Advertisement

BASKETBALL: White: Team effort went into HOF induction

marvin holman marvin., commercial-news, danville, ill.
·5 min read

Jun. 24—COVINGTON, Ind. — Dale White does not consider his entrance into the Greater Illiana Hall of Fame a solo effort.

White says he is bringing all of his teammates with him.

The Covington native is part of nine selections in the Athletes portion of the class, which will be inducted today at 7 p.m. Eastern Time at the Ura Seeger Memorial Auditorium at Seeger High School.

"I had a great group of individuals who were teammates in my senior year," White said. "We were undefeated in the regular season and out of the 12 members, nine were seniors, so for most of us, we grew up in the same neighborhoods and played with each other and went on family vacations, so they were a great group of teammates with a great amount of camaraderie. I got some special attention for the things I have accomplished, but I think this is more of a team award than anything for me."

White joins Danville alum Jason Anderson, Hoopeston's Scott Eells, Hoopeston's Jill Doty Meisner, Schlarman's Dr. Ron Girouard, Danville's Rick Christian, Bismarck's Darrell Brown, Westville's Dawn Campbell and Danville's BJ Luke in the athletes section.

"I think the first reaction was surprise and humbling when you look at the credentials of your fellow peers when it comes to a team sport or individual sport," White said. "It's humbling when you stack a lot of things compared to what they have done, so I respect those who are inducted because of what they have done for a specific amount of time or and extended period of time, and there are accomplished men and women that are a part of it."

White was a three-time All-Conference selection and three-time Most Valuable Player for the Trojans. He was First-Team All-State and a McDonald's All-American. He set a record with 32 straight field goals made in the 1975-76 season that he still holds with Flory Bidunga of Kokomo and was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary Team.

After leaving the area to become a four-year letterwinner at Illinois State, White has returned to the area as the Chief Executive Officer of the Western Indiana Community Foundation.

"You think you know a lot when you go away after high school. You get a few decades under your belt and you realized how lucky you were to be raised in the community that I was raised," White said. "Looking back after a couple of decades, I looked at the people who were there for all of my life from little league through junior high football, Sunday school classes and teachers. I was really fortunate to look back and was able to pour things into my life and other people's lives in the community.

"I think what really hit home was when my parents took ill in the late 1990's-early 2000's. I saw people reaching out and caring for them because my siblings were not in the area at the time, so it did my hear good to see people in my community doing the same things 40 years later. So when the opportunity came to come back, I did and I have been fortunate to do what we do in Fountain County and Vermillion County."

With the ceremony at a place he knows so well, White said that he will be happy to share the moment and experience with all of the inductees.

"After so many years, you have been humbled by life and you have had heartaches and some pain and I know that is going to be that way with the recipients who are there," White said. "So it will be a great experience to be around like-minded people who were fortunate and blessed in different ways. I like being in the presence of those who have strived and humble from life. We are fortunate for the opportunities we had.

"I appreciate the work that Mr. (Jim) Sheppard and Mr. (Joe) Dunagan has done and I have known John Spezia for 30-40 years now and they are a great group of individuals. Sports are a passion of theirs and they are still giving back to others. It is going to be a great experience."

In the teams category, the 1996 Danville Area Community College Women's Cross Country team; the 1971 Danville High School football team, the 2010 Salt Fork High School boys basketball team and the 2010 Riverton Parke softball team will be inducted.

The Legends category will include Georgetown-Ridge Farm's Don Hackler, Danville's Clyde Osborn, Covington's Al Harden, Westville's John Millholland and Danville native Nate "Bo-Bo" Smalls.

The Coaches category will include Westville's Guy Goodlove, Catlin's Don Lashmet, Bismarck-Henning's Tom Johnson, Danville's John Eakle, Ridge Farm, Rossville-Alvin and Watseka's Keith Baldwin, East Lynn, Potomac, Catlin, Rich Central, Danville and Anderson's Norm Held and North Putnam, South Decatur, Rockville, Seeger and Fountain Central's Herb King.

There will also be an introduction for the High School Student-Athletes of the Year. Recipents include: Chrisman's Reese Anderson; North Vermillion's Braylee Brown; Armstrong-Potomac's Kyla Bullington; Chrisman's Nic Eddy; Westville's Lydia Gondzur; Westville's Landen Haurez; Salt Fork's Kendyl Hurt; Armstrong-Potomac's Gavin Parkerson; Salt Fork's Garrett Taylor and Hoopeston Area's Tobi West.