Bob: Hello. I’m Bob Kovatch, a former ISD basketball coach. With me today is Brian Bippus. Hello Brian.
Brian: Hello Bob.
Bob: I’m really thrilled to interview you today and recognize you, Brian, graduate and alumnus of the class of 1987 and 2024 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee. How did you feel when you first found out that you were selected.
Brian: Yes, in summary, it started in 2017 when coach Kovatch and I submitted my information to Indiana’s Basketball Hall of Fame. We filled out all of the required information, my honors and accolades from high school, college and beyond including club ball. We probably had 3 or 4 pages that we had to complete. Bob went to New Castle to present. It was a 2-minute presentation and we never heard anything again. That was in 2018, and I didn’t pursue that any further. I moved to Maryland in 2019 and Bob moved to Ohio. I didn’t think much of it since we didn’t’ hear anything. It was a Wednesday night and I got a call on my VP from an unknown number. I answered and the man’s name was Phil Eskow. He told me that he was the chairperson for Indiana’s basketball hall of fame and he informed me that I has been selected. I was shocked! I was in complete awe. The Sorenson interpreter and I just looked at one another for a minute.
Bob: (you took a double take)
Brian: Yeah! I was in awe. Completely speechless. It was such an honor and I had a lot to think about and I knew had to tell my family and you, Bob. It was a huge honor.
Brian was inducted into the Indiana School for the Deaf Hall of Fame in 2007, the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012, and now, on March 20, 2024, you will be inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
Purchase tickets to attend the event. Recommend to purchase early as the event tend to be sold out.
Brian Bippus graduated from Indiana School for the Deaf in 1987, where in his senior season, won the National Deaf Basketball Championship. In Bippus’ senior season, he was MVP, Captain, All-City, All Sectional, 1st Team Deaf All-American, CSSD All-Star, and the State’s leading rebounder. Bippus went to Gallaudet University where he averaged over 18 points a game in his four years. He left Gallaudet as the school’s All-time leading scorer and 2nd team Academic All-American. After graduation with a bachelors in math, he played club basketball in the United States for over 22 years, and competed in various Deaflympics games beginning in 1989, winning gold medals in several games. Currently, Bippus is the Operations Coordinator for the Clerc Center at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. - Excerpted from Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.