Parks, who coached Cal State Bakersfield for four seasons in the 1980s and resides in Bakersfield, made five state JC Division II state finals appearances as coach, winning four state titles. Thirty nine players from his Barstow and Shasta teams went on to play at colleges and universities.

"Coaching basketball at the community college level offered me a tremendous challenge and opportunity to work with players who needed help to obtain a scholarship to a four-year institution," Parks said in a statement. "I am honored that my colleagues recognized my efforts by electing me to the California Coaches' Hall of Fame.

"In addition to the players, the fans and the administrators at both colleges were very supportive of my efforts. My friends Dick Silva (assistant coach, Barstow College) and Clar Appledoorn (athletic director, Shasta College) were major contributors to the success of our programs.

"It has been very satisfying to see so many young men go on to play basketball and graduate from four-year institutions."

Parks coached at Santa Monica College starting in 1967, and moved to Barstow College in 1971.

In five years at Barstow, his teams appeared in the Division II Final Four three times, won the state championship in '72-'73 and had an over-all record of 107-44.

Parks also had a very successful two-year coaching stint in Europe from 1977-79. He was named Dutch National Coach of the Year, one season and then coached UBSC Wein (Vienna) to a 49-9 record and an Austrian National Championship.

He returned to Barstow College in 1979. His teams won back-to-back Division II state championships in '79-'80 and '80-'81 with a record of 53-13.

The Barstow College Board of Trustees rewarded Parks in 1981 by naming the college gym in his honor: the James R. Parks Gymnasium, locally known as Jim's gym.

In 1981, Parks took over coaching duties at Shasta College. He coached Shasta to the Division II state finals in '81-'82 and the the state championship in '82-'83, posting a two-year record of 52-12. He was named California Community College Division II Coach of the Year. He was also selected as the Basketball Times National Junior College Coach of the Year.

In the summer of 1982, Jim was chosen to lead the Athletes in Action's summer tour to Panama and Brazil.

In 1967, at Santa Monica, Parks coached future UCLA All American and NBA star, Sidney Wicks.

Parks also compiled a 75-36 record from 1983-87 at CSUB, his '83-'84 team advancing to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Tournament.

Parks now is executive head coach of the Bakersfield Heat Premier AAU Girls Basketball Club. He and his wife Marie have been married 42 years. They have two children and three granddaughters.

His Hall of Fame induction will be part of the pre-state JC Final Four festivities and will take place at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza in Thousand Oaks.