Jim Mini ST. BEDE ACADEMY Accomplishments ● Star basketball player at SBA
where he graduated in 1957 as all-time leading scorer ● Averaged 31 points per game his freshman year at LPO Junior College, helped Apaches to NJCAA National Tournament for the first time ● Transferred to Loyola Chicago, averaged 15 points per game as a junior & 16.9 points per game as a senior co-captain ● Member of six halls of fame: two-time member of the St. Bede Hall of Fame, two-time member of the IVCC Hall of Fame, member of IBCA Hall of Fame, member of Loyola Chicago Hall of Fame
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
By Bobby Narang
J
im Mini can sum up his extensive sports career in a tangible fashion. One hundred sixty-two pages. That’s the number of pages in Dr. Mini’s autobiography. Considering he wasn’t blessed with extraordinary height — 5-foot-7 — nor extreme athleticism, Mini’s vast accomplishments are worthy of considerable number of words and pictures. Mini, a 1957 St. Bede graduate, rode an excellent shooting touch and unrelenting work ethic to unparalleled success in basketball. One of 15 Class of 2022 inductees into the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame, Mini is one of the most accomplished basketball players in Illinois Valley history. Even Mini is astonished regarding his success considering his height. “Nobody was smaller than me,” he said. “I had a jump shot, which first came out in the early 1950s. It was a new shot, where even a small man can get it off
WHERE are they NOW
See Mini Page 18
A NewsTribune Publication | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | June 2022 17
