Chauncey Billups, Joe Theismann headline 2013 National High School Hall of Fame class

DENVER — The glory days of high school have long since passed, but for members of the 2013 class of the National High School Hall of Fame, the memories will never fade.

Hometown legend Chauncey Billups and former NFL great Joe Theismann headline the 31st class of inductees, who participated in a news conference Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency hotel to share their thoughts on the honor.

The class features 13 inductees overall, including four participants, five high school coaches, two officials, one administrator and one in the performing arts.

For Billups, the selection completes the circle on his prep career. He was a grade-school phenom before leading George Washington (Denver) to two state titles (1993, 1994). In the process he was a four-time all-state selection and a three-time Mr. Basketball.

His name remains synonymous with Colorado basketball, as he attended the University of Colorado and played for the Denver Nuggets during what is now a 16-year career in the NBA. He is active in the state's club basketball scene and holds a youth skills camp each summer.

Billups also still has direct ties to the state's preps, as his daughter, Cydney Billups, recently completed her freshman soccer season at Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, Colo.). He also was inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association's Hall of Fame this past January.

“The thing I treasure the most about my years as a high school basketball player here in Denver is the lifelong relationships that I built (with teammates) … No matter which way your lives take you, we always have that time in our lives together in common," Billups said. "It was just so pure at that time. It was a beautiful time. I will always remember that.

“I never knew any of this was possible for me. This is an unbelievable honor to be sitting on stage at the table with all these greats. It’s very humbling.”

Theismann is perhaps best known as the Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the Washington Redskins. But before attending the University of Notre Dame, Theismann excelled at three sports at South River (N.J.). There he led the football team to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group III championship in 1966 with a 9-0 record and 24 touchdown passes.

“It means an awful lot to myself, and I’m sure for every one of us, to be recognized for our accomplishments in high school," Theismann said. "It wasn't the means to where we are today, though. When you play high school sports it should be about the person next to you, the coaches ... the memories you develop for a lifetime."

To illustrate his point, Theismann said that next to the replica of the Super Bowl trophy that he has at his house sits a 1-foot piece of the goal post from the last high school game he played.

“They each have their presence in my life. Each has the same importance in my life," Theismann said. "When you think back to the years in high school, what really shapes us as people - who we are - the athletic endeavors that we have taken on is where the foundations were built for us.”

Also honored for their on-field performances were Harrison Dillard and Kristin Folkl Kaburakis. Dillard won city, district and state titles while he was a senior at East Tech (Cleveland) in 1942 before winning multiple gold medals at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.

Folkl Kaburakis was a volleyball and basketball standout in Missouri, leading St. Joseph's Academy (St. Louis) to eight state titles overall in the early 1990s. Her volleyball teams finished 137-7, while her basketball team compiled a 117-5 record. Her two-sport excellence continued at Stanford, where the Cardinal won three NCAA volleyball championships and made two Final Four appearances in basketball.

“I was allowed to have fun (in high school)," said Folkl Kaburakis, who lamented the growing emphasis on national all-star games, elite sports combines and recruiting, echoing Theismann. "I had coaches who got it, parents who got it. I worked hard because I loved it (not because she was chasing a scholarship)."

The coach category recognized five standouts in their respective sports nationally.

Ed Aston was the boys (33 years) and girls (37 years) swimming coach at Cheshire (Conn.) before retiring in 2011. Aston's girls teams won 25 state titles and won a national record 281 consecutive dual meets from 1986-2011, while his boys teams claimed 18 state championships.

Chuck Koeppen led the Carmel (Ind.) boys and girls cross country teams to 11 state titles each in his 37 years. He also led the school's boys track team to a state title in 2000 before retiring in 2008.

In his 42nd year coaching football at Plymouth (N.H.) Chuck Lenahan won his 19th state championship last fall. Lenahan is the winningest football coach in state history with a record of 345-69-1, which includes a 57-game win streak from 2005-10 and 13 undefeated seasons.

Mike Messere of West Genesee (Camillus, N.Y.) continues to set the standard for boys lacrosse and becomes the first lacrosse coach in the HOF. Messere has a career record of 757-55, which is the top mark nationally for both a high school and college lacrosse coach. The Wildcats have won 15 New York State Public High School Athletic Association titles since Messere arrived in 1976 and also won a national record 91 consecutive games from 1981-84.

James Tate started the track and cross country programs at St. Paul's Episcopal (Mobile, Ala.) in 1978 and has been amassing state championships ever since. Tate has guided the boys and girls cross country, boys and girls indoor track and boys and girls outdoor track teams to 89 state titles. That includes a 16-year run by the girls cross country team from 1983-98 that established a national record.

In the officials category, Jerry Kimmel and Haig Nighohossian were honored.

Kimmel recently retired after 56 years as an active official and assigner for the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, while Nighohossian is in his 39th year as an active soccer official with the Illinois High School Association. He has officiated 31 IHSA state soccer championships.

Longtime Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Executive Director Ronnie Carter, who retired in 2009, was selected in the Administrators category, while Richard Floyd was honored in the Performing Arts category. Floyd is retiring this year after 50 years in music education, which include 29 years as director of music for the University Interscholastic League in Texas.

The newest class, which officially will be inducted today during a ceremony held in conjunction with the National Federation of State High School Associations' 94th annual summer meeting, brings the number of inductees into the NFHS Hall of Fame to 411.

The National High School Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 1982. Inductees are chosen through a two-level selection process and it involves screening and selection committees comprised of high school state association administrators and personnel, coaches, officials, former athletes, media and educational leaders.