NEW YORK, NY and SPRINGFIELD, MA – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today the first five members of the Class of 2015. These specific categories were directly elected by distinguished committees focused on preserving all areas from the game of basketball. These Direct-Elects include Louie Dampier voted in from the American Basketball Association (ABA) Committee, Lindsay Gaze from the International Committee, Tom Heinsohn from the Veterans Committee, John Isaacs from the Early African American Pioneers Committee, and George Raveling from the Contributor Direct Election Committee.
These five new committees were established in 2011 to directly elect one nominee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This change was made to ensure that the Hall of Fame maintains a strong focus on presenting accurate historical information while utilizing voters who are intimately familiar with the special category they have been assigned to evaluate. These five individuals have officially been directly elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame and will be a part of the Enshrinement Ceremonies in August.
These electees will join the eventual candidates for the Class of 2015 from the North American and Women’s committees from a pool of finalists that includes 39-year NBA referee Dick Bavetta, two-time College Coach of the Year John Calipari, two-time NBA Coach of the Year Bill Fitch, five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway, four-time NBA All-Star Spencer Haywood, the all-time winningest boys high school coach Robert Hughes, three-time NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson, eight-time NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutumbo, three-time Big 10 Coach of the Year Bo Ryan, seven-time NBA All-Star Jo Jo White, the all-time winningest high school coach Leta Andrews and three-time WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie.
The entire Class of 2015 will be announced on Monday, April 6 at a news conference in Indianapolis prior to the NCAA Men’s Championship game. In order to be elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, a finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors committee. The Class of 2015 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 11. Tickets to the 2015 Enshrinement and Induction Celebration are available by calling the Hall of Fame at (413) 231-5540.
From the ABA Committee:
LOUIS “LOUIE” DAMPIER [Player] – Dampier is one of a few players to play all nine seasons the ABA was in existence (1967-1976). He is one of two men to have played all nine seasons with one team, the Kentucky Colonels. Dampier finished first all-time in the ABA in games played (728), minutes played (27,770), points scored (13,726), and assists (4,044). An ABA Champion in 1975, he was also named a seven-time ABA All-Star (1968-70, 1972-75), a member of the ABA All-Rookie First Team (1968) and a member of the ABA All-Time Team. Prior to the ABA, Dampier played three seasons at Kentucky where he was a Second-Team All-American twice and an Academic All-American once. Upon graduation, he was ranked third all-time in points scored for the Wildcats. Dampier concluded his professional career with the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA after the ABA merger in 1976.
From the International Committee:
LINDSAY GAZE [Coach] – Gaze, a native of Adelaide, South Australia, has represented his country in seven Olympics as both a player and coach. He played for the Australian national team in 1960, the first year Australia sent a team to the Olympics, as well as 1964 and 1968. He then coached the Australian national team in the following four Olympic games (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984). Gaze coached the Melbourne Tigers of the NBL winning two championships (1993,1997). He was named Coach of the Year for the National Basketball League three times (1989, 1997, 1999). Gaze is a member of the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame and FIBA Hall of Fame.
From the Veterans Committee:
TOM HEINSOHN [Coach] – A 1986 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a Player, Heinsohn will be just one of four people to be inducted as both a Player and Coach. The double honor is shared with Bill Sharman, John Wooden and Lenny Wilkens. Heinsohn coached the Boston Celtics after the retirement of Bill Russell from 1969 to 1978 winning two NBA Championships (1974, 1976). He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1973 after leading his team to a league best 68-14 record. He accumulated a career coaching record of 427-263 (.619). Since retiring as coach of the Celtics, he has remained with the organization as color commentator and studio analyst for television broadcasts.
From the Early African American Pioneers Committee:
JOHN ISAACS [Player] – John “Wonder Boy” Isaacs played professionally for the New York Renaissance leading them to a 112-7 record and the first-ever World Professional Basketball Tournament Championship in 1939. He later played for a number of professional outfits including the Washington Bears, where he won a second World Pro title. Isaacs was named to the World Professional Basketball Tournament Second Team (1943). Along with fellow Hall of Famer and former teammate William “Pop” Gates, Isaacs pioneered the “motion offense.” Isaacs passed away on January 26, 2009 and is an enshrinee of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame (1992).
From the Contributor Direct Election Committee:
GEORGE RAVELING [Contributor] – Raveling is the current Director of International Basketball for Nike and a former men’s college basketball coach. He served as an assistant coach at his alma mater Villanova (1963-69) and then Maryland (1970-72) where he helped lead the 1970-71 Terrapins to an undefeated regular season. As a Head Coach, Raveling led Washington State University (1972-83) to two NCAA tournament appearances and Iowa (1983-86) to back-to-back 20-win seasons. He also took USC (1986-94) to two NCAA appearances and was named Kodak National Coach of the Year (1992), Basketball Weekly Coach of the Year (1992), Black Coaches Association Coach of the Year (1992) and CBS/Chevrolet National Coach of the Year (1994). In 1984 and 1988, Raveling served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic teams. Raveling was the first African-American coach in the ACC and PAC-8 (now the PAC-12). He is not only known for making history by breaking down racial barriers as a coach, but also was a part of history when in 1963 he received the original copy of the Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream” speech. He was honored with the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
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.
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