The REPORTER
Noblesville High School inducted a legendary athletic trainer and one of the Millers’ best-ever teams into its Athletic Hall of Fame last Friday during halftime of the Noblesville-Hamilton Southeastern boys basketball game.
The first inductee was Jeff “Doc” Franciosi, the athletic trainer for the Millers from 1985 to 2009. Franciosi was named the Indiana High School Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1992 and was inducted into the Indiana Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame last year. He is currently an athletic trainer at Guerin Catholic.
Franciosi also is a teacher at NHS and his sports medicine class has produced numerous student assistant trainers who have gone on to become physicians, physical therapists and other medical professionals.
The Millers also inducted the 1996-97 Noblesville boys basketball team into their Hall of Fame. In the last year before class basketball, the Millers compiled a 22-5 record. Noblesville won the Olympic Conference championship before claiming its own sectional (over Sheridan 82-50, Carmel 69-62 and Hamilton Heights 64-53).
The Millers won the Frankfort regional by beating Brownsburg 60-53 in the semifinals and the host Hot Dogs 64-63 in the championship. Noblesville won the first game of the Lafayette Jefferson semi-state at Mackey Arena over Gary West 92-78. The Millers’ run came to an end in the final against La Porte 69-59; it was only the second time in Noblesville boys basketball history that a team reached the Final 8.
Team members at the ceremony were Tom Coverdale (the 1998 Indiana Mr. Basketball), Mike Chappel, Jeff Chapman, Ben Fonde, A.J. Head, Todd Lawson, Ryan Murray and Matt Pogue. Assistant coaches attending were John Atha, Kurt Gassensmith, Jeff Bragg and Dwayne Brashers. The team was coached by Dave McCollough, with Scott Radeker an assistant. Jeff Franciosi was the team’s athletic trainer.