If only for a few hours, Tom Palombo came home.

He stood under the lights of Dana Auditorium on Saturday, not far from Ragan-Brown Fieldhouse where he once drew up plays, racked up wins and gladly gave his players the spotlight for those wins. Only this time Tom was the one being celebrated.

Guilford’s winningest men’s basketball coach was inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame, the headliner of a six-member Class of 2025 that represented four decades of Quaker sports excellence.

The faces that filled Dana’s seats told the story better than any stat sheet ever could – former players, assistant coaches and friends who came back to see the man who built something lasting at the College. “Seeing all the players who came back today — that makes me feel really good,” Tom said. “We don’t coach for the wins or the championships. We coach for that.”

Tom led the Quakers for 22 seasons, through nine 20-win years and three Final Fours, never once missing an ODAC Tournament. His teams won five conference titles, claimed eight NCAA bids, and racked up a 420–179 record. He left in April to be the associate head coach at Longwood University (Va.), reuniting with his former assistant Ronnie Thomas. 

But on Saturday he seemed suspended between past and present — the young coach who once arrived in 2003 from Defiance, Ohio, and the seasoned one who’s now learning how to be someone else’s assistant.

“I’ve never been an assistant coach, so I'm kind of learning on the fly,” he said, laughing. “Every day I’m just trying to learn how I can best impact the program and help … the guys on the team. It’s an ongoing process.”

Tom talked about the moments that stayed with him: the first ODAC championship in 2008 and the look on the face of former standout Caleb Kimbrough ’08 – who was also at the ceremony – as he hoisted the trophy. Also,  the 2010 team that went 30–3 and returned to the Final Four. “I learned more about winning and how to handle success from those guys than I could’ve learned anywhere else,” he said.

Around him Saturday, Guilford celebrated the broader sweep of its sports history — football’s Lamar Boykin ’86 and Satiir Stevenson ’15, women’s lacrosse’s Lily Colley ’14, softball’s Cynthia Hayes Luther ’14 and men’s lacrosse’s Tom Schoendorf ’85 were also inducted.

Lamar, a defensive back and kick returner in the 1980s, ranks among the program’s top 10 in interceptions and punt returns. He thanked the College for his induction. “This is one of the greatest honors of my life,” he said. “I am so very grateful to God for the opportunity to be in this moment.”

Lily, the program’s all-time assists leader, helped steer women’s lacrosse to three straight double-digit win seasons from 2012–14, including a program-best 15-2 record in 2013. She said her time at Guilford – on the field and in the classroom was “an incredible experience.” She shared the story of her first week at Guilford and  seeing another student riding a unicycle and wearing a tail. “I was like, ‘this school is so weird,’ “ she told the audience. “But I was grateful to be going to such an open and very different environment for college.”

Cynthia, a two-time First Team All-American, remains the most decorated hitter in Guilford softball history and started 137 of 138 career games between 2011 and 2014. She said she had just as many fond memories from Guilford off the field as on. “I remember being with my teammates and we would spend multiple hours hitting, but not only hitting, but just talking and becoming friends.”

Tom, a standout defenseman from 1982–85, earned All-Tri-State League honors and  honorable mention All-America recognition while helping the Quakers to a 33-17 record.

When asked what it meant to be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame, Tom did not hesitate. “It’s a tremendous honor – something you just don’t expect,” he said. “It really puts an exclamation mark on everything that started when I first picked up a lacrosse stick back in fifth grade on Long Island.”

Satiir, one of the most decorated players in Guilford football history, was a two-time All-American and first-team Little All-American by the Associated Press in 2014. His 22 tackles in a single game remain a school record. On Saturday, Satiir took the stage with the same poise he once showed in the secondary.

He smiled when handed the microphone, looked around at a crowd full of familiar faces, and admitted that the moment hadn’t quite sunk in. “It just became real sitting in the seat right now,” Satiir said. 

“I’ve been playing football since I was seven years old, and when I think about all the ups and downs in football, and now compare that to all the ups and downs in life — just being here and being recognized for your accomplishments means the world. Everybody wants to be acknowledged, admired, but none of this is possible without my teammates and coaches.”