WINONA LAKE - Kosciusko County has its first class of basketball hall of famers.
The Kosciusko County Basketball Hall of Fame held its inaugural inductions Friday at Grace College's Orthopaedic Capital Center.
The first class featured one player from each of the original 14 county schools, as well as four officials.
"The era most of you played is at the root of the love felt for the game in the state of Indiana," Grace College men's basketball coach Jim Kessler said during the opening of the event.
Warsaw Community High School graduate, Dr. Steve Hollar also addressed the inductees, giving tales of his time filming the movie Hoosiers.
"I'm in awe of the talent in here," Hollar said.
Following stories and a clip from the movie Hollar starred in as Rade Butcher, the attention turned back to the inductees, who each received a plaque and a gift bag.
Players going into the hall of fame were Dan Anglin (Atwood), Donnie Butts (Beaver Dam), Jerry Nelson (Burket), Coye Conley (Claypool), Harold Feldman (Etna Green), Chet Kammerer (Leesburg), Jack Horn (Pierceton), Lewis Speicher (Milford), Tom Hoover (Mentone), Jerry Rhodes (North Webster), Tom Sittler (Silver Lake), Jerry Walther (Sidney), Jack Darr (Syracuse) and Whitey Bell (Warsaw). Along with the players, officials Gene Butts, Marion Acton, Bill Goshert and Lew Goshert. Only Bell, Acton and Kammerer weren't in attendance, as Bell had a family obligation and Kammerer's work with the Miami Heat didn't allow him to make the trip.
"There's some really fine basketball players in this room," Nelson said. "I'm not sure I could play with them."
That sentiment was shared by numerous other inductees, as was the feelings they had for their teammates.
"Everybody has a soft spot for people on their team," Anglin said. "I feel very blessed to have had the experiences I've had."
"I played with a lot of good players," Conley said. "Any one of them could have been chosen to be in this hall of fame."
The former players didn't only enjoy the comradery with their teammates, but also recognized how much they needed them to be successful.
"As a (center), you're at the mercy of the smaller guys," Walther said.
The image of Indiana basketball was also personified by the players, who each talked about practicing in barns or trying to beat their older brothers.
"I always said, 'One day, I'm going to beat those guys.'," Anglin said about playing against his dad's seven brothers in the barn. "And one day, I beat those guys,"
Walther also played against his older brother, who he credited with making him a better player.
"He was two years older than me, and it took me 12 years to beat him," he said. "I owe him a lot."
And there were the coaches too.
"If it wasn't for my coaches, I wouldn't be here," Horn said.
"I think my coaches made a difference in my life, but I didn't really realize it in high school," Hoover said. "They might have shaped me more than I knew at the time."
During dinner, footage from old games was shone, making former players nostalgic for the old gyms with stages at one end of the court.
"I remember playing in Burket with the boilers and the top of the ceiling was about 20 feet," Donnie Butts said. "And at Atwood, you'd be dribbling the ball all by yourself, and you if bounced it at a certain spot and it wouldn't come back up. There were flat spots on the floor."
Walther recently returned to the spot of his playing days in Sidney, where the gym had a special feature.
"Sidney was interesting to play in because it only had six light bulbs hanging down," he said.
Even if the gyms weren't as nice as they are today, playing in those gyms is something the Class of 2010 wouldn't want to change.
"It's about a period in time that was a great one," Sittler said.
"Boy, oh boy, it sure was a lot of fun," Darr said.
"It was a lot of fun and I always enjoyed winning," Feldman said.
More information on the Kosciusko County Basketball Hall of Fame may be obtained by visiting www.kchalloffame.com
