Former Kansas State coach Jack Hartman elected to college basketball hall of fame
Jack Hartman, Kansas State’s winningest men’s basketball coach, has been elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Hartman joins seven players in the latest class that was announced this week.
The class includes Utah State star Wayne Estes, who was tragically killed while trying to provide help at the site of a car crash after his final game in 1965.
Also elected were Dave Meyers, who helped UCLA win the NCAA titles in 1973 and ‘75; Duquesne’s Sihugo Green, the first overall pick in the 1956 NBA Draft; and Lennie Rosenbluth, who led North Carolina to a 32-0 record and then the 1957 NCAA title.
They’ll join New Mexico State’s Sam Lacey, the fifth overall pick in the 1970 NBA Draft and former standout for the Kansas City Kings; John Rudometkin, the first USC player to score more than 1,000 points in two seasons; and Tom Stith of St. Bonaventure, who average 26.5 points for his career.
Hartman went 295-169 with the Wildcats from 1971-1986. He led K-State to seven NCAA Tournament appearances and four Elite Eight games. His teams won three Big Eight titles and two Big Eight Tournament championships.
His Division I career record of 493-233 includes seven years at Southern Illinois, where his team won the 1967 NIT. He also went 150-45 in seven seasons at Coffeyville Community College and his 1962 national championship team went 32-0.
Hartman also was the head coach for the 1983 U.S. team that won the gold medal at the Pan American Games.
He coached several future pros, including Rolando Blackman, Mike Evans, Lon Kruger, Ed Nealy and Chuckie Williams at K-State and Walt Frazier at Southern Illinois. Hartman coached 10 All-Americans, five Big Eight players of the year and 16 first-team All-Big Eight selections.
After coaching, Hartman severed as a color analyst on the Wildcat Television Network and for the Big Eight’s television package. In 1996, he served as interim coach for the Wildcats’ women’s team for seven games. Hartman died in 1998 at age 73.