Troy, NY---The Sage Colleges has announced the inductees for the 2010 class for The Colleges Athletic Hall of Fame. The two inductees are a pair of former men's basketball players, Chad Thomas (Rochester, NY) and James Taylor (Albany, NY).
The pair will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, March 27 at a 7 p.m. banquet to be held at Carmela's Banquet House (Rensselaer, NY). The cost for the evening is $40 and to RSVP for the night, please contact Rosaire Murphy at 518-244-2283 or via email at murphr@sage.edu by March 22.
Sage started the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993 and has previously inducted 21 individuals, including 17 former student-athletes. Taylor and Thomas become the first male student-athletes to join the hall of fame after excelling on the hardwood for the former Sabres' men's basketball program at JCA.
During his playing career at JCA, Thomas helped to rewrite the men's basketball records. Thomas played for the team during the 1993-1995 seasons and tallied a program-high 1,229 points. He added 452 rebounds during those two seasons, which ranks fourth on the all-time career list as well, while holding the school career mark for most steals with 230. Twice during his career, he surpassed the 40-point plateau during a game as he netted 42 points against Hesser and 41 against Genesee. He also holds the school mark for most steals in a game (11), and is third with blocked shots in a contest (6). He averaged 23.6 ppg for his second season with the program in 1994-1995 after racking up 638 points with 121 steals, all program high water marks.
He left Sage as the all-time leading scorer, while also ranking earning Junior College All-America honors. He became the first program to attend a Division I program after JCA as he attended the University of Rhode Island after his graduation. He was named the Defensive Player of the Year at URI in both 1996 and 1997 and helped the 1997 team earn a spot in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
Since his time at JCA, he earned his bachelor's degree from URI in 1998 and went on to earn his master's degree from Nazareth College in 2004. A teaches at the School of Business, Finance and Entrepreneurship in Rochester, NY. He also coaches girls' varsity basketball at Wilson Commencement High School.
Taylor also excelled
for the JCA during his career after starring on the 1987-88 and
1988-89 squads. He served as the squad's team captain during his
second season. The previous year, he earned NJCAA Region III
Honorable Mention honors and was named to the 1988-89 NJCAA Region
III Third Team as a senior. He was named to the FIT Thanksgiving
All-Tournament Team twice as well as the JCA Sabre Classic both
times during his career. He also earned a spot on the Champlain
Chicken Wing Classic Team as a rookie. After an impressive tenure
with the Sabres, he wrapped his Sage playing days as the program's
third all-time leading scorer with his 919 points, which is
currently seventh. He added 518 rebounds which was tops during his
playing days, but is now second best on the career list. He added
17 rebounds in one game against North Country which was fourth best
on the single-game record list. He also ranks third with his six
blocks in a game. He added 276 rebounds during the 1988-89 season
which is fourth highest on the individual season records, while his
252 rebounds the previous season ranks sixth best. He also set the
program's single-season mark with his 66 blocks in 1987-88.
Active in the community, he served as an assistant coach for the 2002-2004 seasons with the Albany Youth Basketball League helped the teams to a combined 32-5 record. He continues to remain active as a youth mentor in the community.
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