Pinkerton to be honored by Hall of Fame

Larry Pinkerton

PLYMOUTH – A man who did much for student athletes all over Indiana as an administrator has been honored by his home county for his skills on the basketball court.

Most Marshall County resident's know Larry Pinkerton for his 19 years as Principal at Plymouth High School. In his time there Pinkerton served in various leadership positions for the IHSAA and helped further the opportunities for student athletes at PHS and everywhere in the state.

In Kosciusko County Pinkerton is known as an outstanding three sport athlete in high school who attended Ball State University on a football scholarship and was a three sport athlete there as well. In June Pinkerton will take his place in the Kosciusko County Basketball Hall of Fame.

“I guess it's not something you say out loud around here but I graduated from Warsaw High School,” said Pinkerton with a laugh. “I don't think many people here knew that. It seems like 100 years ago now but we had a pretty good team when I was in school. We won our sectional my junior and senior year (1954 and 1955) and got beat in the final of the regional by Mishawaka one year and South Bend Central the next.

“We had 18 schools in Kosciusko County then – schools like Atwood, Etna Green, Mentone – and you didn't play them all in the season but you fought them in the sectional. It was tough. Everybody wanted to beat the County Seat school.”

Pinkerton was a three year starter at guard at Warsaw and his senior season averaged around 15 points a game. It was his skills on the football field that helped with his college education.

“I went to Ball State on a football scholarship and while I was there I played basketball and I was on the baseball team,” he said. “Then the semester grades came through and after I saw them I decided I probably needed to cut back some and spend a little more time on classwork.”

Graduating with a degree in education Pinkerton took a job at Wilson Junior High School in Muncie as a teacher and a coach.

“I coached freshman football and 8^th grade basketball,” he said. “The kids there went on to Muncie Southside. I really enjoyed coaching. I used my time in Muncie to get my Masters, my six years and then got my Administrator's degree.”

Pinkerton's first job as an administrator was as Assistant Principal at Griffith High School.

“While I was there there was a young lady attending high school there named Donna Konapasek who's now Donna Chaney,” he said. “I had the honor of hiring her to teach science when I came to Plymouth.”

Pinkerton moved on to be Principal at Twin Lakes High School before moving on to Plymouth.

“I have to be honest I was shocked when I got the letter that I was going into the Hall of Fame. I thought they must be scraping the bottom of the barrel to want me,” he said with a chuckle. “It's something that I'm very proud of. They introduced us all at halftime of the Wawasee, Whitko basketball game a couple weeks ago and you kind of forget about it over the years but there were a lot of really good ball players there, guys you played against in the sectional and remembered. I was really proud to be out there with them.”

Pinkerton's official induction will take place in June.

Pinkerton with Warsaw football teammate, friend and long time Indiana State Senator Kent Adams