WALLA WALLA, Wash.-
Former Walla Walla High School boys basketball coach Jim Thacker will be honored on January 17.
The Big Blue Boosters of Walla Walla will honor the legendary coach after the girls varsity basketball game against Richland. The ceremony is expected to start around 7 p.m. All games and the ceremony are free and open to the public.
Thacker coached basketball for 36-years, including the Walla Walla boys basketball team from 1975-2005, going to state 11 times and winning one championship in 1999.
In 2008 Thacker was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Association Hall of Fame.
Coach Thacker’s coaching career:
– Gooding, Idaho – 1970-72 (2 State Titles)
– Omak, WA – 1972-1975
– Walla Walla High School – 1975-2005 395-298 (11 State Tournament Trips; 1 State Title)
– Lake City, ID – 2005-2008 (41-28)
“To me, you can’t talk about Wa-Hi Basketball without mentioning Jim Thacker,” said Big Blue Boosters President Casey Waddell, who played for Wa-Hi on Thacker’s 2003 and 2004 state qualifying teams. “He was able to get more out of his players than any coach I’ve ever seen.”
