St. Stephen, N.B., will host the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame’s class of 2026 induction ceremony later this month, marking only the second time the event has been held outside of Ontario. The Aug. 20 ceremony at the town’s Garcelon Civic Centre will honour 10 new inductees “who have made significant contributions to the development and growth of basketball in Canada and on the international stage.” It’s the largest number of inductees in hall of fame history. "Canada Basketball has held one ceremony outside of Toronto, which was Vancouver in 2007, but this is certainly the first time they’re having it east of Toronto," says Tom Liston, a board member with World’s Oldest Basketball Court Inc. in St. Stephen. “We’re pretty proud to host a hall of fame ceremony.” The ceremony will be part of The Archie, a three-day weekend fundraiser named after Lyman Walker Archibald who participated in the world’s very first basketball game and later came to St. Stephen serving as the town’s recreation director. Archibald organized a basketball game inside a brick building on King Street (the town’s former YMCA) on Oct. 17, 1893. A large third floor room in the building with hardwood floors is now recognized as the world’s oldest basketball court. Efforts to turn the space into a basketball experience centre emerged in 2010 after a fire nearly destroyed the entire building. Liston says marrying the world’s oldest basketball court with this year’s Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony is a major milestone in finalizing the centre’s $18 million fundraising goal. “There’s always a little bit of healthy skepticism in the first few years,” says Liston, adding how the release in 2023 of a concept design “brought it to life.” “Now with the hall of fame ceremony, and the announcement it’s coming to St. Stephen, people really believe this is going to happen.” The Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame was established in 1978. The Class of 2026 was announced on July 2. The inductees include: The ceremony in St. Stephen will also mark the hall of fame’s return to a biennial format, with inductees now celebrated through a live event every two years. Liston says World’s Oldest Basketball Court Inc. has a memorandum of understanding with Canada Basketball to eventually become an east coast node for the hall of fame. “There’s no physical hall of fame node,” says Liston. “There’s no place to go see their story… The website certainly, but not a place to walk through. So given that we have the world’s oldest court, they thought it was a natural fit to have an east coast node for the game here, and eventually having one in Toronto and Vancouver.” All day ‘basketball block party’ in St. Stephen The "Tip-Off" for The Archie will take the form of a downtown basketball block party in St. Stephen, the same day as the hall of fame ceremony. “There’s going to be free activities for the whole day,” says Liston. Parts of downtown St. Stephen will be blocked to traffic, allowing for live music, food vendors, street performances, games and contests, including basketball shooting, knockout battles, three on three, skills. Tours of the world’s oldest basketball court will be available, and hall of fame inductees will do meet-and-greets with fans. Live music and entertainment will be hosted later in the evening at the downtown waterfront. The Archie’s 5th Annual Celebrity Golf Tournament will be held the next day on Aug. 21, featuring 28 teams and 16 celebrity guests at the Algonquin Golf Course in Saint Andrews. On Aug. 22, local and national basketball leaders will host a ‘Legends Jam’ basketball clinic for players and coaches. “Many of the former Olympians and the people who’ve coached Team Canada will be coaching in the community,” says Liston. The clinic at St. Stephen High School will wrap up later in the day with a more competitive 3x3 tournament. Registration for ‘Legends Jam’ is available online. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
