This is the eighth in a series of nine articles profiling the 2012 inductees into the Butler High School Athletic Hall of Fame.BUTLER TWP — Mickey Uram had the right uncle.And Paul Uram guided his nephew’s career in the direction of the Hall of Fame.A stellar gymnast, Mickey Uram was inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. He will be inducted into the Butler High School Athletic Hall of Fame Friday.Uram and his eight fellow inductees will be honored at a 5 p.m. reception in the high school cafeteria. They will also be recognized on the field prior to the Golden Tornado’s home football game against Pine-Richland that night.“Coach Uram taught me so much,” Uram said. “Along with the sport of gymnastics, he taught me about character, dedication and to never quit.“He was a man of few words in the gym ... All he had to do was look at you and he got his point across. He’d make you want to succeed by his demeanor.”That demeanor must have had a profound effect on Mickey Uram.He started gymnastics in eighth grade and went on to letter all four years in high school. Uram won numerous individual WPIAL and state titles, including the state all-around championship in 1967.Mickey Uram competed on four WPIAL championship and three state title teams while coached by his uncle. His achievements included WPIAL titles in floor exercise, parallel bars, horizontal bar, vault and all-around.He claimed additional state crowns in horizontal and parallel bars.“I’ve always loved baseball, too, but I was too small to be a very effective ballplayer,” Uram, said. “I’m only 5-foot-4 now and I was maybe 5-2 in high school.“I had 50 or 60 scholarship offers from colleges and Coach Uram helped me narrow down my choices.”He wound up opting for Michigan State, where he became captain of the Spartans’ gymnastics team for two years. Earning All-Big Ten honors twice, Uram was also a two-time national qualifier and competed in the United States Olympic Trial Invitationals in 1968 and 1972.“I never reached the Oympic Trials and I regret that, but those invitationals were quite an experience,” Uram said. “I went to New Mexico in 1968 and Florida in 1972 and competed with the best in the country.“Coach Uram had ties to Michigan State football and other Butler athletes went up there, including Rich and Ron Saul. It wasn’t a hard decision to make.”Early in his Michigan State career, Uram suffered a broken neck when he fell off the rings. He was paralyzed from the waist down for three weeks.He wound up coming back the following year (1971) and regained his high level of form.“No one quite knew how that was gonna go,” Uram recalled of his weeks of paralysis. “I was more concerned about walking again than I was about ever competing again.“I got sensation back in my legs and, eventually, thankfully, everything came back.”And Uram eventually went back to baseball.He played second base and shortstop for Highfield in the Eagle County League for 12 years and served as an assistant coach at Butler under Don Dombart and Ron Zawrotuk. He coached with Zawrotuk for 10 years and was part of four section title teams.“I’ve always enjoyed baseball,” he said. “I don’t know how good I was, but I knew the game.”And he learned how to compete through gymnastics.“Everybody on those high school teams was so good,” Uram said. “Everyone was at the same level and we pushed each other. We made each other better every day.”