Matt Long graduated from Jim Thorpe High School in 2001 and in his career he earned 10 varsity letters in three sports; football, basketball and baseball.

As a quarterback, Long passed for 4,411 yards and 38 TD's over 29 games. He was named offensive player of the year in 2000 and as a senior, in 2001, was named most valuable player of the team. He passed for over 100 yards in six consecutive games, threw for 4 touchdowns in one game and set a record for the longest pass thrown (99 yards) in Jim Thorpe history. He had multiple passing games of over 200 and 300 yards while throwing for over 352 yards in one game.In basketball, Long was named the defensive player of the year in 1998-1999, and in 1999-2000 received the Jackie Dugan Award. As a senior, he received the Jackie Dugan Award for the second straight year and was named to the All-Tournament Team.In baseball from 1998-2001, he received 4 varsity letters. Individually he had a career batting average of .407 with 27 home runs, 76 RBI and 95 runs scored while breaking many school baseball records along the way. Jim Thorpe qualified for the District 11 playoffs each year that Long was on the team and in 2001 he was named most valuable player.As a senior, Long graduated in the top 5 academically in his class and was named Schuylkill County Scholar Athlete, Jim Thorpe Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete and the Lehigh Valley National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame scholar athlete.After high school, Long went on to have a sparkling career as a shortstop at Muhlenberg College. Playing in the Centennial League, he started and lettered all four years. Long received Honorable Mention in his sophomore year; was named to the Second team in his junior year and was named to the First team in his senior year. His career batting average (.334), runs scored (93), hits (124), home runs (15) and RBI (79) are all ranked with the top career performances at Muhlenberg College.Long is currently employed in Cranbury, New Jersey by an oil and chemical inspection and lab analysis company, managing a team in finance of 30 people.The 27th annual Jim Thorpe Area Sports Hall Of Fame Banquet will be held at the Jim Thorpe Memorial Hall on Saturday, Aug. 20.Cocktail hour will begin at 5 p.m., dinner is at 6 p.m., and the induction ceremony at 7:15 p.m. Entertainment will begin at the conclusion of the induction ceremony, which will be at around 8:30 p.m. The cost will be $35 per person and includes dinner, selected drinks and entertainment.As with the Jim Thorpe 4x100 girls' relay team and Matt Long, the Times News will also publish the accomplishments of the remaining three inductees; Julie Romanisko, Jim Maehrer and the 2006 JTAHS tennis team, during the upcoming weeks.Tickets for the ceremony and the rest of the evening can be obtained by calling Jack Kmetz at 570-325-4923, or Wilmer Redline at 570-325-3073.