{"id":6370,"date":"2026-08-05T07:06:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370"},"modified":"2026-08-05T07:06:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:06:40","slug":"thornton-leads-starry-2026-class-entering-san-jose-sports-hall-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370","title":{"rendered":"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

A league MVP, a national champion, a four-time Olympic medalist and a leader of the Bay Area\u2019s two major rivals will be inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in November.<\/p>\n

Read more SF Giants injury updates: Chapman may not return this season, Eldridge eyeing return<\/a><\/p>\n

The 2026 class consists of former Sharks forward Joe Thornton, Bay FC co-owner and former Santa Clara midfielder Leslie Osborne, legendary Stanford water polo player Brenda Villa and former Stanford and Cal men\u2019s basketball coach Mike Montgomery.<\/p>\n

Thornton will be entering a Hall for the second straight year after going into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto last November. The 24-year NHL veteran played 14 seasons with the Sharks and won the Hart Trophy as the league\u2019s MVP in 2005-06, when he also led the NHL in scoring.<\/p>\n

Osborne was a key member of the 2001 national champion women\u2019s soccer team at Santa Clara as a freshman, later being named a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, collegiate soccer\u2019s top honor, as a senior. After her club career and an international career that included playing in the 2007 World Cup, Osborne co-founded Bay FC alongside fellow Bay Area soccer stars Brandi Chastain, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner.<\/p>\n

Read more California real estate developer accused of being an accomplice to kidnapping and shooting of his business partner<\/a><\/p>\n

Villa is considered one of the greatest players in water polo history after winning Olympic medals in 2000 (silver), 2004 (bronze), 2008 (silver) and 2012 (gold). Named FINA Aquatics World Magazine\u2019s women\u2019s player of the decade for the early 2000s, Villa helped Stanford to a national title in 2002 and is now an assistant coach for the Cardinal.<\/p>\n

Montgomery coached nearly two decades at Stanford, leading the Cardinal to the Final Four in 1998 and being named the Naismith College Coach of the Year two seasons later. He coached the Warriors for two seasons, then took over Cal from 2008-14, helping the Bears to a share of the Pac-10 title in 2010 for the first time in a half-century. Stanford won four Pac-10 titles under his watch. Montgomery went into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame last year.<\/p>\n

The four inductees will have bronze plaques unveiled at the SAP Center concourse and be honored at a ceremony in November, with the exact date not yet announced.<\/p>\n

Read more Windsor: Welcome, Spokane, to the community of fire refugees. I\u2019m sorry you\u2019re here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A league MVP, a national champion, a four-time Olympic medalist and a leader of the Bay Area’s two major rivals will be inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nThornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A league MVP, a national champion, a four-time Olympic medalist and a leader of the Bay Area's two major rivals will be inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in November.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-05T07:06:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-05T07:06:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370\"},\"wordCount\":415,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/0aef3a8029f6172366f0cba947bae6c6-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370\",\"name\":\"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/0aef3a8029f6172366f0cba947bae6c6-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-05T07:06:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/0aef3a8029f6172366f0cba947bae6c6-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/0aef3a8029f6172366f0cba947bae6c6-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1753},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6370#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame - Next City Digest","og_description":"A league MVP, a national champion, a four-time Olympic medalist and a leader of the Bay Area's two major rivals will be inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in November.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-08-05T07:06:40+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame","datePublished":"2026-08-05T07:06:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370"},"wordCount":415,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0aef3a8029f6172366f0cba947bae6c6-scaled.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370","name":"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0aef3a8029f6172366f0cba947bae6c6-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-05T07:06:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0aef3a8029f6172366f0cba947bae6c6-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0aef3a8029f6172366f0cba947bae6c6-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1753},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6370#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thornton leads starry 2026 class entering San Jose Sports Hall of Fame"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}