W&M writer, alumnus to be inducted into Va. Sports Hall
Jim "Duce" Ducibella A writer with William & Mary's Office of University Relations, Jim Ducibella will be inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in Portsmouth on April 24. Photo by Stephen Salpukas
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Jim Ducibella, a writer with William & Mary's Office of University Relations, will be inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in Portsmouth on April 24. He's one of two inductees with strong ties to the nation's second oldest college. Former Tribe great Larry Peccatiello '58, '59 M.Ed., a William & Mary Hall of Fame football inductee who spent 40 years coaching in the NFL, is also part of the Virginia Sports Hall's 2010 class.
While playing with the Tribe, Peccatiello was named an All-Southern Conference end. He went on to become an assistant coach for his alma mater, and later served as an assistant coach for Navy, Florida State and Rice before heading for the NFL.
Peccatiello served as an assistant coach for the Washington Redskins for 13 seasons, helping guide the team to three Super Bowl wins. Later, he served as an assistant coach for Seattle, Cincinnati and Detroit. He also served as defensive coordinator for Detroit.
Ducibella, or "Duce" as everyone has called him since high school, came to the College in September after spending 30 years as a sportswriter, first for The Washington Star in the nation's capital, then at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, which he left in February 2008.
At The Pilot, he covered Old Dominion men's and women's basketball, UVA football and basketball, and major golf championships like the Masters and U.S. Open. He also hosted a daily sports-talk show on WGH-13120 AM, and still makes regular appearances on stations in Richmond and across the nation.
But 20 years of his career was devoted to the NFL and the Washington Redskins, particularly their glory days under Hall of Fame coach and former William & Mary dad, Joe Gibbs.
Duce was voted sportswriter of the year in Virginia multiple times, won several national writing awards from the Associated Press and other news organizations, and has authored two books.
Since coming to William & Mary -- just days before the Tribe began its football season with a rousing 26-14 win over Virginia - Duce has covered numerous news stories for the William & Mary News, including a number of faculty features, coverage of major academic events and stories that provide unique insight into the blend of athletics and academics that makes up a William & Mary scholar athlete.
Duce, 57 and a native of Washington, D.C., is married, has two daughters, and lives in Williamsburg.
Other inductees include former NBA basketball great Alonzo Mourning (who attended Chesapeake's Indian River High School); Jim Dombrowski, a former lineman for the University of Virginia and the NFL's New Orleans Saints; Herman Moore, a former U.Va. player who at one time held the NFL record for most receptions in a season while he was a member of the Detroit Lions; Dave Robbins, the winningest college basketball coach in Virginia history from Virginia Union University; Whitney Hedgepeth, a swimmer who earned All-America honors at the University of Texas and an Olympic gold medal; and Helmut Werner, an All-America soccer player at Lynchburg College who coached at Randolph-Macon College for 43 years.
