Joe B. Hall elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

Hall won 297 games as the head coach of the Wildcats, while also capturing the 1978 national title.

In an article from the Lexington Herald-Leader:
Noting how he played for UK and later served seven seasons as a Rupp assistant, Hall said, “I knew what the pressures were. That probably made me work harder.”

Within three years of becoming head coach, Hall guided Kentucky to the NCAA Tournament championship game and, in 1978, he earned National Coach of the Year honors while coaching UK to its fifth national title. His UK teams won eight Southeastern Conference championships and advanced to three Final Fours. He was named SEC Coach of the Year four times.

Other members of the Hall’s 2012 class are players Patrick Ewing of Georgetown, Clyde Lovellette of Kansas, Phil Ford of North Carolina, Earl Monroe of Winston-Salem State, Kenny Sailors of Wyoming and Willis Reed of Grambling. Other inductees will be former Virginia Union coach Dave Robbins and longtime SEC basketball analyst (and later Louisiana State athletics director) Joe Dean.

The class of 2012 will be formally inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo., on Nov. 18.

Article: Jerry Tipton | Lexington Herald-Leader Staff
Image: Charles Bertram | Lexington Herald-Leader Staff