New Jersey City University will honor four of its all-time greats, including a prominent referee from the National Basketball Association, when the institution holds its 16^th Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony on January 27. The evening will also include the unveiling of an exquisite and comprehensive Hall of Fame display wall to honor all 119 members of the University’s Hall, which was founded in 1979. 

Bob Delaney, ’85, a highly-regarded official in the NBA since 1987, baseball standout and record-holder Ricky Levens, ’91, men’s basketball star Abdul Madison, ’99, and explosive men’s volleyball trailblazer Satsay Thongvichith, ’99, were the four individuals voted into the Hall of Fame by the 11-member Athletics Hall of Fame committee, from a list of 24 outstanding nominees. 

The banquet, a highlight of NJCU’s Green and Gold Days/Homecoming week, begins with a cocktail hour at 5:30 PM. The unveiling of the new Hall of Fame display will be held at 6:30 PM. Special recognition of previous inductees will be followed by dinner at 7:00 PM, with the induction ceremony to begin directly afterwards.

Delaney, in his 19^th year in the NBA this season, has reached the pinnacle of his profession. He has officiated the NBA playoffs every year since 1988, appearing in the NBA Finals each season since 2000. In 1998, he worked his first NBA All-Star game. Delaney served on the National Basketball Referee Association Executive Board, the five-man group that heads up the officials union, from 1995-2002. In 2000, he received the NBA Officials Community Service Award, and in 2003, the prestigious National Association of Sports Officials Gold Whistle Award. He is the Director of The Officiating Academy, IMG-Bollettieri Academies, in Florida.

Over the past 15 years, Delaney has trained numerous officials who have since served in the NBA, WNBA, and NCAA. Prior to the NBA, he officiated in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for three years (1983-86).

Delaney was a former captain of the Gothic Knight men’s basketball team during the 1971-72 season under current Director of Athletics and former head men’s basketball coach Larry Schiner, serving as the sixth man for the 16-8 club. He played two seasons at then-Jersey City State College (1970-72), and one year of baseball (1972), before leaving school to enter the New Jersey state police. There, he gained attention as an undercover state trooper involved in a long-term, deep-cover investigation targeting organized crime in the second half of the 1970’s. He testified before the United States Senate hearings on organized crime in 1981. Delaney, who resides in Florida, has been featured on ESPN and HBO Real Sports, and is the subject of a soon-to-be-released ESPN movie on his life.

Tickets to the Hall of Fame ceremony can be obtained in person at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center or by calling the NJCU Athletics Department at (201) 200-3317.