Sports Hall of Fame was created six years ago to honor Maine’s finest athletes and administrators. Criteria for selection are achievement in the athletic program, character, leadership, and non-athletic service to the university community.

Alfond, whose lead gift two decades ago made possible the building of the ice hockey arena that bears his name, recently donated another $2 million to help expand the facility. The donation is the largest one-time cash gift ever bestowed on the University of Maine (non-posthumously), according to Vice President for Development Robert Holmes.

Alfond has donated more than $4 million to the Orono campus since 1968. The Harold Alfond Foundation, one of the oldest in the state, contributes to more than 100 charities annually.

Merrill, a catcher at Maine on the 1964 College World Series team, was appointed manager of the Yankees in June of 1990 after spending several years in the organization at the minor league level. The 1966 Maine graduate played baseball for four years and football for three years before signing a minor league baseball contract. He returned in 1973 to assist the football and basketball coaching staffs.

Ellis Throckmorton set 20 women’s basketball records by the time she graduated in 1985. The first UM athlete ever to have a uniform number retired (40), she set an NCAA record for consecutive free throws made (26). A dedicated student, Throckmorton earned the Maine Sports Hall of Fame College Scholarship Athlete Award in ’85. She was a dean’s list student in seven of her eight semesters and was the first UM female athlete to play professional sports, playing pro basketball in Finland in ’85-86.

Swift, a 1985 Maine graduate, played for the Black Bear baseball team from 1981-84, earning All-American honors three times. The righthander holds or shares seven UM pitching records. The South Portland native helped lead the Bears to the College World Series each year he played. He was signed by the Mariners in the first round of the ’84 draft and currently is one of their strongest relief pitchers.

Harris, who graduated in 1980, is Maine’s all-time leading scorer in men’s basketball with 2,206 points. The 6-foot-4 forward also holds the school’s single-season scoring mark (718). In 1980, Harris was selected to the District 1 first team All-American team and was ECAC co-Player of the Year. He was later drafted by the Boston Celtics.

Keating captained the 1978 UM football team under former coach Jack Bicknell and went on to play for Buffalo in the NFL from 1980-86. For three straight seasons, Keating led Maine in tackles.