March 6, 2012
KANSAS CITY – Former UK men’s basketball coach Joe B. Hall, along with UK graduate and lifetime contributor Jim Host have been selected as members of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame induction class of 2012.
As a Kentucky assistant coach in 1972, Hall had the unenviable task of succeeding Adolph Rupp. Unfazed by the task, Hall guided the Wildcats for 13 seasons, winning 75 percent of 397 games. Within three years, he reached the NCAA championship game and, in 1978, he earned National Coach of the Year honors while coaching Kentucky to its fifth national title with a 30-2 record. His Wildcat teams won eight SEC championships and earned a Final Four berth for the third time in 1984. He was named SEC Coach of the Year four times.
Host a former letter winner for the Kentucky baseball team is the founder and principal of Host Communications. He played baseball for the Wildcats from 1957-59. Host realized the potential growth of men’s basketball and partnered the NCAA with major corporations like Gillette, Valvoline and Pizza Hut. Host, who also had a background in broadcasting, went on to create a model for multimedia rights, bundling everything from coaches’ radio and TV shows, promotional appearances, endorsements and publishing into a single package for some of the nation’s top programs. He has been recognized as one of college athletics’ most influential people.
The Class of 2012 will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Sunday, November 18, 2012, at the Midland Theatre in Kansas City as part of a three-day celebration of college basketball. The hall of fame is located in the College Basketball Experience, a world-class entertainment facility that provides a multi-faceted interactive experience for fans of the game. On November 19-20, Kansas, Saint Louis, Texas A&M and Washington State will compete at Sprint Center in the CBE Classic.
Hall and Host will be joined by Patrick Ewing, Joe Dean, Phil Ford, Clyde Lovellette, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Dave Robbins and Kenny Sailors as additional members of the 10-person 2012 class.
Each year, a Blue Ribbon committee, composed of long-time coaches, administrators, former players, broadcasters and basketball writers selects a class of inductees including players, coaches and contributors. The Founding Class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame includes all individuals who have been previously inducted for men’s college basketball into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
