MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2021 inductees and among the honorees are two former Florida Tech student-athletes, Steve Freeman and Lynisha Nelson, as well as Charles Clemente, a major contributor to Panther Athletics. 
 
For more than a century, athletes from Brevard County have been considered among the finest in America and their accomplishments are honored and immortalized by the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame. Plans are now in the works for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame's 11th induction ceremony, which will include compelling video tributes of each of the inductees.

The date and venue of the induction of the 2020 and 2021 Classes of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame will be announced later this month.

STEVE FREEMAN – COLLEGE CATEGORY INDUCTEE

Steve Freeman, a native of Richmond, England, played soccer at Florida Tech from 1986-89 and helped put the program on the map. He guided the Panthers to the Division II National Championship in 1988, the first national title for Florida Tech in any sport. 

Freeman was a four-time All-Sunshine State Conference, All-State and All-South Region first-team selection, and a two-time All-American first-team honoree in 1988 and 1989. He led the SSC in scoring as a junior and senior with 53 points and 45 points respectively. He scored 51 goals and added 59 assists during his college career. 

Freeman went on to play professionally in the Orlando area for a number of teams in USISL and was named a league All-Star as a member of the Orlando Sundogs in 1997.

Freeman was inducted into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame in 1998.

LYNISHA NELSON – COLLEGE CATEGORY INDUCTEE

Lynisha Nelson, a native of Melbourne, Florida, played basketball at Florida Tech from 2008-11 and was a star player on the hardwood during her high school years at Melbourne Central Catholic. 

Nelson was a four-time All-Sunshine State Conference selection, and named a first-team honoree in three consecutive seasons from 2009-11. She was voted the SSC Defensive Player of the Year twice during her career, in 2008-09 and 2010-11, and remains the only player in program history to receive the award. Additionally, Nelson was named to the Daktronics All-South Region team three times. 

Nelson can be found on numerous top 10 lists in the Florida Tech women's basketball record book. As far as her career stats, she ranks first all-time in program history in career assists (605) and career steals (409), second in career steals per game (3.58), third in career assists per game (5.30), fifth in career points (1,695), sixth in career points per game (14.86), fourth in career three-pointers made (189), and second in career free throws made (488). 

Nelson was inducted into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
 
CHARLES CLEMENTE - SPORTS DEVELOPMENT INDUCTEE

Charles Clemente, a Boston native and Melbourne-area resident, spent more than three decades in the computer and technology sectors, retiring as chief operating officer of America Online/Redgate Communications.

A technology industry executive and longtime member of the Florida Tech Board of Trustees, Clemente helped reshape the university's Melbourne campus and enhance the student experience with the sports and recreational complex proudly known as the Clemente Center.
 
Clemente joined the Board of Trustees at Florida Tech in April 1999, bringing outstanding business acumen, leadership and vision. He also brought unparalleled generosity, as demonstrated by a $2.5 million gift later that year from Mr. Clemente and his wife, Ruth, that helped produce one of cornerstones of a revitalized south campus, the 58,000-square-foot Charles and Ruth Clemente Center, which opened in September 2001, replacing the aging Hedgecock Gymnasium and classroom annex.
 
Clemente passed away earlier this year on Sunday, February 14. He was 85.