Tara DeFlippo, Rachel Laws, Avi Shaprut join Hall of Fame

A day that began with a basketball doubleheader in the Events Center before 4,000 fans concluded with the Binghamton Athletic Department’s 21st Annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Held on Dec. 10 in the TAU Room of the Events Center, this year’s event featured three new inductees – Tara DeFlippo (Class of 1997, women’s soccer), Avi Shaprut (Class of 1994, men’s diving) and Rachel Laws (Class of 2006, women’s basketball).

DeFlippo transferred to Binghamton from Monroe Community College prior to her sophomore season. A local athlete from nearby Vestal High School, she was an All-American and three-year starting goalkeeper for a women’s soccer program that reached unprecedented heights during her career.

In her junior season, she allowed just eight goals in 19 games for a stellar 0.38 goals against average. After the 12-4-3 season that included the team’s first outright conference championship and an NCAA bid, DeFlippo was selected as an NSCAA Division III All-American, deemed one of the top three goalies in the entire nation.

At the 1997 Athletic Department Awards Banquet, DeFlippo received the Female John Bilos Award for her outstanding career achievements. She is the sixth women’s soccer player to reach the Hall of Fame.

DeFlippo has remained in the Vestal area since graduation, which made her induction extra meaningful.

“It’s an honor to be here today, especially as a local girl being from Vestal,” she said. “To know that I was thought of so highly with all that the women’s soccer program did between 1994-96 is really spectacular. For me to realize that I had a little piece in the action 20 years ago is extra special for me.”

While DeFlippo only needed to come from across town to the inductions, Shaprut came across the country from California. Still, his accomplishments as an undergrad are just as impressive.

Shaprut was a two-time All-American diver and helped lead Binghamton to the 1994 SUNYAC Championship. After placing 15th at the 1993 NCAA Championships in the one-meter diving event to earn honorable mention All-America status, he earned first-team All-America honors in the same event at the 1994 meet. In the process, he became the first Binghamton diver ever to earn first-team status.

In the classroom, Shaprut was just as impressive. He was a Scholar-Athlete who capped his career by receiving the department’s Foundation Award for career athletics achievement. He is the ninth inductee from the university’s swimming & diving program.

When Shaprut graduated in 1994, the Events Center was still a decade away from being built. He made note of that fact when he addressed the media prior to the induction ceremony.

“It’s surreal to be here today,” he said. “To have my name permanently on the (Hall of Fame) wall in this beautiful facility is amazing. The Events Center wasn’t even here when I graduated and that’s a sign of how much Binghamton has grown in the past two decades.”

Laws, meanwhile, is no stranger to the Events Center. She starred for the women’s basketball team the first three years the facility was open. Laws was a three-time America East all-conference selection and finished her career ranked in the top 10 in Binghamton program history for point and rebounds.

To fully appreciate Laws impact on the Binghamton program, it must be noted that she committed to Binghamton during its first season at the NCAA Division I level (2001). During her career, she became the first Bearcat to reach the 1,000-point mark at the NCAA Division I level and led the team to a pair of 17-win seasons.

In the classroom and beyond, Laws was just as impressive. She was part of Binghamton’s inaugural class inducted into the National College Athlete Honor Society in 2006. That same year, she earned the America East Conference’s Inaugural Female Sportsmanship Award. Laws is the seventh women’s basketball player inducted into the athletic department’s Hall of Fame.

Over a decade since committing to a fledgling NCAA Division I program, Laws is both honored by her latest accomplishment and proud of having made the choice to come to Binghamton.

“I am so honored and humbled to be here, especially in this manner alongside Avi and Tara,” she said. “I feel really proud to have attended Binghamton University and it means everything to me. It brings me immense satisfaction to have chosen this school and to have spent my four years as an undergraduate here.”

Established in 1996, the Binghamton Athletic Hall of Fame now has 101 individual inductees and two teams.