Fordham will recognize eight former Rams by inducting them into the Athletic Hall of Fame. The seven athletes and one coach come from different sports teams at the university and each excelled during their time as a Ram. The inductees of the 2023 Hall of Fame class are Ifeatu Otue, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’73; Natali Sunara, FCRH ’96; Jason Harris, FCRH ’01; Elise Fortier, FCRH ’14; Titi Fagade, Gabelli School of Business ’15; Samantha Clark, FCRH ’16; Chase Edmonds, FCRH ’18; and Nick Macarchuk, former men’s basketball head coach. Individuals in the Hall are recognized based on the “significant contributions” that they made during their time with the Rams.
Otue was an esteemed athlete on the men’s soccer team from 1970-72 and was named the team’s most valuable player (MVP) as well as captain for two seasons. Otue sits within the top five in both career goals and assists in Fordham men’s soccer history. At the time, Otue’s career goal and assist totals were school records. Otue still holds the university’s record for assists in a single season with 15 in 1972.
Honoring the Fordham’s women’s tennis team, Sunara transferred to play for Fordham after being ranked as a top 10 singles player in 1993 for the junior college division of the Rolex/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Collegiate National Rankings. Sunara continued her excellence at Rose Hill, leading the team to a 14-3 record in the 1994-95 season and representing Fordham at the 1994 Rolex ITA Regionals.
Sunara was awarded the 1994 Patriot League Tournament MVP and earned All-Patriot League honors in both singles and doubles, in addition to winning the 1995 Hobbs Family Award, which recognizes Fordham’s most outstanding female athlete each year. In 1995, Fordham moved into the Atlantic 10 (A10) Conference for women’s tennis, and Sunara subsequently made the 1996 Academic All-Atlantic 10 team, concluding her Fordham tennis career with yet another accolade.
Having excelled as a two-way player for the men’s basketball team, Harris was a key contributor during his four years at Fordham. He sank the most career three-pointers in the university’s history, while also earning the A10 All-Defense honors in 2001. Harris was particularly prolific during the 1999-2000 season, where he averaged 15.3 points per game and set single-game records in three-pointers made (10) and steals (nine). Since the conclusion of his playing career, Harris has coached basketball at the high school and collegiate levels, and is now a head coach and the associate athletic director at Atlantic Collegiate Academy in South Carolina.
A record-breaking softball player, Fortier dominated during her time at Fordham. She was named to an A10 All-Conference team in each of her three seasons with the Rams and earned the 2014 A10 Player of the Year Award for her historic campaign. In 2014, Fortier hit 20 home runs to pair with her .389 average and staggering 73 runs batted in (RBI) to lead Fordham to its second A10 Championship in a row. Despite transferring to Fordham and only playing for three seasons for the Rams during her academic career, Fortier holds the record for career home runs (46) and career slugging percentage (.695), while claiming the second most career RBI (159) in team history.
Today, Edmonds is set to enter his sixth NFL season as a player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Fagade is another Ram who set numerous records during her time on the women’s track and field team. She holds the record for the indoor 400 meter, 500 meter and 800 meter runs, as well as the outdoor 400 meter dash. She was also a member of the record-setting relay teams for the indoor 4X800 meter relay and the outdoor 4X400 meter relay. Fagade’s numerous accolades include being named the indoor team’s MVP in three different seasons and receiving the Hobbs Family Award in 2015.
As a starter for the majority of her four years at Fordham, Clark was a crucial contributor to the women’s basketball team. She finished her career as only the fourth player in the program’s history to score 1,200 points and 900 rebounds. A double-double machine, Clark also accumulated the third most blocks in Fordham history and was a key contributor on the A10 Championship team in 2014. She was recognized as an A10 All-Defense Team member in 2015-16 and was honored as a co-winner of the 2016 Claire and Jack Hobbs Memorial Award alongside Jessica Widmann, Gabelli Graduate School of Business ’16.
Setting records not only for Fordham but also for the broader Patriot League, Edmonds had a historic collegiate football career. Edmonds made an immediate impact as a Ram, starting all 14 games at running back and leading the Patriot League in rushing yards (1,838) and touchdowns (23). He would go on to win the Patriot League Rookie of the Year Award and the 2014 Jerry Rice Award, recognizing the Rookie of the Year for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
Edmonds’ first season set the tone for the rest of his athletic career with the Rams. For Fordham, he holds the top three single-season rushing yard, the career rushing yards record (with more than 1,200 yards separating him from the second position on the list), the top single-season and career rushing touchdown marks and the record for most yards rushed in a single game, when he rushed for 359 yards against Lafayette in 2017. Additionally, Edmonds holds the Patriot League records for career rushing yards, single-game rushing yards, and career rushing touchdowns. Today, Edmonds is set to enter his sixth NFL season as a player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The final inductee of the 2023 class, and only non-athlete, is Macarchuk, head coach of the men’s basketball team for 12 years from 1987-99. During that period, Fordham won back-to-back Patriot League titles and Macarchuk led the Rams to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1971. He was also awarded the Patriot League Coach of the Year Award in 1991 and the A10 Coach of the Year Award in 1999. Another key marker of his coaching career is that he guided the Rams through a transition from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference into the Patriot League as well as the transition five years later into the A10.
These esteemed athletes all left indelible marks on the Fordham Athletics community. It is entirely fitting that they have their legacies cemented and their accomplishments celebrated. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Oct. 5 under the Homecoming tent on Edward’s Parade before the inductees’ names are officially placed in the Hall itself.
