The Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame is pleased to announce its induction Class of 2021. The official induction is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 25, 2021 at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg, health regulations permitting.
MANITOBA BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM CLASS OF '21
SHAWN GRAY – a native of Toronto who starred with the Brandon University Bobcats 1993-98; four-time GPAC All-Star; All-Canadian selection in 1997-98; led BU to a CIAU National Championship in 1996 where he was named a tournament all-star; played professionally in The Netherlands and Belgium 1998-2001
JOANNE WELLS-SMALL – recruited from Halifax, Nova Scotia; played with the University of Winnipeg Wesmen, 2000-2006; 3-time CIAU/CIS All-Canadian; GPAC Rookie-of-the-Year in 2000-01; 4-time Canada West All-Star; Canada West Player-of-the-Year and Nan Copp Award winner as the National Player of the Year in 2004-05; averaged 21.3 points per game and 6.7 rebounds over her final three seasons
BUILDERS :
MANNY ARANEZ – founder and commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA); the league was founded in 2001 with just seven teams and now features more than 114 teams with 14 divisions; often referred to as the Patriarch of Filipino Basketball; elected as the commissioner of the Filipino Basketball Association of North America, 2014-18.
RAY HURD – longtime high school coach,1971-93, in Killarney and Brandon; in Killarney he coached 46 teams at all levels (Varsity, JV & junior high, girls and boys) and also refereed; the Shamrock Classic tournament in Killarney was built into one of the best with teams from all over the province; Coach-of-the-Year in 1986 and MHSAA ‘AA’ Varsity Girls Provincial Champions in 1982
JOHN KLASSEN – started his coaching career in Altona and then moved to Garden Valley Collegiate in Winkler where he coached the Zodiacs for 23 years and won seven MHSAA provincial Championships and 14 Zone Championships; provincial Coach-of-the-Year in 1989-90; founded the Winkler Minor Basketball Association in 1993
RANDY KUSANO – one of the most successful high school coaches in Manitoba history; coached at Oak Park High School for 34 years where his Raider teams won 11 conference titles, three ‘AAAA’ MHSAA Provincial Championships and developed over 25 players who went on to play at the next level; Mike Spack Award recipient in 2010; started his coaching career at the University of Manitoba with the Junior Bisons; 25 years as an assistant coach with Bison men’s and women’s teams; coached many Basketball Manitoba summer provincial teams and mentored many young coaches.
TEAMS :
JOSEPH WOLINSKY COLLEGIATE RAIDERS (founding school of the Gray Academy of Jewish Education) – Varsity Boys, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86 & 1988-89, MHSAA Provincial ‘A’ Champions
This was a challenging yet eventful and successful year for our Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame and Museum (MBHOFM). The COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of the Duckworth Centre at the University of Winnipeg in April. The following were the highlights:
The closure of our site saw the visitor count reduced to 3093, well below the usual number
Our initiative to establish an endowment fund through the Manitoba Heritage Trust Fund (MHYP) and the Winnipeg Foundation where we were raising funds to ensure our long-term sustainability was completed when we reached our goal of $100,000.00
The 18th Induction Dinner is planned for September 25, 2021, where our newest inductees will hopefully be able to be honoured –
PLAYERS : Shawn Gray and Joanne Wells-Small
BUILDERS : Manny Aranez, Ray Hurd, John Klassen and Randy Kusano
TEAMS : Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate Raiders Varsity Boys,1982-83,1983-84, 1985-86 & 1988-89 and the Treherne Collegiate Tigers Varsity Girls, 1994-95, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000, & 2002-2003
The continued growth of our heritage inventory collection; this year we saw some new additions of uniforms and other memorabilia
The further organization of all printed materials and photographs in our collection with the use of the labeled hanging folders and vertical magazine racks
Adding 4 new members to our Hall of Fame committee
We continued to qualify as a Level 1 Museum by the Community Museum Grants Program which results in an annual grant
Our financial situation remains solid; we are committed to investing our revenues directly into our Hall of Fame site and the basketball community in general
Manitoba is still the only province in Canada that has a permanent site for a basketball hall of fame.
Our MBHOFM is usually open every day during the year except for statutory holidays. It is open from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily depending on the pandemic.
The members of our organizing committee are: Ross Wedlake (Chair), Janet McMahon, Vic Pruden (Past Chair), Jerry Ilchyna, Wes Crymble, Morris Glimcher, Jerry Hemmings, Carol Ploen-Hosegood, Ken Opalko, Susan Johnson, Coleen Dufresne, Kyla Shore, Tyler Crayston, Ted Stoesz, and Adam Wedlake (Recording Secretary - Ex-Officio).
For 2021 the following are planned:
The replacement of the sliding glass doors on all five our display cabinets
The creation of a third action photo collection depicting the glorious history of basketball in Manitoba
A review of our guidelines for induction
In conclusion, we need to mention the tremendous and continuing support we get from the University of Winnipeg and Basketball Manitoba. Our Hall of Fame and Museum would not exist without this support and the support of our extended basketball community.
