Who will Frank Thomas be joining? Here's every Auburn icon with a statue on campus

Frank Thomas will soon be part of a very exclusive club at Auburn.

Of all the athletes and coaches to come through Auburn over the years, just seven currently have a statue on campus. When Thomas has his sculpture unveiled in front of Plainsman Park at 10 a.m. on Saturday, that number will rise to eight.

Thomas, who spent three years with the Tigers, left the Plains with a .382 career batting average to go along with 49 home runs and 205 RBIs. He went on to have a 19-year MLB career, eventually getting inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.

Here's a list of the other seven Auburn icons that have statues, and what they accomplished to receive them.

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Charles Barkley

One of the greatest Auburn basketball players of all time, Charles Barkley had his statue displayed in 2017. The 6-foot-6, 252-pound big man averaged 14.1 points and 9.6 rebounds over 84 career games with the Tigers. He later went to the NBA, selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the No. 5 overall pick in 1984, and was an 11-time all-star in his 16-year professional career.

Pat Dye

Pat Dye was Auburn's football coach (1981-92) and the school's athletics director (1981-91). He led the Tigers to SEC titles in 1983, 1987, 1988 and 1989 and was the fourth coach in conference history to bring a team to three straight SEC titles. The field at Jordan-Hare Stadium is also named after the late coach.

Cliff Hare

Mostly known for his work as an administrator, Cliff Hare was a member of Auburn's first football team. When his statue was unanimously approved by the board of trustees in 2020, AU said in a release "Cliff Hare was involved in academics, athletics and policymaking at API (Alabama Polytechnic Institute) for a half century. ... Among Hare’s many accomplishments, he served as the first president of the Southern Athletic Conference in 1932, served as Chairman of API’s Faculty Athletic Committee for numerous years, and was named Dean of the School of Chemistry and Pharmacy in 1932."

Bo Jackson

Many will argue is the school's greatest athlete of all time, Bo Jackson played both baseball and football in college and at the professional level. He rushed for over 4,300 yards over four seasons at Auburn, won the Heisman trophy in 1985 and was selected No. 1 overall in the 1986 NFL Draft. Jackson's football career was cut short due to a hip injury, but he also played in the MLB for eight seasons. He was an NFL Pro Bowler in 1990 and an MLB all-star in 1989.

Ralph "Shug" Jordan

Ralph "Shug" Jordan's statue was approved by the board of trustees along with Hare and Dye in 2020. Jordan held a number of titles during his time with the Tigers, including football coach from 1951-1975 and basketball coach from 1933-42 and 1945-46. He's the all-time winningest coach in Auburn football history with 176 victories and helped lead the Tigers to their first national championship in 1957.

Cam Newton

Cam Newton only spent one season at Auburn, but it was historic. The 2010 Heisman trophy winner led the Tigers to an undefeated 14-0 record and a victory in the national championship game over Oregon on Jan. 10, 2011. Newton registered 4,369 total yards and 51 total touchdowns at Auburn before getting picked No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers in 2011 and later winning the NFL's MVP award in 2015.

Pat Sullivan

The first player in Auburn history to win the Heisman trophy in 1971, Pat Sullivan played quarterback for Jordan from 1969-71; he completed 472 passes for 6,534 yards and 54 touchdowns in his collegiate career. Sullivan went on to do radio broadcasts for Auburn football games for five seasons before returning to the field as the quarterbacks coach under Dye from 1986-91.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn athletics: Every icon with a statue and what they did to get it