RIPON, Wis. - Ripon men's basketball head coach Bob Gillespie has already received plenty of honors in his distinguished career, which spans 28 years, and includes 457 victories as a college basketball coach. He can now add one more honor to his accomplishments, as he will be a part of this year's Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductees. The 2008 WBCA Hall of Fame banquet will be held on October 18th at the Marriott Hotel in Middleton, Wis. The event will begin with a social hour at 5:00 p.m.

"I am honored and very proud that I have been chosen to enter the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. I have been very fortunate to be able to coach at Ripon College for 28 years and have been blessed with great players that are too numerous to name. They are responsible for the success and I share this great honor with them. I truly love Ripon College basketball and what it has meant to my life," said Gillespie.

Gillespie, who is Ripon's all-time winningest coach, has led the Red Hawks to six Midwest Conference titles, while also leading them to the NCAA Tournament 10 times. He was named Midwest Conference Coach of the Year in 1998, after a season that saw Ripon finish 23-2, including a perfect 13-0 conference mark. Gillespie is currently one of the top 15 Division III active coaches in the country in winning percentage (.689).

Gillespie will be joined at the 2008 induction ceremony by several Wisconsin high school coaches, as well as three other college coaches that have spent time coaching in the state of Wisconsin. Along with Gillespie, the WBCA will be honoring Dick Bennett, who coached at UW-Stevens Point, UW-Green Bay, and UW-Madison, current UW-Green Bay assistant coach Dale Race, and former high school and college coach Dick Versace, who spent the majority of his career coaching in Illinois and Wisconsin.

The WBCA Hall of Fame was originally established to recognize coaches in the state of Wisconsin, but in recent years the group has branched out to honor players, broadcasters and others who have helped sustain the sport of basketball in the state.

The WBCA has about 3,000 members and hosts a variety of basketball clinics and games throughout the course of the year. The WBCA All-Star games are held every June, featuring the best high school senior male and female basketball players in the state, and all proceeds are donated to the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer (MACC) Fund. Last summer's games raised $106,000 for cancer research and over 1.3 million dollars has been raised by the WBCA for the MACC Fund since 1978.