Trinidad State coaching legend Jim Toupal enters Colorado Basketball Hall of Fame

Jim Toupal’s name now sits in the Colorado Basketball Hall of Fame, a fitting recognition for a Trinidad native whose work at Trinidad State Junior College helped put the school and the town on the state basketball map.

Toupal graduated from Trinidad High School in 1964, then earned a football scholarship to Boston College, where he completed a degree in accounting and economics in 1968. After one year as a football graduate assistant at Utah State, he returned to Trinidad State in 1969. When the college dropped football in the early 1970s, he moved into basketball and took over the Trojans for the 1973-74 season.

Over 32 seasons leading Trinidad State basketball, Toupal built one of the strongest small-college résumés in Colorado. The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame lists his basketball record at 678-333, while Trinidad State identifies him as the school’s all-time winningest basketball coach at 605-216. His teams won 132 consecutive games in Scott Gym from 1980 to 1990, he coached 12 All-Americans, and he was named regional coach of the year four times. In 1986, he led Trinidad State to the national tournament, where the Trojans finished seventh.

Toupal’s recognition stretched well beyond one sport. The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame says he also coached baseball, golf and women’s volleyball at Trinidad State, served as athletic director, and taught physical education and business before retiring in May 2004. He was inducted into the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1998 and into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 for accomplishments across basketball, baseball, golf and volleyball.

After his coaching and teaching years, Toupal stayed visible in Trinidad civic life, serving on the Trinidad City Council and the school board. That local footprint matters in a place where Trinidad State has been part of the community identity since the college opened in April 1925 as Colorado’s first community college. Toupal’s Hall of Fame honor reflects a career built in Trinidad and a legacy that still belongs to Las Animas County.