James Ware: Park Center High School head boys’ basketball coach Ware led the Pirates to the Class AAAA state boys’ basketball championship last March with a 58-53 victory over Wayzata. Ware came on the Minnesota high school basketball scene as a junior guard/forward leading Hopkins High School to a Class AA (there was only Class A and Class AA competition at the time) state tournament runner-up finish in 1994. Ware was an all-metro performer the following season who played collegiately at Colorado State and Texas Tech before assistant coaching stints at Minnesota, Utah State and Santa Clara. 
C. Vivian Stringer: Rutgers University women’s basketball coach After 25 years as head coach, Stringer, already a Hall of Famer, was honored in December by having the court in Jersey Mike’s Arena named after her during a victory over Ohio State University. 
Charles Hallman: Minnesota Spokesman Recorder columnist and Minneapolis South High School assistant boys’ basketball coach The year 2022 was a memorable one for this esteemed MSR columnist. In April, Hallman was inducted into the US Basketball Writers of America (USBWA) Hall of Fame during the NCAA Women’s Final Four held at the Target Center. He was the first columnist from a Black newspaper publication to be inducted. In October, Hallman was awarded the MIAC Mike Augustine Media Award for his coverage of the Division III conference. He was the first Black person to receive the honor. A sports columnist for nearly four decades, Hallman was inducted last month into the Minneapolis South High School athletic Hall of Fame after serving as an assistant coach for the boys’ basketball team since 1995. 
Dawn Staley: University of South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Staley led the Gamecocks to the 2022 NCAA Division I women’s basketball championship in April by defeating UCONN 64-49 for their second title at the Target Center. 
Tara Starks: Hopkins High School head girls’ basketball coach Starks led the Royals to the Class AAAA girls’ basketball championship last March with a 72-56 victory over St. Michael Albertville. Starks had an outstanding prep career at Minneapolis North during the mid-1990s before becoming one of the state’s top coaches in high school and AAU. She also led Hopkins to a No. 3 ranking nationally.
This column highlights five important events that took place during 2022. Here is my 2022 Fab Five.
All photos by Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald