HOF Media

Name: Larry Odell

Year Inducted: 1988

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations:
Southern Illinoisan
Star Publications
Orland Park-Oak Forest-Tinley Park Star

Biography:  Larry Odell started writing basketball at the Southern Illinoisan  in Carbondale in 1967. Odell was assigned to the Southern Illinois University sports scene – home and away. Odell also did his share of the prep sports at the Southern Illinoisan and served six years as prep sports editor. Odell covered the Carbondale Holiday Tournament, the National Invitation Tournament as well as the IHSA state series. In 1978, Odell joined Star Publications in the south suburbs of Chicago. Until June 1984, Odell was sports editor for the Harvey-Markham and Dolton-South Holland editions. Included were Thornton, Thornridge, and Thornwood High Schools as well as Thornton Community College. In June of 1984, Odell became sports editor of the Orland Park-Oak Forest-Tinley Park Star, where he covered Oak Forest, Tinley Park, Sandburg, Andrews and Bremen High Schools and Moraine Valley Community College. In addition, Odell does feature stories and columns of the Chicago area college and professional teams.

Name: Terry Todt

Year Inducted: 2001

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations:
WLBH Radio (Mattoon)
WSMI Radio (Litchfield)

Biography:  Since his days as a fifth grader, Terry Todt’s goal in life was to be a sports announcer. Todt completed a two-year vocational radio broadcasting program at Lake Land College in Mattoon. Todt worked from March to May 1978 at WLBH AM/FM in Mattoon before ice toppled the station’s tower and destroyed its studios.  Todt was fortunate to gain a position in May 1978 at WSMI AM/FM radio in Litchfield, where he became the station’s program director. When he joined the station he was given the opportunity to broadcast high school sports. At the time the station aired 20 football, 60 basketball and a dozen baseball games. In his time as sports director those numbers swelled to where WSMI broadcasts nearly 200 sporting events a year. WSMI served 16 area high schools in Montgomery, Macoupin, Bond and Christian counties.  Todt said the highlight of his broadcasting career was following the Nokomis girls basketball team in 1998 to the IHSA Class A state championship game win over Carthage. A close second, quite naturally, would be broadcasting the Lady Redskins’ repeat in 1989 with an overtime victory over Carrollton. He also broadcast Hillsboros’ girls basketball state title in 2006.  Todt is also a member of the Illinois Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and was the Illinois Coaches Association Sportsman of the Year in 2011. Todt’s battle with a rare appendix-based cancer led to the 2018 formation of the T. Todt Shootout vs. Cancer, a 16-team event held at Carlinville High School with Todt doing the broadcasting. Todt died on May 23, 2019 at the age of 63.

Name: Joe Michelich

Year Inducted: 1988

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations:
Auburn and Divernon Newspapers
The Chicago Daily News

Biography:  Joe Michelich’s career in writing began as a high school junior at Auburn (IL) HS. He continued writing while attending Wayne State. His career included stops in Michigan, California and Texas. Michelich returned to Auburn when he bought the paper there and in Divernon. Michelich not only wrote for his papers, but also for the Chicago Daily News. Michelich, because of his knowledge of the Michigan prep scene, always championed the multi-class system in Illinois. Used to the four-class Michigan system, Michelich thought it absurd not to adopt a class system in Illinois and said so many times. Michelich was convinced that Illinois needed three systems. Michelich was also concerned with the situation in the Illinois Elementary School Association which he thought needed a class system.

Name: Don Wojciechowski

Year Inducted: 2001

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations:
Elgin Courier News

Biography:  Don Wojciechowski certainly would have been a nickname of some sort in any headline he may have written if he had been the athlete in his 36 years as a member of The Courier News sports staff in Elgin. Wojciechowski spent nine years as a part-timer before earning a full-time position in 1974 and in 1983 he became Courier sports editor.  The Elgin Community College graduate covered a lot of high school basketball in his time. Included was the privilege of reporting the success of legendary Hall of Fame coach Bill Chesbrough’s final Elgin team, which surprisingly made the Sweet 16 in 1985. He also has a special place in his memory for the 1987 team of second-year coach Jim Harrington, which lost to Class AA state runner-up Chicago King in the quarterfinals.  As a favorite game, the 1985 AA double-overtime 46-44 title win by Chicago Mount Carmel over Springfield Lanphier is a favorite in a string of seven AA tourneys he covered. He was a  member of the Associated Press state poll from 1983 to his induction date. Wojciechowski was one of the initial editors for the National High School Sports Record Book and was co-editor of the second edition.  Wojciechowski coached St. Laurence Grade School basketball for eight years and served as volunteer athletic director for six years. He served eight years as the director for the St. Laurence Girls Holiday Classic, which was one of the longest-running tournaments in the Chicago suburbs.