Northern Kentucky has an extensive history in sports. A long journey. Years. centuries.
We’re aware that you’ve seen these lists before, but this is a fresh and original method to introduce you to our 50 Northern Kentucky sports icons, one every day for the next 50 days.
There are halls of fame all around NKY, including the Thomas More, Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, NKU, and other area high schools.
We ll preface this series by saying this, some of you may disagree with who should or shouldn t be in the top 50 and that s fine. Plenty are in the Hall of Very Good, but we feel these 50 are the one s who stuck out to us.
Every Monday at noon, you’ll receive a weekly summary of the NKY sports headlines.
A number of local NKY sports history enthusiasts were consulted by Sports Editor Evan Dennison in order to gather their thoughts and recommendations of who ought to be included in the 50 sports icons. After compiling each list, we created our own 50 (perhaps cheating a little by including families as one) to present over the course of the following 50 days.
I hope you have fun as summer progresses!
The Maile family ranks 45th out of 50 sports icons. Three members of the NKY family became professional athletes.
Dick Maile, the Maile Family | Photo courtesy of
Dick Maile, a 1961 Covington Catholic graduate who averaged 19.5 points per game as a senior, is the first person to carry on the Maile family’s athletic heritage in Northern Kentucky. The 6-foot-5 forward finished with 1,284 points (17.4 ppg) and 722 rebounds (10.4 rpg) in all three of the Tigers’ varsity seasons (1962–65), leading the team in both scoring and rebounds. He was selected to the Look Magazine All-America team in 1965, tied for 66th place nationally in scoring in 1964, and received two First Team All-SEC awards. A member of the CovCath Hall of Fame, the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Maile was selected by the Cincinnati Royals in the eleventh round of the 1965 NBA Draft. Later on, he served as a basketball coach at Beechwood, Notre Dame Academy, and CovCath.Luke Maile | Image supplied
Luke Maile, his grandson and another CovCath alum, was a three-time Northern Kentucky Player of the Year, a 1,000-point scorer in basketball, and the 2009 Gatorade Player of the Year in baseball. He was a catcher on the All-SEC Second Team at Kentucky and a 2012 Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award semifinalist. He was selected by Tampa Bay in the 2012 MLB Draft and has played for six different teams in more than 300 games.Michael Mayer | Source photo
Michael Mayer, another grandson, was a five-star recruit, an All-American tight end at Notre Dame, and the 2019 Kentucky Mr. Football for Covington Catholic, the state champion. Mayer was one of the more powerful players on the football field in recent years and won both basketball and football state titles. Before being selected 35th overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2023 NFL Draft, he left Notre Dame as the program’s all-time leader in tight end receptions, yards, and touchdowns.
Over the following 50 days, view the 50 sports icons on a daily basis.
Dave Cowens on the first day
Shaun Alexander on Day Two
Homer Rice on Day Three
Dicky Beal on Day Four
Jared Lorenzen on Day 5
Day 6: Jim Bunning
Day 7: Ellis, Tom
Day 8: Nate Dusing
Day 9: Jim Connor
Steve Cauthen on Day 10
Day 11: Irv Goode
Day 12: Steidel, Stan
Day 13: Shields, Kenney
David Justice on Day 14
Day 15: Morgan Hentz
Eddie Arcaro on Day 16
Nancy Winstel on Day 17
Day 18: Flesch, Steve
Day 19: Donna Murphy
Day 20: Randy Marsh
Day 21: Yeagle, Mike
Derrick Barnes on Day 22
Day 23: Dale Mueller
Day 24: Faust, Dave
Kirsten Allen on Day 25
Day 26: The family of Oldendick
Day 27: Hils, Martin Mote
Day 28: Nel Fookes
Day 29: Hauck, Owen
Day 30: Becky Ruehl
Day 31: Tom Thacker
Day 32: Moss, Sydney
Day 33:Bob Schneider
Day 34:The Walz family
Day 35:John Toebben
Day 36:Pat Scott
Day 37:Bob Arnzen
Day 38:Joan Mazzaro
Day 39:Frank Jacobs
Day 40:Adrienne Hundemer
Day 41:The Draud family
Day 42:Bill Krumpelbeck
Day 43:
The Molony family
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