Kahleah Copper Adds Another Rutgers Honor As Her Star Keeps Rising

Kahleah Copper leads a stellar class of athletes set to be honored in Rutgers' 2026 Hall of Fame induction, celebrating a legacy of excellence in women's basketball and beyond.

Kahleah Copper is still putting up big numbers in the WNBA, but Rutgers is making sure her college résumé gets its proper shine, too.

The former Scarlet Knights star headlines the Rutgers athletics Hall of Fame’s 2026 class, the school announced Thursday afternoon. Copper is one of four athletes set to be inducted.

Rutgers will hold the Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, October 2 at Jersey Mike’s Arena. The inductees will also be honored the next day during the football team’s Homecoming game against Indiana.

Copper’s pro career keeps rolling while the accolades keep stacking. This week, she was named to the USA basketball team that will compete at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup. The 2016 WNBA Draft’s No. 7 pick by the Washington Mystics is averaging 20.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 43.3% from the field in 32.8 minutes per game.

Her resume already includes five WNBA All-Star selections, a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Finals MVP honors in 2021, when she powered the Chicago Sky to the franchise’s first WNBA title.

At Rutgers, Copper was the engine of the offense for three straight seasons and finished with 1,872 points, which still ranks third on the program’s all-time scoring list behind Sue Wicks and Cappie Pondexter. As a sophomore, she helped lead the Scarlet Knights to the 2014 WNIT title.

Copper is joined in the 2026 class by three more familiar names.

Steve Rammel, a West Deptford native and former Parade Magazine national high school player of the year in 1986, became part of Rutgers men’s soccer’s golden era after transferring from UConn. Over two seasons in Piscataway, he helped the Scarlet Knights reach back-to-back Final Fours in 1989 and 1990, during a stretch when they went 40-7-2 with him on the field.

In 1990, Rammel was an All-America selection, finished as the Hermann Trophy runner-up and helped Rutgers reach the national championship game, where it fell to UCLA in a penalty shootout. He had already been inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame as part of that 1990 team.

After a stint in the lower leagues in Germany, Rammel moved on to Major League Soccer, where he scored 17 goals in 1996, including the first hat trick in league history, earned All-Star recognition and helped DC United win the inaugural MLS Cup.

Amy Lewis enters the Hall after one of the most productive careers in Rutgers field hockey history. She was the Big East Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and still owns the program records for career goals with 71 and career points with 159. A three-time first-team All-Big East pick, Lewis helped Rutgers to 14 wins in her senior season, the school’s most in 11 years.

Gabrielle Farquharson rounds out the class after a decorated run in track and field. The Williamstown native collected seven All-America honors, nine school records and four gold medals during her Rutgers career.

She became Rutgers’ first Big Ten champion when she won the indoor 200 meters in 2015 and defended that title the next year. She also took gold in the outdoor 100 meters in 2016 in the Big Ten and in the outdoor long jump in 2014 in the AAC.

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