(Photo By Flickr User Charles Taber)
Illinois State men’s basketball great Doug Collins will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)! This announcement was made earlier this week.
According to goredbirds.com, Collins is one of eight inductees who will be recognized April 2 during the upcoming NCAA Tournament Final Four. The 2016 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled to take place November 18, 2016, at the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland in Kansas City, MO.
Along with Collins, DePaul’s Mark Aguirre, Kansas State’s Bob Boozer, La Salle’s Lionel Simmons, UCLA’s Jamaal Wilkes, and Georgia’s Dominque Wilkins headline the players in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame’s induction class of 2016. Joining them for the 11th enshrinement ceremony are multi-school coaching legends Hugh Durham and Mike Montgomery.
In his three-year varsity career at Illinois State, Collins averaged 29.1 points per game and totaled 2,240 career points while being named both an All-American and Academic All-American after each season. Prior to his senior year, Collins represented the U.S. in the 1972 Olympics before being selected by the Philadelphia 76ers as the No. 1 pick in the 1973 NBA Draft. Collins went on to become a four-time NBA All-Star with the 76ers and, after retiring, began a multi-decade NBA coaching career and successful turn as an NBA analyst on ESPN.
An Illinois State Athletics Percy Hall of Fame member, Collins had his No. 20 jersey retired after his final home game in 1973 and is the only Redbird men’s basketball player to receive this honor. Redbird Arena was re-named “Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena” on February 3, 2007, before a sell-out crowd against rival Bradley. Collins is also the first Redbird to be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
More information about the Hall of Fame and enshrinement weekend can be found at www.collegebasketballexperience.com.
