by Steve Dunford
MARION, IL – This evening the Southern Illinois Miners will make their third and fourth inductions into their Southern Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame this evening. So far, all four have strong Franklin County ties.
Dick Corn the long time coach of the Pinckneyville Panthers, and Tony Phelps was the long time volleyball coach of the Benton Rangerettes, will be inducted this evening. Corn will join his high school coach, Rich Herrin in the HOF. The other inductee legendary football coach Mike Rude, was a star athlete for Christopher High School.
Corn’s teams brought two state Class A Boys Basketball state titles from Peoria back to Perry County in 1994 and 2002. The Panthers finished fourth in the state in 2006. as well.
His Panther team came very close to brining a state title home from Champaign as well, losing a heartbreaker in the championship to Pana in 1988.
Between 1975-2007 Corn’s record was 708-259. Along with the state hardware, his teams won 24 Class A regional titles, and seven sectional titles.
Phelps’ record as coach of the Rangerettes 476-148-7 between 1998-2015. His teams won 12 regional titles, five sectionals, and made two state tournament appearances.
Phelps also owns a regional title in Boys Basketball as coach of the Benton Rangers.
Phelps later started the volleyball program at Morthland College in West Frankfort. Rich Herrin started the Men’s Basketball program, and Mike Rude started the football program at Morthland. The school scrapped their athletic program in the spring.
The induction will be at 6:30 during the pre-game show. The Miners will be facing the Washington (PA) Wild Things at 7:05.
Southern Illinois Healthcare is the sponsor of this event. SIH is also a sponsor of franklincounty-news.com. Support for the event, as well as the website is appreciated greatly.
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