Three Selected to 2017 Gold Medal Hall of Fame

Klukwan’s Stuart Dewitt, Washington referee Joe Thompson, and Kake’s Nick Davis were selected into the Hall of Fame at the Juneau Lions Club 71st Annual Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School on Friday. (Photo courtesy Klas Stolpe)

It is only fitting that Stuart DeWitt and Nick Davis were inducted into the Gold Medal Hall of Fame on Friday, even more fitting is that referee Joe Thompson was also given the honor… someone has to keep a close officiating tab on DeWitt and Davis on the floor, after all the duo are two of the most competitive players in Gold Medal history.

Dewitt has been on six Gold Medal championship teams and has been selected for 11 All Tournament teams. The Gold Medal Tournament is more than competition for him.

“Mostly just getting to spend the week with some of your closest friends,” DeWitt said. “There is nothing else to worry about. You just kind of relax and hang out, sit on the couch and watch t.v., and play. And now I have kids and they are able to come watch me play. Seeing them start to get excited about basketball that is the best part.”

Davis has won 10 championships, made five all-tourney teams, and garnished a Sportsmanship award. Davis compared basketball to life.

“I have always loved the game,” Nick Davis said. “You can get down and out but there is always hope to come back. My highlight in this tournament has been interacting with all the players, having fun and laughing. You know, at some point, sometimes, you see guys getting mad and stuff but it is part of the game… but to be able to be out there and to laugh with them when you are in an intense moment is just real fun.”

2017 will be referee Joe Thompson’s last of 20 Gold Medal Tournament officiating experiences. His career began in 1972 and he became an active member of the Pacific Northwest Basketball Officials Association for Washington in 1982. He has officiated NCAA tournaments, multiple high school state tournaments, has been a Washington State Rules Clinician for multiple years, a camp clinician, and mentor to hundreds of aspiring officials up and down the west coast.

“I have been blessed to be part of this legacy,” Thompson said of Gold Medal. “My greatest memories, what I will take away from the many years of coming to this tournament, was learning to respect the culture of the different teams and the villages that they come from. And something else that I have really recognized since I have been coming here, that I don’t see in the lower 48, is the way they treat their elders. There is a great deal of respect for their elders. And their passion for supporting their teams, whether it is the mens or women’s, you don’t find that anywhere else. It is really unique.”

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