After a two-year delay due to the COVID pandemic, the Greater Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Fame will hold its annual banquet on May 11 at the Receptions Event Center in Fairfield.
Two classes of inductees, 14 in all, will be honored for their outstanding contributions to the sport on and off the basketball court within the Greater Cincinnati community. Joe Danneman, Sports Director at Fox19, will be the emcee for the festivities and Dan Hoard, play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Bearcats and Cincinnati Bengals, will be guest speaker.
In addition to the 14 inductees, the Hall of Fame will also honor the high school Player of the Year and Coach of the Year for both boys and girls basketball in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The Hall will also recognize the Thomas More women’s basketball team for winning the NAIA National Championship, and the Thomas More men’s team for their NAIA National Runners-up achievement. Also recognized will be two area teams to win high school state titles, Purcell Marian (girls) and Taft (boys).
The list of inductees for 2021-2022 includes:
DENNIS BETTIS
The Woodward Class of 1975 standout was first-team All-City, then became a four-year starter at Northern Kentucky University. He helped lead the team to their first postseason tournament. Bettis was also the founder of the Pro-Am Summer Basketball League, which later became the Deveroes Summer League in Cincinnati.
BOBBY BRANNEN
As a high school standout at Moeller, Brannen was a three-time Greater Catholic League Player of the Year (1992-1994) and was the Cincinnati Player of the Year in 1994. He went on to shine for the Cincinnati Bearcats and in 1998 was named team MVP. Brannen also played professionally for 11 seasons, in Belgium, Australia, Spain, South Korea and Poland. He also played one year in Puerto Rico, where he was the league MVP after leading the team to its first championship.
RON DAWN
Dawn, a 1974 Newport Catholic graduate, helped lead NewCath to consecutive Sweet 16 tournament runs in his junior and senior years. After playing collegiatly at Thomas More, he returned to NewCath as head basketball coach, coaching his son, Ronny, to a Kentucky All “A” Classic state title in 2000. Dawn later coached the girls basketball team to the 2010 “A” Classic state title and the 2011 9th Region title. His overall coaching record is 502-212, a 70.3 winning percentage.
AMBER GRAY
A 2008 graduate of Lakota West, Gray is the most honored basketball player in Lakota history. She was selected to seven All-American teams in her high school career and in 2008 was named Ohio Ms. Basketball. Gray led Lakota West to two GMC titles in 2007-08 and the State Final Four in 2008. At Lakota, she scored more than 1900 points and grabbed over 900 rebounds. She earned a scholarship to Tennessee and completed her college career at Xavier, where she earned All A-10 honors in 2013.
KEITH GREGOR
The 1992 Lakota graduate earned All-Ohio honors in both 1991 and 1992. Gregor scored 25 points in the state championship game in 1992 to lead the Thunderbirds to the Ohio Division I championship. He had an outstanding career at the University of Cincinnati and was a three-year team captain. He played in 15 NCAA tournament games in his time at UC, starting in eight. In 1995-96, Gregor was the sole team captain and scored 12 points in the NCAA regional win over Georgia Tech.
JANET HANEBERG
A 1998 graduate of Seton, Haneberg led the Saints to two regional championships and berths in the state semifinals. She earned All-Ohio honors in 1986 and 1987, then capped off her senior year by being named first-team All-Ohio and the 1988 Ohio Ms. Basketball. She was also named a Street and Smith All-American in 1988. She played initially at Long Beach State, where she was named to the Big West All-Freshmen team. Haneberg then returned home to help the Xavier Musketeers take the MCC regular-season championship in 1992 and their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1993.
DON OGLETREE
Ogletree is No. 32 on the list of all-time leading prep scorers in Ohio with over 2,300 points and is Clermont County’s all-time leader. Batavia was unbeaten in the Clermont County League during his career and boasted a 60-game home winning streak. The 1966 high school All-American went on to a stellar career at the University of Cincinnati, scoring 1,316 points and was a two-time All-American for the Bearcats.
DAN PETERS
Born in Cleveland and raised in Canton, Peters was the associate head coach for Bob Huggins teams at UC from 1999-2004. One of his first college jobs was with Huggins at Walsh College from 1981-to 1983. He then succeeded Huggins as the head coach at Walsh, where he won at least 20 games for six straight seasons and finished there with a record of 116-40. He made several other coaching stops, including Youngstown State from 1993-to 1998, before rejoining Huggins at UC. After that, Peters joined the Ohio State coaching staff for five seasons, helping them win two Big Ten titles and two NCAA appearances. Peters passed away in 2014 and is survived by his wife, Nancy, and sons Danny Joe and Michael.
JERRY SCHEVE
A Cincinnati native, Scheve won more than 500 games in his 29 seasons as head women’s basketball coach at Wilmington College. He posted winning seasons in 22 of his 29 seasons, winning seven regular-season titles, eight conference titles and guided Wilmington to the 2004 national championship, coming from behind in five of the six tournament games to claim the title. Scheve was named National Coach of the Year in 2004 as well as garnering OAC Coach of the Year honors in 2002 and 2003. Scheve is also a member of the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2014.
PAUL SCHILDMEYER
For 32 years, Schildmeyer served the Cincinnati basketball community with leadership as an administrator of athletics. In 1981, Schildmeyer became president of the Greater Catholic League and helped that league to become nationally recognized in USA Today as one of the top high school conferences in the country. He oversaw the expansion of the league twice, in 1991 and again in 2006, bringing it to a total of 12 teams. Schildmeyer was also a 15-year veteran of Ohio high school and college basketball officiating and he officiated the Ohio state high school tournament three times.
PHIL SINKOVICH
In 1990, Sinkovich became the first men’s basketball coach at UC -Clermont. His 12-year record stands at 251-121 with ORCC championship seasons in 1994,1997, and 1998, and runner-up seasons in 1995, 1996, 2000, and 2001. During those years, he also served as the college’s athletic director and reshaped the department by adding women’s basketball, volleyball and several other sports.
JEFF STOWERS
Stowers was a standout player at Covington Latin in 1971, leading the Trojans to the 9th Regional Championship. He went on to shine at NKU, where he scored over 1,400 points, still top 15 all-time. Stowers led the Norse to their very first winning season in ‘76, finishing at 17-9. As a coach, at Seven Hills and finishing up as the girls coach at Simon Kenton, he has won more than 500 games with a .710 winning percentage. He has won multiple coaching honors, including the Northern Kentucky girls basketball coach of the year four times, in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2014.
TAMMY SVOBODA
The Princeton High School graduate might be best remembered for blocking nine shots to lead the Vikings to the 1987 AAA Ohio state championship. She tallied 21 points and 12.5 rebounds that season, taking honors as the Ohio Coaches Association Player of the Year and Ohio AAA Player of the Year. Among the many honors Svoboda garnered in 1987 was UPI Ohio Player of the Year, Enquirer player of the year, Converse All American in 1987, and USA Today All American. Svoboda played two seasons at Stanford, helping the Cardinal compile a record of 65-8 in that time. She finished her career playing for the Cincinnati Bearcats.
TYRICE WALKER
The 1990 Ohio Mr. Basketball led the Hamilton Big Blue to a Greater Miami Conference championship, a Cincinnati city title, followed by a regional championship. Walker was also honored as the AP Player of the Year and Ohio Player of the Year. At Xavier, Walker was a three-year starter and captain for two seasons, playing on three Midwestern City Conference championship teams and three NCAA tournaments. In his senior year, Walker earned All-MCC honors and was awarded the Musketeer Award, the Lew Hirt Society Award, and the Leadership Award. After Xavier, Walker played professionally in Poland for eight seasons, where he was the league MVP in 1995 and 1997.
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