SAILS INDUCTED INTO JUNIOR COLLEGE HALL OF FAME

Southwest head men’s basketball coach and athletic director Verties Sails Jr. was inducted into the National Junior College Basketball Hall of Fame March 15 at Memorial Hall in Hutchinson, Kansas, in conjunction with the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Tournament. Coach Sails was selected for induction by the National Junior College Basketball Coaches Association, and was one of five Hall of Fame inductees in the class of 2004.

Sails, now in his 25th season at the College, has compiled a record of 539-219 and has made six trips to the NJCAA National Tournament. He has been named Region VII Coach of the Year nine times, and has guided the Saluqis to 18 West Division titles, 13 Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association championships, and seven Region VII championships. Sails has received numerous other accolades, including the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Achievement Award.

Pictured with Coach Sails at his Hall of Fame induction are (from left) Quentin Lane, Commissioner, Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association; George E. Killian, Executive Director, National Junior College Athletic Association, and Kermit Smith, Publicity Director, Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association.