By BOB DAVIDSON
Salina Journal
Brown Mackie basketball coach Francis Flax has added another achievement to an already lengthy list of career accomplishments. And this one is a keeper.
Flax has been chosen for induction into the National Junior College Athletic Association Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The NJCAA announced his selection on its Web site Friday.
Flax, who's in his 16th season at Brown Mackie and 25th as a junior college coach, will be recognized during ceremonies at the NJCAA's Division II men's national tournament March 19 in Danville, Ill.
"It's an honor, but I'm not sure I deserve it," Flax said Friday afternoon. "It's an honor that's given to one person, but there are countless people who enable you to get an award like this."
Flax started the basketball program at Brown Mackie, and the Lions played their first season in 1992-93. He has guided Brown Mackie to 311 victories and two Division II national titles -- 1999 and 2005. The Lions finished fourth in the national tournament in 1997 and again in 1998. His teams have won six Region 6 titles.
Flax has been named NJCAA District Coach of the Year four times and NJCAA Division II Coach of the Year twice (1999, 2005). He also has earned Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors twice (1999, 2005).
He has coached 39 all-Region 6 players and seven NJCAA All-Americans -- Lee Benson, David Carson, Darren Kelly, Darnell Kimble, Oliver Lafayette, Eddie Robinson and James Williams. Eighty players he has coached have received scholarships to four-year colleges and universities.
All totaled his Brown Mackie teams are 311-204. He coached nine seasons at Highland Community College, where he won 166 games, giving him an overall 488-383 record as a junior college coach.
Flax also coached nine years in the high school ranks at Spearville and Ellinwood and has over 600 career victories.
Flax also coached the Kansas Cagerz for seven seasons, leading them to their first United States Basketball League championship last summer. He announced his retirement as the franchise's coach at the end of last season,
Early on, the Lions were NJCAA Division I members, but moved to Division II before the 1996-97 season -- a move that has paid big dividends.
"All I wanted to do was be competitive," Flax said of his initial goals when he started the Brown Mackie program. "I'd been out of coaching for a year and a half and (former Cloud County coach) Dennis Erkenbrack encouraged me to take this job.
"Of course, he encouraged me to take the job and move on. He said it would be a good place to start, to get your foot back in the door and move on."
Flax also serves as Brown Mackie's athletic director and was AD his final eight years at Highland.