A World War II hero, two recent Olympic volleyball medalists and a former athletic director comprise the 27th class that will be inducted into the University of Hawaii Circle of Honor on Saturday.

The number of inductees grows to 86 with the additions of:

» the late John “;Jack”; Johnson, a four-sport athlete who captained the 6-0 Rainbows football team in 1934;

» former Rainbow Wahine middle Heather Bown;

» former Warriors opposite Clay Stanley;

» and Ray Nagel, the athletic director who oversaw UH's transition into Western Athletic Conference membership in 1979.

Johnson, a Punahou graduate, was one of the few non-nisei members of the famed 100th infantry battalion. Killed in the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944, his awards include the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Bown was a two-time All-American and two-time WAC player of the year (1998-99), leading the country in blocks as a senior, and holds the UH record in blocks per set. The three-time Olympian helped the U.S. to a silver medal in the Beijing Games last summer.

Stanley holds the school records for single-match kills (50) and single-season aces (54). The two-time Olympian led the U.S. to the gold medal in Beijing last summer and was named the most valuable player.

Nagel was UH athletic director from 1976 to 1983, spearheading the Rainbow Warriors' move from independent to conference status. He also oversaw the expansion of the Wahine athletic program, during which time the Wahine won three national volleyball championships between 1979 and 1983.

The quartet will first be acknowledged at Friday's luncheon at sponsoring Bank of Hawaii. The induction ceremony will be halftime of Saturday's men's basketball game between Hawaii and Utah State at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Only Nagel is able to attend. Bown and Stanley are playing professionally in Europe.