May 24, 2000
C.M. Newton Press Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Election
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
OPENING STATEMENT
“I got the call on Monday while I was at an alumni function in Nashvilleand it was something that was totally unexpected. The nomination itself wasvery meaningful and I felt good about getting that far in this process.Being elected was very unexpected, yet very much appreciated. This kind ofputs an exclamation point to my career and to retirement. This is “TheHall” which is as good as it gets so I’m just very pleased and excited bythis.”
ON WHETHER THIS MAKES IT HARDER TO RETIRE AT THE END OF JUNE
“One of the things I’ve been able to do in my career at every stop is leavewhile I’m still in love. Once that decision has been made, I’ve neverlooked back on any one of them. So if anything, it makes leaving a littleeasier in some ways.”
“Our sport teaches you to be a taker and what we’ve tried to do as aprogram and what I’ve tried to do as an individual is to give back.Basketball has afforded me things I could have never gotten in any otherway. So I’ve tried to give back and I feel like that is what this award isabout. It sure isn’t because I was a great player or a great coach or agreat athletic director, but more of a compilation of giving back to theprofession.”
“There may be some ways that I can continue to give back to the game withthe extra time that I will have now. I’ve always wanted to be a consultant,I’m not sure what one is or what they do, but it sounds good. The ones thatwe have hired over the years come in, give you suggestions and don’t haveto take the heat for the outcome of it so that sounds pretty good to me. Icould see myself serving on the new basketball issues committee which is anexciting concept that came out of the committee on reform.”
ON WHAT HIS FORMER COACH ADOLPH RUPP WOULD THINK OF HIS ELECTION
“I think he would be as surprised as I am, but he’d be proud. A call fromFrank Ramsey jogged my mind that there are now four people from the sameteam that are in the Hall of Fame. You’ve got Coach Rupp, Cliff Hagan andRamsey and now me. I don’t know if that’s ever happened before so I thinkhe’d be real proud.”
“It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’ll be mentioned with those guys since Iwasn’t expecting it. Just to be mentioned with those guys is special.”
ON WHAT HIS GREATEST CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GAME HAVE BEEN“I think it was very important for me to be able to hand the championshiptrophy to Tubby (Smith in 1998). As the chair of the basketball committee Ithink presenting the championship trophy to my school was significant. Ithink it was important to be the vice president when we put the first DreamTeam together (in 1988). It was probably just as important as being thepresident of USA Basketball and making the commitment we made to thewomen’s game because I think the WNBA is an outgrowth of that national teamconcept. Also, chairing the basketball rules committee when we went to thecoach’s box and the shot clock and the three-point line was probably a bigpart of it just as integrating the program at Alabama at a time when otherplaces weren’t doing it probably had an impact. The election was probablyjust a compilation of things with me.”
ON THE MESSAGE HE TAKES FROM HIS INDUCTION
“I don’t really think there’s any one message to take from this award. Itcould just mean that 18 people who don’t know anything voted for me, Ireally don’t know. If there is a message I want people to take from this,it is that we need to learn how to give more back to this game that hasgiven so much to all of us.”
ON COMING BACK TO KENTUCKY AS ATHLETICS DIRECTOR
“I really hated leaving the team (at Vanderbilt) for many reasons, butmainly because we were going to be good that season. It was also the secondtime in my career that my wife Evelyn did not totally support the idea ofmoving. She didn’t want to leave Lexington when I left Transylvania forAlabama and she didn’t want to come back from Vanderbilt at first. SomehowI convinced her that doing 22 sports at Kentucky would give me more time tospend with her than doing one at Vandy.”
ON HIS PLAYING ABILITY
“I was never disappointed in my ability to play the game of basketball. Ihad a good high school career, but came to Kentucky to play for Coach Ruppand a team where not many guys saw playing time. I actually thought abouttransferring like many players do, but I talked to my dad and he put a stopto that. Mainly I just wanted to be a contributor and I felt that I waswith those teams.”
ON HIS COACHING ABILITY
“I felt like I had one team good enough to win it all, in 1976 (atAlabama), and we ran into a tough Indiana team that beat us, but I tend tothink that I was a decent basketball coach. I was more interested in theteam concept than getting the top 25 guy, but I was always a better coachwhen I had that top 25 guy.”
ON HIS FUTURE INDUCTION INTO THE HALL OF FAME
“That will be a special moment. I would love to have Martin, my son,introduce me, but I’m not sure if they have any rules about family membersdoing that. I’d love for him to do it though because he’s been involvedwith basketball and I think he has also been a contributor. I think theremay be a rule that the person doing the introduction must be a former Hallof Fame inductee so there are some of those people who I can think about aswell.”
