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NEW ENGLAND BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES TEAM INDUCTEES, SPECIAL AWARDS
9/26/2006

KINGSTON, R.I. - An eclectic group of men’s and women’s teams representing the diversity and strength of New England basketball over the years will be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame on Oct. 6, 2006.
The list includes the first women’s AAU team to be inducted - a team from Roxbury’s Shelburne Community Center - as well the Holy Cross men’s team that won the NIT in 1954, the first New England team to do so.
In all, six men’s teams and five women’s teams have been chosen for the 2006 class. They represent a cross-section of the finest in New England basketball and were selected for their impact on the game as well as for their records and talent, said Daniel E. Doyle, Jr., executive director of the Institute for International Sport, which administers the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.
``We look for teams that are change agents,’’ Doyle said.
After the 1954 Holy Cross team won the NIT, ``every kid in New England wanted a set shot like Togo Palazzi’s,’’ Doyle noted. In this way, Holy Cross and the other team inductees all helped to grow the game, he said.
The AAU team from Roxbury’s Shelburne Center, called the Smokers, were trailblazers in women’s basketball and included such top-notch talent such as Michelle Edwards, Tonya Cardoza and Robin Christian. The late1980’s and early 1990’s were a golden time for the Smokers, many of whom have gone to have great basketball careers.
Edwards, Cardoza and Christian are being inducted this year as Massachusetts High School players.
``The New England Basketball Hall of Fame honors all types of contributions to the game of basketball and there’s no question the AAU team from the Shelburne Center made a huge contribution to the women’s game,’’ Doyle said.
The New England Basketball Hall of Fame has also announced that longtime NBA coach and and TV commentator, Jack Ramsay, will be honored with the Game’s Greatest Teachers Award during the induction ceremony at the University of Rhode Island‘s Ryan Center. More than 1,000 people from around the country are expected to attend the Friday evening event.
Noting that this is the first time the Hall of Fame has honored an individual with this award, Doyle said the Institute wanted to ``set the bar very high . No one has ever taught the game better than Dr. Jack Ramsay.’’
In addition to being an outstanding high school, college and NBA coach, Ramsay has written two basketball classics, ``Pressure Basketball’’ and ``The Coach’s Art.’’
. Also, a special International Basketball Humanitarian Award will be given to coaching great Don Casey, who travels the globe conducting basketball clinics in an effort to promote world peace. The nonprofit organization, Playing For Peace, which is based in Washington, D.C., will also receive an International Basketball Humanitarian Award for the work it does using basketball to bring young people from different countries and cultures together.
``We at Playing for Peace are honored to be recognized by the Institute for International Sport and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame,’’ Brendan Tuohey, executive director of Playing for Peace, said.
Noting that the Institute and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame represent the ``best values of sports and teamwork,’’ Tuohey said that Playing for Peace strives to emulate those principles to foster cooperation and unity in divided societies around the globe.
The New England Basketball Hall of Fame has also selected three professionals to receive its Distinguished Achievement Award, an honor that recognizes people whose careers have advanced the game. This year’s honorees are:
  • Russ Reilly, Athletic Director at Middlebury College
  • Jim Nelson, Athletic Director at Suffolk University
  • Barbara Jacobs, Assistant Commissioner, Big East Conference.
In addition to the 1954 Holy Cross team, the following men’s teams will be inducted: 1966-67 South Kingstown High School (RI); 1972-73 Tufts University (MA); 1973-74 Holy Name High School (MA); 1979-80 East Haven High School (CT); 1969-70 Assumption Prep NE Champs (MA). The women’ teams are 1983-84 Portland High School (ME), 1999-2000 University of Southern Maine; 1984-85 Peabody High School (MA); 1978-79 Conard High School.


The Friday evening induction ceremony begins at 7 p.m. and is open to the public. Tickets cost $125 per person and can be purchased by calling Dr, Malcolm Mac Kenzie at (401) 874-2673 or by visiting the Institute’s website: www.internationalsport.com/basketballl/bhof_ticket.cfm.



Phone: 1-800-447-9889(401) 874-2375Fax: (401) 874-2429E-Mail: info@internationalsport.com
Institute for International Sport c/o International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame
The Feinstein Building, University of Rhode Island
3045 Kingstown Road, P.O. Box 1710
Kingston, Rhode Island 02881-1710
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