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Joe Pace was inducted into the UMES Hall of Fame in 2004 alongside the rest of his teammates on the historic 1973-1974 Hawk Men's Basketball team.

Under Coach John Bates, the Hawks capped off one of the most dominant seasons in UMES Men's Basketball history with a 27-2 (11-1 MEAC) record, winning both a MEAC Regular Season Championship and a MEAC Tournament Title. The Maroon and Gray won 20 games in a row to begin the regular season and finished first in the NCAA in scoring with 97.6 points per contest.

The Hawks earned a spot in the 1974 NIT Tournament. UMES went on to defeat Manhattan in the first round 84-81 at Madison Square Garden before falling to Jacksonville in the second round of the NIT.  

Pace was the leading rebounder and third leading scorer on the 1973-1974 Hawks. He averaged an impressive 12.6 rebounds per game across 29 contests, leading the entire MEAC in rebounds with 365 boards. In addition, he also scored 12.2 points per game while shooting just under 50% from the field. For his elite season, Pace was named an All-MEAC Selection.

The 6’10 center was drafted to the Phoenix Suns 76th overall in the 1975 NBA Draft and 31st overall in the 1976 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets.