Newspaper Profiles Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee "Skip" Collins '65

December 1, 2005

indiana basketball hof.gif December 1, 2005, Greencastle, Ind. - "I'm very appreciative of the honor, but the first thing that comes to mind is how many people played a role in this," Harley "Skip" Collins, a 2006 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and 1965 DePauw University graduate, tells the Northwest Indiana Times. "I had good parenting, good coaching and good players. I happened to be a beneficiary of those things."

The story notes that Collins, a graduate of Valparaiso High School, "Collins played under Hall of Fame coach Virgil Sweet with the Vikings. He averaged 19 points a game as a senior. Collins also said he was the first high schooler in the country to average over 90 percent from the free-throw line for a season. Collins played basketball at DePauw University under another Indiana Hall of Fame coach, Elmer McCall [seen at right]."

After graduating from DePauw, Collins became a high school basketball coach and returned to Valparaiso in 1977 to coach the boy's team, a job he held for 12 years. "His teams were 225-91," Jim Hunsley writes. "These Vikings won nine consecutive sectional titles and five outright Duneland Athletic Conference titles. He also coached 1982 graduate Roger Harden, the school's first Mr. Basketball. He retired from coaching when he was 45." Skip Collins now teaches at a high school in Florida.

Greg Kirby, who as Portage High School's head coach faced off against Collins over the years, asserts, "He was the best high school coach I competed against in my times as a boys coach. He did a good job of neutralizing your strengths and taking advantage of your weaknesses."