Hoops Hall of Fame Announces Honorees
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame has named its most recent group of men's basketball inductees. The 2014 class includes more than a dozen former players and coaches who will be celebrated at an awards banquet in March. December 3, 2013
News Release
NEW CASTLE, Ind. – Loaded with basketball talent and tradition, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame proudly announces their 2014 mens induction class, to be honored at the 53rd annual Mens Awards Banquet on Wednesday, March 26, 2014.
Orsten “Little O” Artis was a standout at Gary Froebel High School, averaging over 22 points per game for a 24-3 squad in his 1961-62 senior season. He was a starter and third leading scorer (12.6 ppg) on the 1966 national champion Texas Western squad – the first team to start five African-Americans in NCAA Tournament history – that has since been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A retired Gary Police officer, he resides in Merrillville.
Tom Chilton averaged 21 points and 19 rebounds as a junior and 23 points and 22 rebounds as a senior for Hall of Famer Ray Green at Austin High School before a standout career at East Tennessee State. He set a program record with 1,801 career points (his 26.0 ppg average remains top career scoring average) in three seasons at ETSU, where he was an All-American, drafted by NBA and ABA franchises and remains the only player to have his jersey retired. He was a teacher and coach at Jennings County, Dupont and Madison school systems. He resides in Madison.
Jack Cross was the South Central Conference’s leading scorer in football and basketball while a senior at Rushville. A three-sport athlete at Ball State University, he coached at Dunkirk and Bluffton high schools for a total of 15 seasons, winning six sectionals and one regional championship. He resides in Bluffton.
Tom DeBaets played basketball at South Bend LaSalle High School and Olivet College before embarking on a 17-year coaching career. His teams amassed a 171-80 record in 11 seasons at South Bend Clay (1985-1996), including winning the 1994 state championship. Also a coach for one season at New Prairie and completing his coaching career with five seasons at South Bend Riley (1997-2002), his teams were 233-154 over his career. He resides in South Bend.
David Gadis scored 1,368 points in his career at Pike High School under Hall of Fame coach Ed Siegel, setting five school records on his way to a spot on the 1980 Indiana All-Star team. A starter in all 27 games his freshman season at Southern Methodist University, he played in 103 career games and was a member of their 25-8 1984 NCAA Tournament team. He resides in Indianapolis.
Les Habegger made his way in college and professional basketball after growing up in Berne and serving in World War II. A player at Northwestern College (MN) and Wheaton College, he established success as head coach at Seattle Pacific University from 1957-1974, where his teams won 267 games and made six NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, including the 1965 Elite Eight. An assistant coach with the 1979 NBA Champion Seattle Supersonics, he was later their general manager and director of player personnel and won three professional league championships while coaching in Germany. He resides in Gilbert, Arizona.
William “Bill” Harmon was a member of high-scoring Jennings County teams in the early 1970’s under Hall of Fame coach Bill Springer. Totaling 1,537 career points (19.5 ppg career average) and 1,001 career rebounds, he played four years at the University of Louisville on three NCAA Tournament teams, including the 1975 Final Four squad. Harmon’s father, Bill, was a member of the 1941 and 1942 state champion teams (Washington H.S.) and his uncle, Chuck, is a 1989 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and former Major League Baseball player. He resides in North Vernon.
Art Musselman set season and game scoring records at Huntington High School, where he played under Hall of Fame coaches Lou Watson and Ivan Wilhelm. His 1,504 career points held as The Citadel’s record for 25 years and his 750 career rebounds also remain high on their career rankings. In 2009, his jersey was the first retired in the then 108-year history of Citadel basketball. Later a head coach at Presbyterian College, he was an assistant coach at Clemson and at North Carolina State on their 1974 NCAA Championship team. He resides in Knightdale, North Carolina.
Bill Russell starred under Hall of Fame coach Bill Stearman at Columbus High School and was the only freshman to start in Stearman’s tenure with the Bull Dogs. Russell set the school record of 1,272 career points and led Columbus to an undefeated regular season and lengthy stint ranked as the #1 team in the state his senior season. A three-year letterwinner at Indiana University, he was a member of their 1967 Big Ten championship squad and was drafted by the Indiana Pacers. He resides in Columbus.
Ron Smith was a standout multi-athlete at Elkhart Memorial High School under Hall of Fame coach Jim Powers and later Furman University. A 1974 Indiana All-Star, at Furman he set game, season and career assist marks as well as season and career steals records on teams that made a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and was a senior captain of teams that defeated North Carolina, N.C. State and Clemson in the same season. After five years playing Minor League Baseball, he became head basketball coach at Miami University-Middletown (OH) and Middletown (OH) High School through 1994. Now in his 20th season as head baseball coach at Furman, he is the winningest coach in program history. He resides in Taylors, South Carolina.
Jack Waters was an all-state player for Hall of Fame coach Bud Ritter at Madison in the 1950s. After averaging 17.9 points and 15 rebounds his senior year, he headed to the University of Mississippi, where he graduated as the school’s 2nd all-time leading scorer (1,384 career points) with All-American and three-time 1st team all-SEC honors. Named to the school’s athletics HOF and Team of the Century and named an “SEC Legend,” he was drafted by the Cincinnati Royals before a 45-year coaching career in high school and college basketball in Mississippi and Georgia, including head coaching positions at Georgia State and Delta State. He resides in Centre, Alabama.
Paul Weekley was a graduate of Oblong (IL) High School and Eastern Illinois University, who won 431 games as head coach at Shelburn and North Central (Farmersburg) high schools from 1938 through 1973. Included in his 28-season career were six sectional championships, one regional title and two Wabash Valley Tournament runner-up finishes, leading his respective small schools over much larger opponents.
The recipient of this year’s Silver Medal, which includes Hall of Fame induction, is former Taylor University head coach Paul Patterson. In 34 seasons at Taylor, his teams won 734 games, making him the winningest coach at an Indiana four-year college or university, and had 28 winning seasons. His teams won 15 conference championships and made 14 appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, including a 1991 Final Four appearance and National Coach of the Year honors. A player at Hammond Morton High School and Hanover College, his 48-year coaching career included stops at Spencer (IN), Somerset (KY), Amelia (OH) and Ashland Paul Blazer (KY) high schools and Northwest Missouri State University. He now resides in Mooresville.
The Centennial Award, created three years ago to recognize those who contributed to Indiana high school basketball more than 100 years ago, goes to Lowell “Pug” Dale of Lebanon, who was a member of the Tigers’ 1912 state champions. Dale scored 42 points in the final two games of the state finals, a record that would stand for 32 years. Following a career at Wabash College, he was a high school coach in Illinois for 29 years, winning 49