CHAMPAIGN — Verdell Jones III first burst onto the scene as a middle schooler, when he hit a three-quarters-court shot to win an IESA state title. That wouldn’t be the last sensational play he’d make before heading from Champaign Central to Indiana University. But Central athletic director John Woods, who was an assistant with the Maroons’ boys basketball team at the time, saw something special beyond the flashy moments when the eventual two-time News-Gazette All-Area Player of the Year arrived at Central. “When he first came in, he was quiet, he was coachable, and a special talent,” Woods said. “He had a high-basketball IQ, understood the game, and it certainly helped that he had the ball in his hands a lot because he was kind of that coach on the court that every coach looks for.” Jones ranks sixth all time in assists in Illinois, led the Maroons to third place in the 2008 state tournament and will be inducted into the Central Hall of Fame on Sept. 19 along with Cam Strang and the 1997 boys’ swimming and diving team. The ceremony begins at 7 p.m., with a social at 4:30 and a dinner at 6 p.m. While Jones was a spectacle in one sport, Strang became known for his proficiency in three. He qualified for state in golf and helped lead the Maroons to regional titles in basketball during his junior and senior seasons in 2006 and 2007. Strang was best known for his work on the baseball diamond, where he’s known as one of the top shortstops in school history, Woods said. He went on to play baseball at Eastern Illinois. “He had a high IQ, whether it was golf, basketball or baseball,” Woods said. “He was like a sponge every time you talked to him ... Having a guy like Cam Strang as a three-sport guy is awesome.” Joining Jones and Strang is the 1997 boys’ swimming and diving team, which placed eight individuals and relays in the top 10 at the state meet and finished third as a team. “Learning what that ‘97 team did and having been to the swimming state meet for the last three years with my son (two-time News-Gazette swimmer of the year Payton Woods),” Woods said, “it is incredible what that team did to place third. Just seeing the number of kids who placed. They placed in almost every event ... To get a trophy at state in swimming, which has just one class, is awesome.”