Big Bend's Graves, Lane inducted into the NWAC Hall of Fame
MOSES LAKE — The end game never is to go out and become a legend.
But the hard work and perseverance comes out in the body of work and it is nice to have that body of work recognized at some point in time.
That time is now for former Big Bend Community College standouts Kelly Graves and Jon Lane. Graves and Lane will be recognized as part of the Northwest Athletic Conference Hall of Fame Class 2018 at the induction ceremonies May 31, 2018, at the Red Lion Hotel in Pasco.
Graves, a 6-foot-6 all-state guard, actually played for current Big Bend athletic director Mark Poth at Dixie (Utah) High School before moving on to Rick’s College (BYU-Idaho) and eventually playing at the Division I level at the University of New Mexico.
His coaching career (1989-92) started with the Vikings. Graves took over a struggling Big Bend women’s basketball program and led the Vikings to their first winning season in school history in his first year. The second season, they won 23 games (the school’s first women’s basketball team to win 20 games in a season) and finished fourth at the NWAC tournament.
Graves success continued at the NCAA Division I level. He spent five years at the University of Portland and three more (1997-2000) at St. Mary’s where he led the team to the NCAA Tournament.
Graves (2000-14) took a floundering Gonzaga women’s program and turned it around, winning 10 consecutive WCC titles and advanced to the Sweet 16 three straight seasons (2010-12).
He is currently the head coach at the University of Oregon where his team had the most successful season in Ducks’ history, advancing to the Elite 8 in 2016-17.
Lane is part of the Columbia Basin and Moses Lake wrestling culture. He and Ron Seibel wrestled on the same Vikings team under the direction of Dr. Bob Mason. Seibel and Lane won national championships, as well as Washington Athletic Conference championships during their time at Big Bend.
In September, Graves and Lane were also inducted into the Big Bend All-Sports Athletics Hall of Fame, where 14 individuals and four teams were honored as part of the 2017 induction class.
Other NWAC Hall of Fame individual inductees include:
- Larry Beatty, former Community Colleges of Spokane men’s and women’s cross country and track and field coach
- Vince Hawkins, a football standout at Spokane Falls CC
- Cheryl Holden, Columbia Basin women’s basketball coach
- Rick Baumann, former baseball coach and athletic director at Treasure Valley, will receive the NWAC Outstanding Service Award.
Team inductees include:
- 2004-05 Columbia Basin women’s basketball
- 2005 Wenatchee Valley men’s soccer
- 1999 CCS men’s track and field team