The 42nd Annual Niagara University Athletics Hall of Fame was held on February 20. The Hall of Fame Class of 2016 is the following: Mariam Al-Shikarchy '05 (women's tennis), Frank Fiannaca '85 (baseball), Chris Watson '97 (men's basketball), and the 1999-2000 men's ice hockey team.

Mariam Al-Shikarchy
Mariam Al-Shikarchy earned numerous accolades on the court and in the classroom during her four-year tennis career at Niagara University.

The Purple Eagles' former No. 1 singles and doubles player finished with the program's second-best singles (75-16) and doubles (68-18) records, and went undefeated in her MAAC career with a 30-0 record in regular-season singles matches. She helped Niagara to two regular-season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles and the program's only two MAAC Tournament titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2003 and 2005. 

As a senior during the 2004-05 season, Al-Shikarchy was named the MAAC Player of the Year, the MAAC Most Outstanding Performer and the MAAC Female Student-Athlete of the Year, while earning first-team All-MAAC honors at No.1 singles and second-team All-MAAC selection at No. 1 doubles.  She was 23-6 overall, 19-4 in dual matches and undefeated in conference play (7-0). In doubles, Al-Shikarchy was 21-6 overall, 16-5 in dual matches and 6-1 in the MAAC.

A three-time member of the MAAC All-Academic Team, Al-Shikarchy was honored in 2005 as an ESPN The Magazine Women's At-Large Academic Third Team All-American with a 3.92 grade-point average in political science. The Fonthill, Ontario, native was also honored in 2005 as Niagara's Female Student-Athlete of the Year and was a two-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Academic All-American.

Chris Watson (Currently playing in his 19th season of professional basketball and was unable to attend event)
Chris Watson was a consistent scorer and offensive threat during his four-year career for the Purple Eagles basketball team. Watson, a 6-foot-7 forward from White Plains, New York, led the Purple Eagles in scoring in his final three seasons and was third in the MAAC in scoring in his junior and senior seasons.

As a junior, he scored a career-high 40 points on 16 field goals in a 79-77 overtime win against Siena on February 19, 1996. The 16 field goals made are tied for the most in a conference game in program history. Watson averaged a career-high 17.4 points per game as a senior while also leading the MAAC in field goal percentage (.568).

Watson helped lead NU to the MAAC Tournament semifinals in 1996 and 1997 while earning All-MAAC Tournament honors each time. Watson was selected to the 1995-96 All-MAAC First Team and earned All-MAAC Second Team honors during the 1994-95 and 1996-97 seasons.

He finished his career with 1,711 career points, which placed him fourth at the time in Niagara history behind Calvin Murphy, Juan Mendez and Tremmell Darden. He is now seventh all-time.

Watson also ranks in the top-10 of the Niagara career record books in field goals made (615), field goal attempts (1,210), field goals percentage (.508), free throws made (466), free throw attempts (771) and in steals (160).

Frank Fiannaca
Frank Fiannaca's passion for Niagara University has been evident since he first stepped foot on campus over three decades ago.
 
Fiannaca was a four-year starter in right field for the Purple Eagles baseball team from 1981-85, while also serving a four-year term in Niagara University Student Government. Fiannaca, who had a .300 batting average in each season, earned Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) First-Team North Atlantic Conference (NAC) honors as a junior, but he cemented his place in Niagara baseball history as a senior.
 
The Rochester, New York native set the program's single-season batting average record with a .469 average which he still holds today. Fiannaca, who started in all 31 games, went 46-for-98 at the plate including an 18-game hitting streak. The senior captain led the team with 25 RBIs and with 39 singles, and contributed 24 runs, four doubles and three triples.
 
He earned ECAC First-Team NAC honors for the second straight season, and was named to the ECAC Upstate New York/New Jersey Conference First Team and the ECAC Upstate New York All-Star team. Frank also received the 1985 Phil Scaffidi award which is presented to the Niagara University senior student-athlete who best exemplifies sportsmanship, spirit and determination.
 
After graduating with a bachelor of science degree in computer science, Frank worked for national payroll provider, Paychex, and in 1996, Frank and his wife Mary, started USA Payroll in New Jersey.
 
A Purple Eagle through and through, Fiannaca is currently the president of the Niagara University Alumni Association.

1999-2000 Men's Ice Hockey Team
The 1999-2000 Purple Eagles men's ice hockey team made history by capturing the inaugural College Hockey America championship in the program's fourth season of NCAA Division I competition. The Purple Eagles went on to post the program's first and only win in the NCAA Tournament when they defeated the University of New Hampshire in the Western Regional First Round.

The 1999-00 team was guided by 15 members of Niagara's inaugural team that joined the Purple Eagles three seasons prior. The forward group was headed by all-time Niagara greats such as Jay Kasperek, Mikko Sivonen, Kyle Martin, and Mike Isherwood. Four seniors led the way on the blue line, with defensemen Peter Ricketts, Nate Handrahan, and Colin Rows joined by Chris MacKenzie, who is the program's all-time leading scorer among defensemen. In goal, the team was anchored by a phenomenal season by Greg Gardner, whose 12 shutouts remain an NCAA single-season record, in addition to his Niagara single season-record 41 games played, 29 wins, and 1.56 goals-against average.

As the No. 1 seed in the CHA Tournament, Niagara defeated Air Force, 9-1, in the semifinal before defeating Alabama-Huntsville, 3-2, in the championship game. Kyle Martin was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the Tournament All-Star Team by Jay Kasperek, Chris MacKenzie and Greg Gardner. In their NCAA Tournament opener, the Purple Eagles knocked off third-seeded New Hampshire, 4-1, behind two goals from Mikko Sivonen, with Ryan Harris and Kyle Martin each adding a goal, and 34 saves from Greg Gardner. The Purple Eagles advanced to the Elite Eight where they fell to the eventual national champions, North Dakota.

The 1999-2000 team holds the program record for the most wins (30), most goals (165), the best power play percentage (27.8) and the best penalty kill percentage (87.9) in a single season. On October 20, 1999, the Purple Eagles were ranked No. 15 in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll to receive a national ranking for the first time in program history. The team finished the regular season ranked 8th in the nation.

Three members of the team have been inducted into the Niagara University Athletics Hall of Fame as individuals: Greg Gardner in 2006, and Peter DeSantis and Mike Isherwood in 2007.