Former assistant football coach Steve Purichia will be inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame during a June 12 ceremony at Primos South.

Purichia was a longtime assistant at Ben Davis under coach Dick Dullaghan and the two were instrumental in bringing seven state titles to the Giants. Purichia retired from Ben Davis two years ago and also served as science department chairman before retiring.

“They must have been desperate for candidates,” Purichia joked about the announcement.

Prior to starting at Ben Davis in 1988, Purichia was head coach at Chatard High School on the north side for 12 years and also served as head coach at Perry Meridian on the south side for four seasons. He is the second winningest coach ever at Chatard.

For the past three seasons, Purichia has served as an assistant coach at Westfield High School, who is coached by former Ben Davis player Jake Gilbert.

Other inductees from Region 7 (central Indiana) this year include players Jeff George, Larry Highbaugh, Robert Nipper, Dick Nyers, Dave Scheib, and Ray Wallace; and merit candidate Dr. Thomas Brady.  Former player Don Hansen (Region 9) and coach Mike Gillin (Region 10) will also be inducted on this evening.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame ceremony are $35 each and reservatons must be made by June 6.