LOS ANGELES, CA – Announced today by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at NBA All-Star weekend, the winners of the 2018 John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award are Harley Redin, a 6-time champion AAU women’s basketball coach, and Jim Host, founder of Host Communications - a pioneering collegiate sports marketing and production company. Both Redin and Host will be honored at Enshrinement Weekend in Springfield, Mass., the birthplace of basketball, during Enshrinement Weekend in September of 2018.
The Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award was instituted by the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Board of Trustees in 1973 and is the most prestigious award presented by the Hall of Fame outside of Enshrinement. Named in honor of Hall of Famer John W. Bunn (Class of 1964), the first chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame Committee who served from 1949-1964, the award honors coaches, players and contributors whose outstanding accomplishments have impacted the high school, college, professional and/or the international game.
“The Basketball Hall of Fame is pleased to announce and recognize two recipients of this year’s Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award – Harvey Redin and Jim Host,” said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “The impact each of these gentlemen has had on the game of basketball spans decades, and both are widely respected as forward-thinkers who have positively affected the sport landscape. We are thankful for their efforts and contributions toward the game we celebrate.”
A 1942 graduate of North Texas State, Harley Redin has long been a progressive pioneer in the game of basketball, serving as a legendary coach at Wayland Baptist University. He coached the men’s program from 1948-1957, before finding immense success with the women’s team from 1955-1973. Long before women’s college basketball became an NCAA sport in 1982, he captured six AAU national championships (1956, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1970, 1971) while compiling a win streak of 76 games from 1955-1958 to start his career. Redin led Wayland Baptist to five straight WNIT championships from 1969-73 and amassed an overall women’s coaching record of 431-66 (.867).
Redin coached the women’s US National Team in 1959 and 1971 at the Pan-American Games, and in 1963 at the World Tournament in Peru. He also served as a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and the AAU Rules Committee, which suggested the unlimited dribble, 30-second shot clock, and the full-court game. Based on his experiences, he authored The Queens Fly High and A Basketball Guide for Girls.
Above all, Redin is known for his progressive thinking and tremendous impact on women’s basketball.
His list of accomplishments include the Jostens-Berenson Service Award presented by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association for his lifetime of service to women’s basketball (1992), the Naismith Award for Outstanding Contribution to the game of women’s basketball (2000), and inductee of many Halls of Fame including the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (1999), and Texas Sports Hall of Fame (2004).
As respected leader, mentor and ally to those in the women’s basketball community, Harley Redin helped shape the game of basketball as it is played today.
Although he was born in Kane, Penn., Jim Host has been a standout resident of Kentucky since taking up residence there in eighth grade. He attended the University of Kentucky where he played baseball and started his communications career working with UK Student radio, broadcasting play-by-play for various high school and college sporting events and receiving his degree in radio arts in 1961.
In 1972, Host founded what is now known as Host Communications, having tremendous success in his first years in business and securing the broadcasting rights to University of Kentucky football and basketball shortly after. In 1975, Host secured groundbreaking NCAA broadcasting rights which led to a lucrative business relationship that spanned decades and the development and implementation of the first collegiate corporate marketing programs in 1985.
After recognizing inconsistencies in universities teams’ media and marketing rights, Host Communications partnered with the NCAA to create the NCAA Corporate Partner Program, transforming the way universities utilize media and naming rights, marketing, entertainment, fan engagement, and other assets. With this streamlined approach, Host Communications represented multimedia assets for over 90 universities, conferences, and venues.
Since his retirement in 2003, Host Communications has merged with IMG, forming IMG College. Host’s list of accomplishments include being inducted into more than a dozen business and sports Halls of Fame including the University of Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. In 2010, Host was named an inaugural “Champion of Sports Business” by Sports Business Journal.
Redin and Host will be honored with the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2018 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremonies, to be held at the “Hall of Fame Family Reunion Dinner” in September 2018. For more information, please visit www.hoophall.com.
Previous John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award Winners
1973 - John Bunn
1974 - John Wooden
1975 - J. Walter Kennedy
1976 - Henry P. Iba
1977 - Clifford B. Fagan
1978 - Curt Gowdy
1979 - Eddie Gottlieb
1980 - Arnold "Red" Auerbach
1981 - Ray Meyer
1982 - Daniel Biasone
1983 - Robert J. Cousy
1984 - Lawrence F. O'Brien
1985 - Lee Williams
1986 - Grady W. Lewis
1987 - David R. Gavitt
1988 - Haskell Hillyard
1989 - George E. Killian
1990 - Pat Head Summitt
1991 - Morgan B. Wootten
1992 - Will Robinson
1993 - Joe Vancisin
1994 - William Wall
1995 - Pete Carlesimo
1996 - Vic Bubas
1997 - C.M. Newton
1998 - Tex Winter
1999 - The Harlem Globetrotters
2000 - Meadowlark Lemon
2001 - Tom Jernstedt
2002 - Harvey Pollack
2003 - Joe O'Brien
2004 - Zelda Spoelstra
2005 - Marty Blake
2006 - Betty Jaynes
2007 - Thomas “Satch” Sanders
2008 - Val Ackerman
2009 - Johnny "Red" Kerr
2010 - Don Meyer
2011 - Brian McIntyre
2012 - Pat Williams
2013 - George Raveling
2014 - Alvin Attles
2015 - Rod Thorn
2016 - Jim Delany
2017 – Michael Goldberg
2017 – Donald “Dee” Rowe
About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was invented, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame promotes and preserves the game of basketball at every level – professional, collegiate and high school, for both men and women on the global stage.
For more information:
Visit us online: www.hoophall.com
… on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BBHOF
… on Twitter: @hoophall #BunnAward
… or call 1-877-4-HOOPLA