Tom Cutter Inducted into Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026

Tom Cutter has been named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026, with an induction set for March 18, 2026. Cutter’s selection honors a career that began in a Lafayette garage and grew into a record-setting run at Lafayette Central Catholic and Western Michigan University.

Cutter finished his Central Catholic career with 1,009 points and 1,001 rebounds, setting 19 single-season and career records at the school. As a senior he averaged 22.9 points, 21.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 5.3 blocked shots while shooting 65.4 percent from the floor. Those numbers helped Central Catholic to sectional and regional championships and produced a moment Cutter still highlights: “He recalled how Lafayette Jeff had won 29 consecutive sectional championships, and how his team knocked them off that year, something he said remained one of his greatest memories ever.”

The 6-foot-8 forward carried that dominance to Western Michigan from 1973 to 1977. Cutter scored 1,178 career points and grabbed 947 rebounds, ranking second all-time for the Broncos at the time. Cutter set school records for single-season field-goal percentage (64.5 percent as a junior) and a career field-goal percentage of 59.5 percent. During his tenure the Broncos notched their first NCAA Tournament win, beating Virginia Tech when the NCAA field was 32 teams and reaching as high as No. 10 in the country, a notable peak for a Mid-American program.

The professional door briefly opened in 1977 when the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Cutter in the eighth round of the NBA draft. Cutter elected instead to build a life off the court, becoming a Certified Public Accountant and working in accounting and banking while serving on several civic groups in Lafayette. Cutter explained his choice in part by noting that “the year he graduated was the same year the NBA and ABA merged, and very few players from his class made NBA rosters because so many established pros were already in the league.” He added that he was content with his second act: “Cutter said he was happy to become a CPA, working with the public and helping clients.”

Cutter’s story is as much about culture as it is about stats. A local feature captured the formative ritual that sharpened his game: “The sound of swishing and competitive banter could usually be heard faintly from inside a garage ... daily around 6:30 p.m.” and “Within those metal walls were basketball games, only after the three boys had finished their homework and eaten dinner, of course. And then games to 100 points began.” That backyard discipline translated into sectional upsets and a reputation that Indiana fans still recount.

Beyond the hardwood, Cutter’s induction underscores how Indiana’s high school basketball legacy intersects with community leadership and career paths outside pro sports. Cutter, married to Janet and father to Alexander, Patrick and Nicholas, was already a Western Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame inductee in 2000; the state honor cements a local legend’s place in the broader narrative of Hoosier hoops. The March 18 induction will offer a formal moment for Lafayette and Central Catholic to celebrate a player whose numbers, memories and civic work continue to resonate across the state.