NATCHITOCHES, La. – Legendary former ULM men's basketball head coach Mike Vining will join the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday (June 26) when he is inducted as part of the eight-member Class of 2010. Vining will enter the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame with Mark Carrier, J.T. Curtis, Lee Hedges, Ben McDonald, Teresa Weatherspoon, Larry Wilson and Orlando Woolridge during a ceremony at the Natchitoches Events Center.
One of only four men to win 400 or more basketball games at a Louisiana college or university; Vining led ULM to seven NCAA Tournament appearances and is the all-time wins leader in the Southland Conference and at ULM. He coached ULM to seven Southland titles, most of any coach in the history of the conference, and led his first team to an Atlantic Sun (former Trans America Conference) Tournament title in 1982 and his first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Vining was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year on four occasions, in 1986, 1990, 1993 and 1996. When he reached the 400-win plateau in 2005, he was one of only 29 active coaches in Division I to reach that milestone. He is a member of the ULM and Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches Halls of Fame and the Southland Conference Hall of Honor.
Vining played collegiately at ULM under Lenny Fant and also won a state championship coaching Bastrop High School.
The eight inductees into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame were selected by the 30-member Louisiana Sports Writers Association committee from a pool of 121 nominees. This year's class raises Hall of Fame membership to 277 men and women since the Hall of Fame began in 1959.
This summer's inductions will mark the first conducted in the shadow of construction of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame museum, operated by the Louisiana State Museum system in a partnership with the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. Construction on the building for the 27,500-square foot shrine should begin in 2010 and the museum could be ready to open in 2012.
