john collier

John Collier has spent his basketball life in southeastern Indiana.  A four year letter winner (and two time leading scorer & captain) at Guilford High School, Collier played his college ball at Hanover, where he started all four years and led the Panthers to their first ever conference championship.  At Vevay High, the Collier coached Warriors won back to back Sectional titles in 1954-55 and 1955-56, including a memorable 44-42 win over powerhouse Aurora in 1955 - the same Aurora that had beaten the 1954 Milan State Champs.  After Vevay, Collier moved on to Brookville, where his 1957-58 squad posted an undefeated regular season before falling to Rushville in the regional.  His Brookville teams would win 5 Sectional titles & 1 Regional championship under his guidance.  But, in 1966 Hanover College came calling again. Collier would spend the rest of his coaching career at his Alma Mater where his teams won 388 games, multiple conference championships and appeared in five NAIA post season tournaments.  John Collier was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979, having won 615 games as a high school and college coach.  His son, Steve, joined him in the Hall in 2008.  Now retired, Collier makes it a point to attend Panther games when he is in town. And if he's on campus, he's not hard to find - just head for the arena that sports his name.  CGS/MEK.