Kansas City, Mo. - Wheaton College alumnus and men's basketball all-time great Mel Peterson will be inducted into the Small College Basketball (SCB) Hall of Fame in October. The announcement was made by Small College Basketball on Saturday at their annual awards show at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday afternoon. He will be inducted into the SCB Hall of Fame on Thursday, October 31 in the induction ceremony at the Missouri Theatre in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Mel Peterson played basketball at Wheaton from 1956 to 1960, earning All-American recognition three times. As a freshman, he helped lead Wheaton to the 1957 NCAA College Division Men's Basketball Championship, where he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. The Crusaders posted a 28-1 record in 1956-57, including an 89-65 victory against Kentucky Wesleyan in the inaugural College Division Tournament. Wheaton's all-time leader leader in points (2,522), field goals (1,031) and rebounds (1,767), Peterson was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 11th round of the 1960 NBA Draft. Peterson was inducted into the Wheaton Athletics "Hall of Honor" in 1976, the inaugural induction class.

Peterson was in the United States Army following graduation from Wheaton and was selected as the Army representative to  the United States team that won the gold medal at the 1963 Pan American Games,

Peterson joined the NBA's Baltimore Bullets in the 1963-64 season, playing two games. He moved to the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967. He played in 77 games as a member of the Oakland Oaks in the 1967-68 season, averaging 9.5 points per game. He followed up with 51 games for the Oaks in 1968-69. His final ABA season was with the 1969-70 Los Angeles Stars.

Peterson joins the following inductees into this year's Small College Basketball Hall of Fame:

"We are very excited to welcome the Class of 2019 into our Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame," said SCB founder John McCarthy. "This is a tremendously accomplished and impressive class, and I am very thankful to our Hall of Fame Committee, as they have spent a great deal of time researching and analyzing many, many potential candidates for this prestigious induction.  Congratulations to every member of this special class."