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University of Detroit Mercy Athletics

Jim Boyce
Jim Boyce

Men's Basketball

Boyce Elected to NJCAA Hall of Fame

Former Titan was a standout at Burlington Junior College before coming to Detroit

The 2012 Basketball Hall of Fame class has been released by the NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association.  The 2012 class includes one of the best national tournament players in NJCAA history, Jim Boyce of Burlington Junior College (now known as Southeastern Community College, Iowa) who later came to the University of Detroit, as well as former Vincennes University (Ind.) players Carl Landry and Clarence Walker.

A native of Detroit, Mich., Boyce was an All-Detroit City and All-State selection in high school from 1953-55. He entered in the U.S. Army following his prep years and competed for the All-Armed Forces basketball squad. Boyce then landed at Burlington Junior College (now known as Southeastern Community College) in West Burlington, Iowa.

Boyce led Burlington to back-to-back NJCAA national tournament appearances in Hutchinson in 1963 and '64. He earned All-Tournament team honors both years as well as First-Team NJCAA All-American his second season and a Third-Team All-American honors as a freshman.

As a freshman he averaged 24.9 points per game during the regular season and tallied 108 points in the 1963 national tournament, leading the Blackhawks to a fourth-place finish. Boyce and teammate Bobby Joe Hill, who would later star at Texas Western, combined to score 223 points in five games.

Boyce returned for his sophomore season at Burlington and again led the Blackhawks to a fourth place finish in Hutchinson. He earned All-Tournament team honors for the second consecutive year, along with teammate Mel Daniels (1968 ABA Rookie of the Year) after scoring 100 points in five games, including a 33-point effort against Lon Morris (Texas) to secure fourth place. His 208 points scored currently ranks eighth all-time in the 64-year history of the national tournament. 

After Burlington, Boyce transferred to the University of Detroit where he played two seasons.  In 1964-65 he averaged 9.5 points and 9.6 rebounds, helping the Titans reach the NIT. He then contributed 15.5 points and 8.2 rebounds for the 1965-66 campaign.

After graduating from Detroit, Boyce jumped into coaching. He was a graduate assistant at Detroit under then head coach Dick Vitale and then became the head coach at Detroit Northwestern High School where he compiled a record of 62-16. He later was the head coach at Eastern Michigan University from 1979 to 1986, posting an 84-96 record.

Boyce passed away in 2001 and is remembered as one of the best basketball players of his era from Detroit. 

Boyce, Landry and Walker joined three coaches inducted including: Gene Bahnsen of Wharton County Junior College (Texas), Buster Gilliss of Bismarck State College (N.D.) and Kevin McCarthy of SUNY Cobleskill (N.Y.).

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