NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Announces 2010 Hall of Fame Class

December 17, 2009 (www.njcaa.org)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 17, 2009) - The 2010 class of the NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame has been announced by the NJCAA. This year's inductees include coaching greats William Barton, Jay Pivec, Jack Robertson and Steve Schmidt along with 1977 NJCAA First-Team All-American Ollie Mack. Since its inception in 1984, a total of 123 coaches, players and special contributors have been inducted into the hall. Barton, Pivec, Robertson, Schmidt and Mack will be honored at the 2010 NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Banquet in Las Vegas, Nev., April 30, 2010.

Ollie Mack Player San Jacinto College, Texas.

Ollie Mack is remembered in NJCAA basketball circles for his two great appearances in Hutchinson, Kan., at the NJCAA National Tournament in 1976 and 1977. As a freshman, he led San Jacinto to a 2-2 record at the event and scored a tournament-high 110 points. A year later he led San Jacinto to the title game where they fell to Independence (Kan.). Mack scored a total of 99 points in the '77 tournament and earned All-Tournament honors for the second consecutive year. His 209 total points (26.1 ppg) at the NJCAA National Tournament currently ranks sixth all-time. Mack earned NJCAA All-America honors in 1977 and would later star at East Carolina University. He finished the 1977-78 season ranked fourth in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 28 points a game - behind Freeman Williams (Portland State), Larry Bird (Indiana State) and Purvis Short (Jackson State). He then set an ECU record when he scored 47 points against USC Aiken during his senior season. Mack was selected in the second round of the 1979 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers (25th overall). He spent three seasons in the league with his best statistical year coming in 1980-81 when he averaged 10.2 points per game for the Dallas Mavericks.

Billy Kent Barton Coach State Fair Community College (Mo.)

For 35 years State Fair men's basketball was led by the great Billy Barton, who is one of just 27 inactive NJCAA coaches to win over 600 games. Barton led State Fair to three Region 16 Championships and three appearance at the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. (1972, 76 and 91) and was honored as Region 16 Coach of the Year during those same three seasons as well. Barton also served as State Fair's athletic director from 1978-98. Prior to setting up shop at the college, he amassed a 245-70 overall record coaching high school basketball in Missouri. He was elected to the Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.

Jay Pivec Coach Minneapolis Community & Technical College, Minn.

Entering the 2009-10 season, Jay Pivec ranks second among active NJCAA Division III coaches with 428 victories. Pivec has led the men's basketball program at Minneapolis Community & Technical College since 1990 and has guided the program to four appearances in the Division III national tournament (1993, 95, 2005, 09), including two runner-up finishes (93, 09). Pivec's Mavericks have reached the postseason 19 consecutive seasons and he has coached seven NJCAA First-Team All-Americans - the most of any Division III program. He has been honored as the Minnesota College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year eight times and in 2009 was named the NJCAA Division III Coach of the Year. Since 2008, Pivec has also served as the NJCAA Region 13 Men's Director. A native of Minneapolis, Pivec was elected to the MCAC Hall of Fame in 2002.

Jack Robertson Coach Faulkner State Community College, Ala.

Jack Robertson is one of only four active NJCAA coaches to reach 700 career wins and entered the 2009-10 season ranked 13th in career NJCAA victories with 705. This year marks his 37th season as the head coach at Faulkner State and has led the program to over 20 wins in 17 of the last 23 seasons. Under his leadership Faulkner State has claimed two Region 22 titles (1978 and 1991) and three runner-up finishes (1987, 98. 2002). He has twice led the program to the NJCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. (1978 and 1991), including a sixth place finish in 1991 with a team that set a Region 22 record with 32 wins. Robertson has won more basketball games than any other coach in Region 22 history and was voted the league's coach of the year three times (1978, 91, 98). In 1998 he was inducted into the Alabama Community College Conference Hall of Fame. Robertson now coaches his Sun Chiefs in "Jack Robertson Arena" - Faulkner State's home court, which was named in his honor in 2002.

Steve Schmidt Coach Mott Community College, Mich.

In 18 seasons at Mott, Steve Schmidt has built arguably the best NJCAA basketball program in the Division II ranks. Since taking over the program in 1991, when it was almost cut by the school's administration, the Bears have never posted a sub-.500 record and have won over 25 games in each of the last 14 seasons. In 2007, he led Mott to a school record 35-3 record and the program's first of two straight national championships. In 2008, the Bears again won 35 games and finished the season with a 33-game winning streak. Schmidt also guided the Bears to the 2003 NJCAA DII Championship and has won a total of 11 conference, six district and six region championships. His teams have qualified for the national tournament six times and have advanced to the title game on five occasions. He has a 20-3 record in national tournament play. Schmidt entered the 2009-10 season with a 478-115 career record, which ranks 17th among active NJCAA coaches. He has three times been named the NJCAA DII Coach of the Year (2003, 2007, 08) and has coached three NJCAA DII Players of the Year (Jay Youngbloos - 2004; Kevin Tiggs - 2007; Jeremie Simmons - 2008) and 15 All-Americans.