Friends of Basketball

Colby Vernay

Year Inducted: 2003

Category: Friends of Basketball

Schools / Organizations: Northwestern University

Varna Mid-County Junior High School, Midland Junior High School, LeRoy Junior High School

Biography: 

Colby Vernay’s association with basketball spans from his small-town childhood driveway to his Hall of Fame induction in 2003.  A player and 1960 graduate of Mid-County High School(Lacon and Varna), and then Northwestern University, he returned to his local roots in 1970. 

First, he was an avid fan, then a scorekeeper. He began coaching in 1976 at the junior-high level at Mid-County Junior High School. Throughout his 19-year tenure, he also served as a scout, scorekeeper, summer camps instructor and fifth- and sixth-grade coach.

After consolidation in 1995, the Lacon resident served for three years as a coach at Midland before moving to the eighth-grade coaching position at LeRoy. As an early graduate of the state’s ASEP program, he had more than 300 victories at the junior-high level, highlighted by a third-place IESA finish in 1981. His teams won 8 conference, 7 regional and 4 sectional titles. He was an assistant coach in the 1993 IBCA All-Star Game.

Colby Vernay died on February 18, 2024 at the age of 61.