Sam Perkins, Sean Elliott, Sidney Moncrief headline college hoop hall class in KC
Players that helped their programs achieve new heights headline the 2018 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame class announced Wednesday.
Six players —Arkansas’ Sidney Moncrief, North Carolina’s Sam Perkins, Arizona’s Sean Elliott, Houston’s Otis Birdsong, Morgan State’s Marvin Webster and Paul Westphal of Southern California —will join coaches John Kresse of College of Charleston and Oregon Tech’s Danny Miles in the 2018 class.
Moncrief, one of the program’s famed “Triplets,” helped the Razorbacks to the program’s first Final Four in more than three decades, in 1978, and was named the Southwest Conference player of the year in 1979.
Perkins was a two-time consensus All-America and along with Michael Jordan and James Worthy helped the Tar Heels capture coach Dean Smith’s first NCAA championship in 1982. Perkins is North Carolina’s all-time third leading scorer and a was member of the 1984 gold-medal winning Olympic team, and spent 17 seasons in the NBA.
Arizona had not been to a Final Four until Elliott led the Wildcats to the 1988 event in Kansas City. He was a two-time Pac-10 player of the year, the 1989 Wooden Award winner, and was twice named na NBA All-Star.
Birdsong’s 2,832 career points ranks 15th in NCAA history. He was the Southwest Conference player of the year in 1977, and the NBA’s No. 2 overall draft selection of the Kansas City Kings. He was a three-time All-Star in Kansas City.
Webster was one of the greatest rebounders in the game’s history. He finished with 2,267 in his career and his totals of 740 in 1974 and 650 in 1973 are the top two seasons in Division II history. Webster, “The Human Eraser,” was a three-time MEAC player of the year and led Morgan State to the 1974 Division II title.
Westphal averaged 16.4 points over his Trojans career and was a two-time All-Pac-8 selection. He went on to become a five-time NBA All-Star, and as a coach led Grand Canyon to the 1988 NAIA championship in Kansas City. Westphal spent 10 seasons as an NBA head coach and took the Phoenix Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals.
Kresse spent 23 seasons as Charleston’s head coach, compiling a 560-143 record for a 79.7 winning percentage that ranks fifth among Division I coaches. The program was an NAIA power in the 1980s and captured the 1983 national title. After the program transitioned to Division I, the Cougars went to four NCAA Tournaments and two NITs from 1994-99. The team plays on John Kresse Court.
Miles spent his entire 45-year head coaching career at Oregon Tech and led the Owls to NAIA Division II championships in 2004, 2008 and 2012. His finished his career with 1,040 victories, the fourth highest total among NCAA and NAIA coaches.
The induction ceremony will precede the 2018 Hall of Fame Classic, set for Nov. 19-20 at Sprint Center. This field includes Nebraska, Texas Tech, Southern California and Missouri State.
This story was originally published March 28, 2018 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Sam Perkins, Sean Elliott, Sidney Moncrief headline college hoop hall class in KC."