High School: Covington 1945
College: EASTERN ILLINOIS 1950
Inducted Hall of Fame 1987
Coached H.S. teams to 342 victories in 25-yr career…20 of those were spent at Valparaiso where his sectional tourney record was 48-6…twice coached Vikings to final 8…noted for fielding fundamentally sound teams, especially in free-throw shooting…his 1963-64 team shot .792 for season, a national high school team record…member of that team, Mike Copper, set an individual record for high school players by hitting 409 consecutive free throws without leaving the line…coached 2 H.S. All-Americans and 54 players who went on to college ball…16 became coaches.
Each year the IBCA Board of Directors selects individuals from each of the three districts to receive the Virgil Sweet Distinguished Service Award. The award, named in honor of longtime Executive Director of the IBCA, are given to individuals who have provided meritorious service promoting basketball in the state of Indiana. Awards are presented to these individuals at the Annual IBCA Spring Clinic.
