What does a lacrosse hall of famer, former New Jersey Nets executive and NCAA basketball coach with over 500 career wins have in common?

They all started their athletic careers at Mineola High School.

The three are part of the second class of the Mineola Athletic Hall of Hame, which will be inducted Friday, Sept. 16, at Hampton Stadium during the Mineola High School football game against Island Trees High School from Levittown.

This year seven alumni in graduation classes ranging from 1939 to 2001 will be honored.

Class of 1939’s Jim Brown, class of 1953’s Bob Casciola, class of 1955’s Bruce Webster, class of 1963’s Jim Litterelle and Jack Emmer, class of 1971’s Manny Matos and 2001’s Katherine Hock Bennett will each be honored during the game.

The announcement came from Dan Guido, another Mineola High School graduate who currently coaches the school’s wrestling team.

The decision to resume Hall of Fame inductions primarily came from Guido and Frank Massaro, Mineola High School alumni and friends who have been long involved with the district.

Guido was the football coach from 1987-2019 and is currently the head wrestling coach, a post he assumed in 1980. Massaro was a girls’ lacrosse coach and assistant coach with Guido on the wrestling team before becoming a teacher.

Guido, who wrestled with Massaro as a student, said Massaro approached him about resuming Hall of Fame inductions after Massaro’s retirement and he thought it was a great idea.

“We’re gonna try and do it every year from now,” Guido said.

Brown was an all-scholastic athlete in football and track before captaining the Hofstra football team as both quarterback and running back. During his college career, Brown enlisted in the armed forces during World War II before returning to Hofstra and again was named captain.

Brown also served the district as a physical education teacher and coached the wrestling team, which he started in 1955 despite never playing the sport.

By the time Brown retired in 1980, he had won two North Shore championships and four league titles in his 12 years of coaching.

Casciola was a tackle and captain for the Mustangs. The New Hyde Park native spent his college career at Princeton University. where he was all-league.

Casciola’s broadcasting career included working for the Ivy League, Princeton and Rutgers University. His head football career included stops at the University of Connecticut and Princeton before becoming the executive vice president and chief operating officer for the National Basketball Association’s New Jersey Nets from 1987 to 1991.

Webster was a three-sport athlete for the Mustangs in football, basketball and baseball before playing each sport at Rutgers. Webster is the last Rutgers athlete to earn nine varsity letters during their time.

Webster became the University of Bridgeport’s head coach from 1965 to 1999, where he amassed over 500 career wins, made the NCAA tournament 12 times, led his team to five appearances in regional championships and two in the national championship game. Webster, who died in 2017 at 80 years old, was named the 1992 Division II National Coach of the Year.

Litterelle played football, basketball and baseball during his high school career, where he won football and basketball league championships. He earned the Jim Thorpe Award as Nassau County’s best high school football player during his senior year.

In 1867, Litterelle was named captain of the Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions football team during his senior year. His college career ended with a top-10 ranking and tying the Florida State Seminoles 17-17 in the Gator Bowl.

Emmer was teammates with Litterelle when both won championships in basketball and football. He went on to play football for Rutgers as a wide receiver.

Emmer began his lacrosse coaching career for Cortland State in 1970, where he finished his three-year tenure with a 32-6 record and an appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1972.

Washington and Lee in Lexington, VA was Emmer’s next stop. Emmer led the Generals to six-straight NCAA tournament appearances from 1973 to 1978. In his 10 tournament appearances for the Virginia school, Emmer coached wins over powerhouses Navy and Johns Hopkins, among others, while reaching the semifinals twice.

In 1984, Emmer moved to the United States Military Academy to coach Army. He led West Point to eight NCAA tournament appearances, becoming one of two coaches to lead three different teams to the postseason tournament.

Emmer broke the NCAA record for wins by a coach in 2003 before retiring in 2005, the same year he was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Matos finished his senior year in 1971 with the Mustangs soccer team ranked as a top-two team in the country. The now 69-year-old was team captain at Adelphi University before playing professionally from 1975 to 1981 for the Seattle Sounders, Los Angeles Skyhawks and indoor team Buffalo Stallions.

Bennett earned 11 varsity letters at Mineola playing soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She was all-county in soccer and lacrosse while bringing the newly formed girls lacrosse program their first conference championship.

Bennett became an all-American at Adelphi during her sophomore, junior and senior years, winning the national championship during her junior year, where she scored the game-winner in the dying seconds.

During her Adelphi career, she was named Division II National Player of the year.

The induction for the 2022 Mineola High School Athletic Hall of Fame class will take place during halftime of the school’s football game against Island Trees.

After the game, inductees, friends and family will gather at Cornerstone Irish American Bar and Grill on Jericho Turnpike for anyone who would like to attend, Guido said.