After a 35-year tenure as the head coach of the Wabash College basketball team, Mac Petty will be honored by the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame with the St. Vincent Health Silver Medal Award and induction in the Hall's 2012 class.

Petty totaled 497 wins and won the 1982 national championship during his time in Crawfordsville. In all, he coached for 38 years, compiling a 544-317 record. Petty earned 217 victories against Indiana colleges during his career, including 24 against rival DePauw Unversity.

“I was blessed during my time at Wabash that the college supported me and the philosophies that we were instilling,” Petty said. “It wasn't all about winning and losing with our program at Wabash; it was about developing and working with young men.”

Petty is one of 15 players and coaches will be honored in this upcoming year's class. Joining him are two starters from college basketball's last unbeaten national champions, four state championship-winning coaches, and three players who were members of state championships.

However, Petty stands alone as the non-native Hoosier among this year's inductees. Petty is a Wooster, Ohio native, having graduated from Wooster High School in 1963 before playing his college basketball at the University of Tennessee.

“Being an out-of-state guy, to be recognized by the Indiana Hall of Fame is an outstanding honor,” Petty said.
Petty joins a list of Montgomery County-affiliated members in the Hall. Wabash College boasts 16 former players to have been inducted while five other Crawfordsville High School graduates have also joined the ranks.

“It is fantastic to receive this award,” Petty said. “To know of so many people in the Hall and so many within the Crawfordsville community and from the college, to be a part of that family is amazing.”

In 2006, Petty was inducted into the Montgomery County Basketball Hall of Fame. Petty is also a 2004 Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame. He also was a two-time District Coach of the Year, an award given by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He was honored by the NABC again in 2010 with the Guardian of the Game Award for Advocacy. He is a 1982 honorary graduate of the College.

Petty and the rest of his induction class will be honored at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's 51st Annual Men's Banquet on Wednesday, March 21, 2012. The ceremony will take place at the Primo Banquet Hall on the south side of Indianapolis. Tickets to the banquet will be available in early 2012.