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NEW CASTLE – The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame recognizes three men for their contribution as high school basketball officials as the 2014 Mens Center Circle Officials Award winners.

Mike Bohan, Jerry Petro and the late Lloyd G. Whipple will be recognized for their officiating careers.

 Mike Bohan is a 1957 graduate of East High in Nashville, Tennessee, where he played basketball, football and track.  A graduate of Lipscomb University (B.S.) and Indiana University (M.S.), he moved to Brownsburg in 1972.

 He has worked over 30 sectionals, 25 regionals, 14 semi-states and three state finals (1984, 1992 and 1999).  Among his recognitions are the 1994 Roy Gardner Award  from the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and the 2000 Interscholastic Official Association Award for boys basketball in Indiana.

 A member of the Indiana Officials Association, he has served as Vice President, President and board member and had roles with membership and golf committees.  He served four years as supervisor of officials in the Midwest Collegiate Conference and has worked as an observer for the NBA.  Bohan has also worked high school football, including the 1992 IHSAA state finals in that sport.

 Bohan and his wife Nan are the parents of three children.  They reside in Brownsburg.

 Jerry Petro is a 1963 graduate of Southwestern (Shelby) High School, where he played basketball, baseball and ran track.  A 1967 graduate of Franklin College, where he played two seasons of basketball, he also holds a graduate degree from Indiana University.

 His experience includes 12 sectionals, 11 regionals, 10 semi-states and three state finals (1979, 1983 and 1985), including the 1979 Muncie Central – Anderson state championship game and 1983 Anderson – Marion double-overtime state semifinal (Anderson-s Troy Lewis and Marion-s James Blackmon combined for 94 points).

 Additionally, his experience includes NCAA Division I tournament games, Postseason NIT games and the NCAA Division III championships.

 A member of the Mid Hoosier Officials Association, he spent more than 10 years in rules interpretation and three years as a clinician.

 President of J.D. Petro & Associates, he is married to Faye and they reside in Franklin.  He is father to two sons, Kent and Trent.

 Lloyd G. -Whip- Whipple was a 1938 graduate of Evansville Central High School, where he was a member of their 1936 state finals basketball team.  He also participated in football and baseball, as a member of their 1937 mythical baseball state title team.  A two-year letterman in baseball at Indiana University, he served in the United States Navy during World War II.

 His officiating career included a 1956 Indianapolis semi-state game featuring eventual state champion Crispus Attucks, then state finals games in 1957 and 1958, including the -57 state championship game between South Bend Central and Crispus Attucks and the 1958 semifinal between Springs Valley and Fort Wayne South.

 In 1957, he became the first Evansville official to work the IHSAA basketball state finals.  Among his recognitions was a Certificate of Merit from the Indiana High School Athletic Association in 1967.

He was employed and became a general partner in Ohio Valley Homes, Inc. and served as President of Evansville Home Builders Association. 

He died at the age of 87 in June 2006, leaving behind one daughter (Shirley Titzer) and one son (Jerry Whipple).

All Center Circle Officials Award winners will be honored at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame-s Annual Men-s Banquet on Wednesday, March 26, 2014.

A midday reception, free and open to the public, will be held at the Hall of Fame museum in New Castle.  The evening banquet will take place at the Primo Banquet Hall, which is located on the south side of Indianapolis. 

Reservations are available online now or through mail order in early 2014.  Call the Hall at 765-529-1891 or visit www.hoopshall.com for more information or email [email protected].