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Long-time Cherokee Nation employee Jim Quetone was recently inducted into the Northeastern State University Athletic Hall of Fame, Class of XV. Quetone was among five inductees to attain "the highest and most prestigious honor attainable by former NSU athletes, coaches and individuals."

"It is a very prestigious honor because of the athletes that have been selected for the NSU Athletic Hall of Fame," Quetone said.

Quetone, who is currently the director of the Cherokee Nation Education Department, is 1953 graduate of NSU. A four-year letterman in basketball (1949-1953) and served as team captain for two of those seasons. He also was selected to the Oklahoma Intercollegiate All-Conference Basketball Team.

Sharing his thoughts on basketball teams of today, as compared to his day, Quetone said that players today "are a lot faster and so much more physical" along with being taller and bigger. "The tallest guy we had on our team in high school was 6'1," he said. Quetone attended East Central High School, one of only three high schools in Tulsa during the 1940s.

At NSU, Quetone said that he enjoyed playing basketball the most during his freshman and senior years. "My first year was different for me, and I really enjoyed making new acquaintances and participating in athletics at that level," he said. "As a senior I was team captain, and I got to play with new guys coming in to join the team."

After graduating from NSU, Quetone went on to coach basketball at East Central and eventually held principal and superintendent positions at several Oklahoma High Schools. Along with his duties as director of education he is also the acting superintendent of Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah.

"NSU has been a real asset to me," Quetone said. "It prepared and helped me with my coaching career and being a school administrator."