Small-college hoops hall and Division II event coming to St. Joseph

The Small College Basketball Hall of Fame and a two-day, eight-team event are moving to St. Joseph.

The city and Small College Basketball announced Tuesday that the induction ceremony and the games, which will feature Missouri Western, Northwest Missouri State and William Jewell, will take place Nov. 2-4.

The games will be played in the St. Joseph Civic Arena and the induction ceremony will take place at Stoney Creek Inn and Conference Center. The event previously was held in Evansville, Ind.

The Hall of Fame class includes coach John Wooden, who led Indiana State to the 1948 NAIA title game, and playing greats Charles Oakley of Virginia Union, Truck Robinson (Tennessee State), MC Carr (Guilford), Marvin Webster (Morgan State) and Terry Porter (Wisconsin-Stevens Point).

Hillyard, a St. Joseph company steeped in basketball history, will be the event’s primary sponsor. Hillyard developed wood-floor coatings that improve players’ footing on early basketball courts.