Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
DES MOINES, Iowa – Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing was inducted tonight (March 12) into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Basketball Hall of Fame as part of their 2016 class. Lansing and the other selected inductees were individually at halftime of the Iowa Class 4A State Championship Game at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
The IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame is the highest honor the Iowa High School Board of Control can bestow on a high school coach or former player.
"To get a call that I had been selected to the Iowa High School Basketball Hall Of Fame means a lot to me," Lansing said. "One of the reasons that this means is alot is because of how important it is to my mom and dad. I can't think of a better honor. I'm proud to be from Iowa. I'm proud to have played at Harlan for my dad. This moment is shared with a lot of great and coaches and teammates. Being selected to the Hall Of Fame is a special award."
Lansing graduated from Harlan High School in 1986, where he was coached by his father Dave, who was inducted into the IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 as a coach. The Lansing father/son combination of Dave and Greg are just the 10th father/son duo to both be inducted into the Hall of Fame since 1969. Greg Lansing is the second ever player inductee in the Hall of Fame from Harlan as he joins Scott Wilke, who graduated in 1984.
At Harlan, Lansing earned all-state honors by The Iowa Newspaper Association and was also an all-state choice by The Des Moines Register. He appeared in two Iowa prep all-star games scoring 10 points including a pair of 3-point field goals in helping the Iowa large school all-stars to a 121-113 victory over their Michigan counterparts. He came back with an 18-point effort, including four 3-pointers, for the South Class 3A squad in the Iowa All Star Classic.
Lansing averaged 17 points, 6.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and three steals per game as a senior at Harlan as he led the team to a 16-4 record. He made 47 percent of his attempts from 3-point range during the 1985-86 campaign, making 37 trifectas. He also set the Harlan career assists mark with 365. Lansing was a two-time All-Hawkeye Eight Conference honoree and was a two-time selection as his high school's Most Valuable Player. Harlan was 53-10 over Lansing's high school career from 1983-86, including a 19-3 mark during his sophomore season when the Cyclones reached the semifinal round of the 1984 Iowa Class 3A Tournament.
In addition to his exploits on the basketball court in high school, Lansing was also an all-state selection in both football as a quarterback and in baseball as a pitcher.
Following his playing days at Harlan, Lansing played for the University of South Dakota where he was a member of a Coyote basketball team which reached the NCAA Division II Tournament during his junior and senior seasons. That marked the first postseason invitations for the USD program since 1954. He was twice named the South Dakota Defensive Player of the Year and is still ranked among the career assists leaders. Lansing went on to serve two seasons as a graduate assistant at South Dakota before beginning his full time coaching career there in 1992. Lansing graduated from USD in 1990 and earned his master's degree in 1992.
After his time at South Dakota, Lansing returned to Iowa where he served as head coach at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. Lansing ended a 12-year drought of winning at Roosevelt by posting consecutive winning seasons in 1993-94 & 1994-95. He coached future Sycamore Nate Green at Roosevelt who went on to be named the 2000 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.
After his time at Roosevelt, Lansing became an assistant coach at Indiana State for the first time. The Sycamores posted back-to-back winning seasons in 1997-98 & 1998-99 which were a first for the program since 1978-79 & 1979-80.
Lansing then returned to Iowa where he was an assistant coach for Steve Alford at the University of Iowa. In seven seasons, the Hawkeyes went 135-92, received three NCAA Tournament invitations, made three NIT appearances and won a pair of Big Ten Tournament titles. In 2005-06, Iowa earned a 25-9 overall record, which were the second-most wins for a single-season in school history and recorded the first undefeated season at home (17-0) in school history. In his time at Iowa, the Hawkeyes boasted seven All-Big Ten selections, 17 Academic All-Big Ten selections and four Academic All-Americans.
From 2006-2010, Lansing returned to Indiana State as the program's Associate Head Coach. The Sycamores began a run of five consecutive postseason appearances in 2010.
He was named the Sycamores' head coach in 2010 and has led the program to 109 wins, including 60 in Missouri Valley Conference play. Lansing's 109 wins following the 2015-16 campaign ranks sixth on Indiana State's all-time coaching wins list. He is just the second head coach to lead the Sycamores to the NCAA Tournament in their first season, joining only Bill Hodges to have done so. He is just the 14th first-year head coach in history of the Missouri Valley Conference to lead a team to 20 or more victories during a debut season.
Lansing became the first head coach to lead the Sycamores to five consecutive winning seasons in over 40 years. Additionally, over the last six years, the Sycamores' 60 league victories are third-best among the current membership. He has led the team to four victories over nationally-ranked teams which is tied with Bill Hodges and Royce Waltman for the school record. The Sycamores have finished at least third in the MVC during three of Lansing's first six years at the helm of the program. Indiana State has had at least one honoree on both the All-MVC and Academic All-MVC teams in each of his six seasons as head coach.
During Lansing's tenure the Sycamores have increased their visibility in the community by participating in numerous activities such as Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure and have also volunteered their time with groups such as the American Red Cross, Terre Haute Children's Museum, United Way and Terre Haute SPPRAK (Special People Performing Random Acts of Kindness). The Sycamores routinely visit several different local community centers as well as grade schools to make a difference in the lives of the youth of the Wabash Valley.
