New York State
Basketball Hall of Fame
Jeff Fitch, 2023
Fairport HS, Section 5
Coach Jeff Fitch achieved 459 victories in his 33 years as the Fairport High School varsity basketball coach. His basketball background began at Middlesex Valley Central School where he was later inducted in the Marcus Whitman High School Hall of Fame. He then went to East Texas State University where he led the nation in free throw percentage as a freshman hitting 108-113 at 95.6%. As a junior at ETSU he made 186 free throws and that record still ranks second as most made in a single season at ETSU. He was named All-Lone Star Conference 3 times and was named Lone Star Most Valuable Player and NAIA All-American his senior year. He was also selected to play in the Pan American Trials. Then he was drafted by the Dallas Chaparrals in the ABA. He was also selected for the ETSU Hall of Fame. In 1971 Jeff played on an AAU team called the Roseland Riders in Canandaigua, NY and he scored nineteen points in a game they lost by one point to the Soviet Union National team that ended up winning the 1972 Gold Medal Game in the Munich Olympics. Jeff also coached the Section V All-Star Team vs. the Russian Jr. National Team. During his coaching career at Fairport HS, his teams won 12 Monroe County League titles and a Section V Championship in 1975. Jeff was named Section V Coach of the Year 9 times and was selected for the Section V Hall of Fame and the Frontier Walk of Fame. The Fairport High School gym is now named Jeff Fitch Court.