Norfolk, VA – The USCAA Hall of Fame, in its second year of existence, will add four individuals to its ranks, two former coaches and two student-athletes. USCAA Executive Director Matt Simms announced Wednesday that Frank Carbone of St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn, John View of SUNY ESF, Chris Banks of Southern Maine CC, and Ben Jones of The Apprentice School have been awarded the association’s highest honor. They will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday, June 3rd at the Annual Hall of Fame Gala and Welcome Social of the 2018 National Convention in Richmond, Virginia.
Frank P. Carbone, 50, a life-long Brooklyn, New York native, joins the USCAA Hall of Fame Class of 2018 as both a coach and meritorious contributor. Carbone began coaching at St. Joseph’s College of Brooklyn in 1997 when hired to head the fledgling women’s basketball program. His role for SJC expanded in 2000 when he founded and coached the first-ever women’s softball team in the college’s history. In 2005, Carbone was named St. Joseph’s Athletic Director, where he was the driving force behind the athletic program’s rapid growth from 3 sports teams and just 30 student-athletes to its peak of 16 varsity and club sports featuring 170 participants in 2015. In addition to his duties as Athletic Director, when asked about the variety of roles he performed at the St. Joseph’s, Carbone often joked that he also served as the athletics department’s van driver, maintenance and grounds crew chief, and head lunch room supervisor. Carbone worked tirelessly to build the program, overcoming numerous challenges aside from having to manage with limited staff, funds and no on-campus facilities. The culmination of Carbone’s efforts were realized in two monumental accomplishments under his direction, as St. Joseph’s was accepted as a full member of the NCAA at the Division III level in 2011 and opened the campus’ first-ever state-of-the-art $16M, 40,000 square foot athletic facility in 2014. In fact, Carbone was bestowed the ultimate accolade from St. Joseph’s when the basketball court was named in his honor.
As for his accomplishments on the court and in the field, Carbone amassed over 550 career victories as a head coach as SJC established itself as a perennial USCAA national tournament favorite and feared opponent in women’s basketball and softball. During his 18-year tenure, Carbone’s teams accounted for 16 combined USCAA national tournament appearances, and achieved the school’s first and only at-large selection to the NCAA D3 Women’s Basketball Tournament in 2012. Carbone was one of only two head coaches in the USCAA’s history to compete in the USCAA tournament and the NCAA tournament in the same season.
Aside from his achievements on campus, Carbone had an infectious personality and a unique style all his own within the ranks of the USCAA. From the early years of the association’s formation, Carbone was a regular convention attendee and was first to volunteer himself and his staff to assist with National Championship planning and orchestration. Carbone was known to travel from his Brooklyn home to be at the USCAA National Championships in Broken Arrow and Uniontown to volunteer his time to broadcast tournament games, even in those years when his teams did not qualify to compete. Carbone served on several sport and national committees in the USCAA and was named the Commissioner’s Award Winner (Now Garth Pleasant Athletic Director of the Year) in 2010. He was also the driving force behind convincing the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association institutions to become members of the USCAA. He has always been one of the biggest cheerleaders for the USCAA and continues to be a friend to many in the association to this day. Now enjoying retirement, Carbone continues to reside in Brooklyn and serves as a special advisor, board member and consultant with a number of non-for-profit educational and youth organizations including the St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, the Greenpoint YMCA and Community Board #1 in his local Brooklyn neighborhood.
“I am truly humbled and honored to have been selected to the USCAA’s Hall of Fame,” stated Carbone. “The acknowledgement of this great honor is a true testament to the talents, skill and dedicated efforts of not only all of the wonderful student-athletes that I had the privilege to coach, but to the amazing staff that I had the opportunity to work with during my time at St. Joseph’s. I also owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to all of the great people who are a part of the USCAA, including its terrific leadership, administrative staff and all of the colleagues in the various institutions from across the country that I had the chance to share experiences, learn from and compete against over the past two decades. It is something that I will cherish forever!”
John View returned to his birthplace of Syracuse, New York to lead the SUNY ESF cross country team to four straight National Championships, leading him to a Hall of Fame coaching career. View, who grew up in Binghamton was always an avid lover of running, lettering in Track and leading his program in the 880-yard run. After graduating from St. Leo College, he earned his master’s degree in Education Administration and Leadership from the University of Notre Dame. John also earned an Masters in Business Administration from Syracuse University.
View’s early career did not focus on coaching. Instead he held Director of Financial Aid positions at Broome CC, followed by SUNY Canton in the late 1970s. He moved to State University of New York – College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) in 1979. His love for running finally blossomed into a head coach position with the SUNY ESF athletics program in the late 2000s. In less than a decade, View had upended the USCAA Cross Country scene, dethroning perennial favorite Dine College and leading his team to four straight National Championships from 2011 to 2014. Additionally, he had three men’s runners win the overall championship and two women’s runners who finished in the top three. John was an inspirational leader, evident by the outstanding culture displayed by his team at USCAA Nationals.
John was also a strong contributor to the USCAA. After a momentous stint in Lake Placid, John spearheaded a bid to take the national championships to Syracuse, New York. SUNY ESF, under View’s leadership, had significant growth in numbers and media coverage in 2013 and 2014. John was named USCAA Coach of the Year in 2014. He continues to serve as a consultant to the USCAA on cross country matters to this day. John is a loving husband to his wife Lorraine, father to two adult children, and grandfather. John states, " I am humbled and honored to be inducted into the USCAA Hall of Fame. For me it means that I was able to have a positive impact on the lives of the young men and women I coached. They had the talent, together we discovered how to channel it into success.”
Ben Jones a native of Lake Gaston, Virginia, graduated as an outside machinist apprentice and played baseball for The Apprentice School from 2003 to 2006. During Jones’ career, he was named a three-time USCAA All-American. He is the winningest pitcher in the modern era of Apprentice School baseball with 39 wins and Virginia College Division record of 501 strikeouts. Jones was selected to the 2006 USCAA National All-Academic Team and was also selected CoSIDA Academic All-District. He was selected VaSID All-State Division II-III in 2004 and 2006 and was honored as Apprentice School Athlete of the Year in 2006.
After his career at The Apprentice School, Jones joined The Apprentice School staff as an assistant coach/pitching coach in 2007 and continues to bring his knowledge of the game to current apprentice athletes. Jones was a part of the Builder baseball team that won the USCAA Small College World Series in 2007 and 2015. Ben currently resides in Williamsburg, Virginia and works for Huntington Ingalls Industries.
“I am truly honored to have been selected to the USCAA’s Hall of Fame,” states Jones. “The phone call brought an instant smile and a few tears as soon I heard Matt’s voice. It’s been a humbling experience so far in just preparing for the event; it’s a little overwhelming and a very exciting at the same time. When I started looking back at my stats, it was an eye opener for me personally. It brought back a bunch of great memories of coaches, teammates, fans, close games and tricky situations to try and get out of. It’s simply an awesome feeling to be honored for my years of commitment, dedication and hard work on and off the baseball field.”
Chris Banks, of Limerick, Maine was one of the most accurate and deadly 3-point shooters in the USCAA. During his two seasons, the SMCC teams won back to back Yankee Conference titles and were USCAA National Semi-Finalists both years. In 2008, he was a first team YSCC selection and a USCAA All-American. During that season, SMCC played UC-Clermont in the USCAA Championships. During that game, Chris recorded 11 made 3-point field goals, which still stands as a USCAA national tournament game record. He finished that game with 45 total points which was most points scored in a USCAA national tournament game until 2014 when the record was surpassed by a player scoring 46.
Chris came to SMCC as a under recruited student athlete. He had an immediate impact in his first season giving SMCC an instant scoring threat from the perimeter. The season before, SMCC had finished 13-13. During the 2007 campaign, first season for Chris at SMCC, the team went 22-11. This improvement in one year was certainly a credit to his addition to the program. In addition to these accolades, Banks maintained a 3.32 GPA at SMCC. Chris currently resides in St. Cloud, Florida and works in Kinder Care Education.
"I am beyond grateful to be a part of this very prestigious honor and group of Hall of Fame inductees,” said Banks. “This honor extends to my teammates, their families, my family, and all of the coaching staff of SMCC. A lot of hard work, dedication, and love is put into this program and I’m proud to say I was part of it. Very thankful for the USCAA and what it's been able to accomplish and represent."
The USCAA Hall of Fame resides at the association’s national headquarters in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. For information about the Hall of Fame or tickets to the induction ceremony on June 3rd, contact the USCAA at 757.706.3756. Visit theuscaa.com to learn more about the association and its history.
Hall of Fame Inductees
By the Numbers
Frank Carbone | St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn
Women’s Basketball Coach
- 1997-2015, 18 seasons
- 272-246 overall record (.525)
- 9 USCAA National Championship Appearances
- 2003 USCAA Coach of the Year
- 6 USCAA All-Americans, 4 honorable mentions
- 22 USCAA National All-Academic Team Selections
- NCAA Division III National Championship (2012)
- 4 Hudson Valley Conference (HVIAC) Championships
- 3-time HVWAC/HVIAC Coach of the Year
- 27 Hudson Valley All-Conference honorees
Softball Coach
- 2002-15, 14 seasons
- 287-175-3 Overall Record (.621)
- 7 USCAA National Championship Appearances
- 18 USCAA All-Americans, 9 honorable mentions
- 36 USCAA National All-Academic Team Selections
- 10 Hudson Valley Conference (HVIAC) Championships
- 3-time HVWAC Coach of the Year
- 48 Hudson Valley All-Conference honorees
John View | SUNY ESF
Cross Country Coach
- 2014 USCAA Coach of the Year
- 2015 and 2016 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
- National Championship Appearances – 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016
- Team National Championships | Men – 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
- 1 USCAA Men’s Runner Up
- 1 Hudson Valley Women’s Conference Championship
- 2 Chancellor Student-Athlete Awards
- 2 Individual National Champions
- 11 Men’s First Team All-American runners
- 9 Men’s Second Team All-American runners
- 6 Women’s Second Team All-American runners
Ben Jones | The Apprentice School
Baseball Student Athlete
- All-American | 2004, 2005, and 2006
- All-Academic | 2006
- 73 Appearances
- 49 Games Started (1st in institution history)
- 39 Career wins (Most in institution’s history)
- 28 Complete games (1st in institution history)
- 397 Innings Pitched (1st in institution history)
- 501 Strikeouts (1st in institution history – by over 300 strikeouts)
- 2.45 Career ERA
- .219 Opponent Batting Average
- 11.36 Strikeouts Per 9-Innings (1st in institution history)
Chris Banks | Southern Maine Community College
Basketball Student Athlete
- Spent only 2 seasons at SMCC
- All-American | 2008
- 47 Career Wins
- 2 National Championship Appearances
- 2007 and 2008 National Semi-Finalist Appearances
- 11 – Three-point field goals in one National Tournament Game (USCAA Record Holder)
- 1,043 – Points scored in two seasons at SMCC
- 16 – PPG Average
- 40.3 - % shooting from 3-Point
- 85.7 - % shooting from foul line
- 45 – National Tournament game scoring record held by Banks until 2014