RICHARD BLAND SALUTES FORMER MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH

FEBRUARY 24, 2014 (PETERSBURG, VA) – On February 23, 2014, the Richard Bland College of William and Mary Athletics Department made history by launching a Hall of Fame and surprising Cham Pritchard, the first and longtime coach of the men's basketball team, as the inaugural inductee. 

"It's a tremendous honor and I feel blessed to have been able to coach for those 18 years," said Pritchard who launched Richard Bland's first men's NJCAA basketball team some forty years ago. He was the basketball coach, bus driver to away games, physical educator and trusted mentor to students on and off the court. During his tenure as coach, he collected 170 career wins and won two Region X conference championships. He coached Brandon Coles and Jimmy Bowman to NJCAA 2nd team All-American status, as well as Ron Harris, who still holds the career scoring record with 1,080 in a two year span, from 1978-80.

Athletics Director Chuck Moore said, "To be inducted into any hall of fame is the greatest honor you can bestow upon an athlete, coach, or team, and as our newly resurrected men's basketball team continues to lead in the NJCAA and we reintroduce our region and conference to Richard Bland basketball, there is no better time than now to pay tribute to our past by launching a Hall of Fame."

Regarding the Statesmen's meteoric rise to the #1 national ranking, Prichard said, "I am glad to see athletics successfully revived at Richard Bland. It creates school spirit and gives the athletes a chance to continue their athletic careers. The coaching staff has done an amazing job against the competition in the league. What a great achievement for the College."

"Honoring Cham Pritchard as our first Hall of Fame inductee is only fitting given his significant influence on Statesman athletics from the mid-1970s until the mid-1990s. The College is pleased to recognize the legacy of Cham Pritchard and to remind our current students, athletes and community members about the history of Richard Bland's first athletics program and the impact that it had on the lives of so many alumni," said Richard Bland College President Debbie Sydow.