La Salle’s Lionel Simmons To Be Inducted Into National Collegiate Basketball Hall Of Fame

Courtesy of GoExplorers.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – La Salle graduate Lionel Simmons will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, it was announced today. The Class of 2016 will be inducted on Friday, November 18, 2016, at the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland in Kansas City.

The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame is located in the College Basketball Experience (CBE), a world-class experiential entertainment facility adjacent to Kansas City’s Sprint Center, which will serve as the venue of the annual CBE Hall of Fame Classic. The annual four-team tournament will take place at the end of the enshrinement weekend on Monday, November 21, and Tuesday, November 22.

From 1986 to 1990, La Salle University small forward Lionel Simmons scored 3,217 career points—the third-most in NCAA history. The Naismith, Wooden, AP and NABC National College Player of the Year in 1990, as well as a consensus first-team All-American, Simmons became the only player in NCAA history to score more than 3,000 points and notch more than 1,100 rebounds. While leading the Explorers to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances (1988-90) and earning three MAAC Player of the Year awards, he set the NCAA basketball record for most consecutive games with double-figure scoring (115).

“We are starting our second decade of inductions with another outstanding class,” said Reggie Minton, deputy executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and chair of the Hall of Fame selection panel. “The men selected as players include some great all-around athletes who helped lead their teams to championships in the NCAA, Olympic Games and the NBA. The two coaches in this year’s class both established tremendous success and helped define the benchmark in our profession.”

In 2006 the first class was inducted into the newly formed National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. That class included the game’s inventor, James Naismith, and possibly its greatest coach, John Wooden. Since that time, eight more classes have been inducted and have included the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Danny Manning, Larry Bird, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal. More information about the Hall of Fame and enshrinement weekend can be found at www.collegebasketballexperience.com.

Tickets to the induction ceremony will be available to the general public in September. For more information, follow @CBHOF on Twitter or visit www.collegebasketballhalloffame.com.

The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame 
Class of 2016

Mark Aguirre, Player, DePaul University

• AP, USBWA, UPI andSporting News National Player of the Year (1980)
• James Naismith Award winner (1980)
• Two-time consensus first-team All-American (1980, 1981)
• Led DePaul to the Final Four as a freshman in 1979.
• Selected No. 1 in the 1981 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks.

Bob Boozer, Player, Kansas State University

• Two-time consensus first-team All-American (1958, 1959)
• Led K-State to the Final Four in 1958 and No. 1 ranking in the final regular-season poll in 1959.
• Averaged 25.2 points per game—the second most in school history.
• Selected No. 1 in the 1959 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals, but delayed going pro in order to compete on the gold-medal and Hall of Fame 1960 Olympic men’s basketball team.

Doug Collins, Player, Illinois State University

• Averaged 29.1 points per game over the course of his three-year career.
• Named both an All-American and Academic All-American at the finish of each of his seasons, including becoming ISU’s first consensus first-team All-American in 1973.
• Illinois State’s first recipient of a full basketball scholarship
• School record holder for career points (2,240)
• Selected No. 1 in the 1973 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Hugh Durham, Coach, Florida State University, University of Georgia, Jacksonville University

• First and only coach in NCAA Div. I history to lead two different schools to their lone Final Four appearance (Florida State, Georgia).
• First and only coach in NCAA Div. I history to be the all-time most successful coach at three universities (Florida State, Georgia, Jacksonville).
• Recruited and coached Florida State’s first African American basketball scholarship athlete in1966-67.
• Coached fellow inductee Dominque Wilkins at Georgia (1979-82).
• Came out of retirement at age 60 to help rebuild the Jacksonville program, transforming it into a conference contender.

Mike Montgomery, Coach, University of Montana; Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley

• Took over a Stanford program that had been absent from the NCAA Tournament for more than 40 years and returned the Cardinal to the Tournament within three seasons.
• Reached the NCAA Tournament 12 times at Stanford with 10-straight second-round appearances and a trip to the 1998 Final Four.
• Naismith College Coach of the Year (2000)
• Four-time Pac 12 Coach of the Year (1999, 2000, 2003, 2004)
• Recorded 25 winning seasons out of 26 as a head coach at Montana, Stanford and Cal.
• John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Lifetime Achievement Award (2004)

Lionel Simmons, Player, La Salle University

• Only player in NCAA history to score more than 3,000 points and record 1,100 rebounds.
• Scored 3,217 career points—the third most in NCAA history.
• Naismith, Wooden, AP and NABC College Player of the Year (1990)
• Consensus first-team All-American (1990)
• NCAA record for most consecutive games with double-figure scoring (115).

Jamaal Wilkes, Player, UCLA

• Part of the record-setting UCLA 88-game win streak (1971-74)
• Three Final Four appearances with two national titles (1972-74)
• Two-time consensus first-team All-American (1973, 1974)
• Three-time first-team Academic All-American (1972, 1973, 1974)
• Member of the 1971 UCLA 20-0 freshman team with Greg Lee and Bill Walton

Dominique Wilkins, Player, University of Georgia

• Second-team All-American (NABC, UPI) and third-team All-American (AP) in 1982
• SEC Player of the Year (1981)
• Averaged 21.6 points per game in his three collegiate seasons (1979-82)
• Selected No. 3 overall in the 1982 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz.
• Coached by fellow inductee Hugh Durham at Georgia.
• Went on to a legendary NBA career with nine All-Star selections, seven All-NBA Team selections and one NBA scoring title (1986)