Ball State University Athletics
BSU Legends Steve Yoder, John Lee Chosen for Indiana Hoops Hall
December 03, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Former Cardinals will be enshrined March 25, 2020
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Two Ball State greats, one a MAC championship coach and the other a 1,000-point scorer, are headed to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Steve Yoder and John Lee were announced Tuesday as part of the hall's newest induction class.
Yoder coached Ball State to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 1981, winning the MAC Tournament and sharing the league's regular season title. He was named MAC Coach of the Year that season and again in 1982 after guiding BSU to the outright regular season championship in his final campaign in Muncie. He won 77 games in five years at Ball State before spending the next decade as the head man at Wisconsin.
Yoder's distinguished coaching career within the state also included stints and Plymouth and Penn high schools where he won a combined 115 games in seven seasons and guided two teams to final top-10 rankings in the single-class era.
Lee was the sixth Ball State player ever to crack the 1,000-point mark. He racked up 1,134 points over a three-year career from 1961-64 in an era when freshmen were not eligible for varsity competition. His 17.4 career points-per-game average ranks eighth in school history, while his field goal (.518) and free throw (.821) percentages also rank among the top 10.
Lee teamed with 2019 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Ed Butler to lead Ball State to the 1964 NCAA College Division Postseason. He earned All-Indiana Collegiate Conference and UPI Small College All-America recognitions that year as a senior. Lee came to Muncie after a standout career at New Castle High School Chrysler High School where he scored a then-program record 575 points as a senior.
The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's 59th Annual Men's Awards Banquet will be held on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. The day's events will include an afternoon reception at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame museum in New Castle and a banquet that evening at the Primo Banquet Hall in Indianapolis.
Reservations are available online now or through mail order in early 2020. Call the Hall at 765-529-1891, visit www.hoopshall.com or email info@hoopshall.com for more information.
Yoder coached Ball State to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 1981, winning the MAC Tournament and sharing the league's regular season title. He was named MAC Coach of the Year that season and again in 1982 after guiding BSU to the outright regular season championship in his final campaign in Muncie. He won 77 games in five years at Ball State before spending the next decade as the head man at Wisconsin.
Yoder's distinguished coaching career within the state also included stints and Plymouth and Penn high schools where he won a combined 115 games in seven seasons and guided two teams to final top-10 rankings in the single-class era.
Lee was the sixth Ball State player ever to crack the 1,000-point mark. He racked up 1,134 points over a three-year career from 1961-64 in an era when freshmen were not eligible for varsity competition. His 17.4 career points-per-game average ranks eighth in school history, while his field goal (.518) and free throw (.821) percentages also rank among the top 10.
Lee teamed with 2019 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Ed Butler to lead Ball State to the 1964 NCAA College Division Postseason. He earned All-Indiana Collegiate Conference and UPI Small College All-America recognitions that year as a senior. Lee came to Muncie after a standout career at New Castle High School Chrysler High School where he scored a then-program record 575 points as a senior.
The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's 59th Annual Men's Awards Banquet will be held on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. The day's events will include an afternoon reception at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame museum in New Castle and a banquet that evening at the Primo Banquet Hall in Indianapolis.
Reservations are available online now or through mail order in early 2020. Call the Hall at 765-529-1891, visit www.hoopshall.com or email info@hoopshall.com for more information.
Men's Basketball // Post Game Press Conference vs Miami
Saturday, December 20
Men's Basketball // Post Game Press Conference at Campbell
Sunday, December 14
'Twas The Week Before #MACtion
Saturday, December 13
This Week in Ball State Sports Podcast // Guests: Adrian Wheatley and Jeff Mitchell
Thursday, December 11