Joe Rader graduated from Jim Thorpe Area High School in 1993, and when his basketball career was over, he was the all-time leading scorer in school history, compiling 1,348 points.

Rader received three varsity letters in basketball. He was a two-time MVP, averaging over 20 points per game in each his junior and senior season. Rader's teams qualified for the District 11 playoffs in each of his three years on the varsity. During his junior year, the Olympians finished as the District 11 runner-up.He captained the Olympians during the 1992-93 season, when he scored a total of 485 points. Rader scored in double figures in 52 of his final 53 high school games with a career high of 31 points. He was a two-time First Team selection of the TIMES NEWS; represented the Pocono Region in the Keystone Games; was on the Sesquicentennial 1993 Boys Basketball Team and was selected to the Fifth Team All-State Team in 1992-93 that included both Class A and AA players. At that time, Rader was only the second player in the history of Jim Thorpe to make any of the All-State teams in basketball. Don Herman was the other, making the first team in 1972.After graduating from Jim Thorpe, Rader went on to earn a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Muhlenberg College, where he also earned a varsity letter in basketball. He received his M.ED. from Widener University and his ED.S. in Educational Leadership from Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida.Since that time, Rader has been a special education teacher at Collier County, in Florida. He was the head varsity basketball coach at Palmetto Ridge High School in Naples, Florida from 2004-11 and has been the head coach at Baron Collier High School, also in Naples, from 2012-present.Rader lives in Naples with his wife, Jen, and their two sons, Mason and Quinn.Rader will be inducted along with other members of the 2013 induction class, which include the 1987 Jim Thorpe baseball team, Erin Kennedy, Shawn Bradley and Eric Schrantz at the 24th annual Jim Thorpe Area Sports Hall of Fame banquet to be held on Saturday, August 17 at the Jim Thorpe Memorial Hall. Cocktail hour begins at 5 p.m. with dinner to follow at 6. The induction ceremony starts at 7:15 p.m. with entertainment to follow at 8:30.Tickets for the entire evening can be obtained by calling Craig Zurn at 570-325-3855/3631, Ron Sheehan at 570-325-4244, Wilmer Redline at 570-325-3073 or Jack Kmetz at 570-325-4923.During the next few weeks, THE TIMES NEWS will be featuring highlights of each inductee into the 2013 Jim Thorpe Area Sports Hall of Fame