The Philadelphia Big 5 Announces Four New Hall of Famers

Pepe Sanchez (Jed Jacobsohn / Allsport)

The Philadelphia Big 5 has selected four new members to be inducted into its Hall of Fame on Monday, April 13 at the Palestra. The new 2015 class includes Pepe Sanchez from Temple, Ugonna Onyekwe of Penn, Stan Hochman in media, and Bill Raftery of a special category.

Pepe Sanchez, an Argentina native, played at Temple from 1996-2000. He was named the Philadelphia Big 5 MVP his junior and senior seasons. However, it was not just his scoring that stood out. He was also named the Atlantic 10 Conference player of the year his senior season. To this day, he is one of only six Owls to earn Associated Press All-America honors with his third team accolade in his senior season. During his career, Sanchez recorded 689 assists and still holds the school record for 5.9 career assist average. He is also ranked third nationally and the record holder in the Big 5 for his 365 careers steals. Beyond Temple, Sanchez was also part of the Argentina Olympic team that won the Gold Medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Sanchez went on to play 14 years professionally overseas.

Ugonna Onyekwe(2000-2003) led the Penn Quakers to a Big 5 title in 2001-2002. His junior and senior year, he was selected to the All- Big 5 first team and was on the second team his freshman year. Onyekwe earned numerous Ivy league honors such as being named a two-time Ivy league Player of the year, Rookie of the year, and was a four-time all-Ivy player. He helped lead the Quakers to three Ivy league titles in his four years. Onyekwe is currently second on Penn’s all-time scoring list with 1,762 points, and eighth on the all-time rebounding list (759). He was also tied for first all-time in games played (118); second all-time in field goals made (690) and blocked shots (139); fifth in games started (105); and 11th in free throws made (329). It is safe to say he definitely made an impact on the Penn program in countless ways.

Stan Hochman has been a prominent figure in sports news. He has been working with the Philadelphia Daily News since 1959. He began his career as a Phillies beat writer and covered Big Five basketball for seven years before becoming a full-time columnist. He broadcasted the Quaker City tournament with Sonny Hill on radio in which he worked alongside Les Keiter, also known as the “General” on televised road games.  Hochman was the weekend sports anchor on Channel 6, a regular on PRISM and Comcast, and currently does a weekly Poobah segment on WIP-radio.  However this is not Hochman’s first time being inducted into a Hall of fame. He is actually a member of four Halls of Fame and was voted Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year three times.

Bill Raftery is another popular broadcaster working with Philadelphia sports, but specifically college basketball. He has worked for prevalent networks like ESPN, CBS, and Fox Sports. The 1963 La Salle graduate played for the Explorers from 1960-1963, leading them in scoring during his sophomore year (17.8ppg). In his senior season, he was co-captain of the Explorers team and led his to an NIT berth. He also holds his doctorate degree from La Salle.  Following his playing career, Raftery went on to coach for 11 years as the head coach of the Seton Hall Pirates. Finally, he turned to broadcasting where his personality and voice calling college basketball games has become known by many. Today he still occasionally calls Big 5 games, but resides in northern New Jersey with his wife Joan. Raftery can currently be heard on Fox Sports 1 calling Big East basketball.

The Philadelphia Big 5 banquet is scheduled to take place on Monday, April 13 starting at 6:00 p.m. on the floor of the Palestra. In addition to honoring the four men inducted, it will also honor the 2014-2015 men’s and women’s post season awards winners. Tickets are $50 each.  Contact Steve Crider at 814-935-5015 or via email at steve@philadelphiabig5.org for purchasing tickets.