Friends of Basketball

Max Pannebaker

Year Inducted: 1993

Category: Friends of Basketball

Schools / Organizations:

(Princeton) Logan Junior High School

Biography:

Max Pannebaker of Princeton wore several hats in his 35 years at Logan Junior High School.  He served as teacher, coach and administrator.  For 12 of those years, Max combined teaching history with coaching positions.  Back in the 1940’s and 1950’s elementary schools had both lightweight and heayweight basketball teams.  Max coached both at Logan.  His teams complied a record of 356-103.  He influenced many lives as a coach at Logan.  One of his former players said, “Max Pannebaker was one of the finest men I have known.  He was instrumental in helping me develop as a player and a person.  He was also an inspiration to me in becoming a coach.  I became one for the reasons being the influence Max Pannebaker had on me as a young boy growing up.  He was . . . a tremendous role model.”  Max served as Logan principal for 23 years before retiring in 1974.  Logan’s new gymnasium was named in his honor.  Pannebaker was instrumental in hiring two Hall of Fame coaches, Leo “Mike” Kessler and Bill Kaiser.  Even after retirement, Max still showed his loyalty to Logan, driving a van with the words, “A Logan Lion is hard to beat,”  painted on it.  One of his successors as principal at Logan wrote, “Mr. Pannebaker’s personal accomplishments, professionalism coupled with his personal integrity, excellent character, service to mankind and real concern for young people make him an outstanding individual.”

Max Pannebaker died on November 5, 2017.