Seven to join S. Jersey hoops hall

Seven members - including Bucky Waters, a Collingswood High graduate who later coached at Duke - will be inducted into the South Jersey Basketball Club Hall of Fame on Feb. 12.

In addition to Waters, Paul Rodio, Valerie Still, Kirk Luchman, Dianne Nolan, Tony Ellison and Bill Mulvihill will be inducted at the event, which will be held at the Clarion Hotel on Route 70 in Cherry Hill at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available by calling Tom Mitchell at 856-933-0594.

Here are the inductees:

Paul Rodio. One of the most successful coaches in South Jersey history, Rodio is in his 30th season as St. Augustine's head coach. Earlier this season, Rodio recorded his 626th career win, making him the second-winningest coach in area history.

The St. Augustine and Villanova University graduate has guided the Hermits to three state championships and 17 Cape-Atlantic League titles.

Bucky Waters. A three-sport standout, the 1953 Collingswood graduate was an outstanding guard for Jack McCloskey at Collingswood and then went on to have a terrific career at North Carolina State.

Waters later coached for four years at West Virginia and 10 years at Duke, consistently producing winning teams at both schools. He is one of four individuals in Atlantic Coast Conference basketball history to be part of league championship teams with two different schools. He later became a color analyst for nationally televised games.

Valerie Still. One of the premier players in South Jersey history, Still played three years at Camden, and in her senior year (1978-79) was an all-South Jersey performer at Cherry Hill East. Following high school, she had a distinguished career at the University of Kentucky, where she became the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder.

After college, she continued to play professionally and twice was named the most valuable player in the American Basketball League. She lives in Powell, Ohio, and is a graduate research assistant at Ohio State University.

Kirk Luchman. The strapping center played a major role in Shawnee's state championship of 1992. He was a force in the middle as Shawnee also became the first South Jersey team to win the Tournament of Champions. The following year he was named to the all-South Jersey team as the Renegades won the South Jersey Group 4 championship.

Luchman continued his career at Florida State University, where he was a four-year letterman and two-year captain. He later played two seasons professionally in Germany.

He is now the vice president of marketing for the Preferred Managing Agency in Mobile, Ala.

Dianne Nolan. The Gloucester Catholic and Rowan University graduate and daughter of Hall of Fame coach Bert Nolan is in her 28th season as head coach of the women's program at Fairfield University.

Nolan's tenure at Fairfield is fifth among active coaches at one school in Division I women's history. Last January she became just the 28th coach in Division I women's history to reach the 500-win plateau. Before taking over the program at Fairfield, she was the head coach at St. Francis, N.Y.

Tony Ellison. Ellison was one of the area's premier shooters during his playing days at Camden County Tech. In 1978 he finished his career with 1,818 points, which, at the time, was a school record. His record stood for 15 years before Ken Layne finished his career in 1993 with 1,865 points.

In 1977 and 1978 he helped the Warriors to back-to-back winning seasons - the first and only time that has happened in school history.

Bill Mulvihill. He is the 2007 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. Following an outstanding career at the old Southeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia and at North Carolina State, he returned to the area and became one of the top officials in the state.

Before retiring, he officiated in 27 state tournaments, including more than 20 state championship games.

He also officiated in the inaugural state Tournament of Champions.