Basketball hall selects Keefer, Wittman, Turner
By Pat McKee
November 27, 2006
Lawrence North High School boys basketball coach Jack Keefer
was among 14 chosen for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's
2007 men's induction class, the hall announced today.
Keefer, 63, who has guided the Wildcats to four state championships,
including the last three in a row in Class 4A, headlines a class
that also includes former Indiana University and Indianapolis-area
high standouts Randy Wittman and Landon Turner.
Wittman, who played at Ben Davis, and Turner, who played at
Tech, both were members of IU's 1981 NCAA champions. A third
player who was part of an NCAA championship team, Roger Burkman,
who played at Franklin Central and the University of Louisville
(1980), is another inductee.
Three players from high school state championship teams -- Larry "Jake" McIntyre
of Attucks' 1959 winners, Gary Grieger of Evansville Bosse's
1962 winners and Jack Moore of Muncie Central's 1978 winners
-- also are among those to be honored.
Others are 1974 Southport graduate Jim Krivacs, 1956 Shortridge
graduate Robert "Biscuit" Williams, 1963 Rossville graduate Gene
Milner and 1947 Fulton graduate Phil McCarter, who later was
Keefer's coach at Oak Hill.
Completing the group are Frank Hamblen, a 1965 Terre Haute Garfield
graduate who has gone on to become a longtime NBA assistant coach
and has been a part of five NBA championship teams; Dave Omer,
a longtime Southern Indiana coach who guided Washington (Daviess
County) to the 2005 Class 3A state championship; and Ron Ferguson,
a 1954 Milltown graduate who later coached at his alma mater
and Crawford County.
Keefer, a 1961 graduate of Oak Hill High School in Grant County,
has a record of 524-201 as the only coach in the history of Lawrence
North. He has coached 11 Indianapolis Star Indiana All-Stars
at the school, including 2006 Mr. Basketball Greg Oden and '06
All-Star Mike Conley.
In addition to state titles in 1989 and the last three seasons,
Keefer's program recently set the state's all-time record for
consecutive wins, mark that currently stands at 47 entering Friday's
game at Terre Hatue South. Keefer's career record including four
seasons at his alma mater is 585-227.
The induction ceremony will be part of a dinner on March 21 at
Primo's Banquet Hall in Indianapolis. For tickets or information
about the induction dinner or the New Castle-based hall of fame,
call (765) 529-1891.