.png&width=36&height=36&type=webp)
Larry Brown Named to Basketball Hall of Fame
June 5, 2002 | Men's Basketball
June 5, 2002
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Former University of North Carolina guard and assistant coach Larry Brown has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, it was announced on Wednesday. Brown, currently the head coach of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, played at Carolina from the 1960-61 to the 1962-63 season and was a member of the 1964 U.S. Olympic Team. He was a member of Dean Smith's first two Carolina squads.
He served as a UNC assistant coach under Smith from 1965-67 and was replaced on the Tar Heel staff by Bill Guthridge in 1967-68 when Brown left for the professional ranks.
rown will be the sixth former Tar Heel to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame, joining coach Ben Carnevale, player Billy Cunningham, player Bob McAdoo, coach Frank McGuire and coach Dean Smith.
The Hall of Fame announced today that two players, three coaches and an individual team have been elected for enshrinement this September 27, 2002 in Springfield, Mass., the birthplace of basketball. The six new electees represent the 44th group to enter the Hall of Fame since the institution began the process in 1959. The Hall of Fame will christen its brand new $103 million Hall of Fame and Museum on September 28, 2002.
John L. Doleva, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Basketball Hall of Fame, announced that two players - Earvin "Magic" Johnson, one of the top 50 players in NBA history and the late Croatian star Drazen Petrovic - three coaches, longtime college and professional coach Larry Brown, University of Arizona coach Lute Olson and legendary North Carolina State mentor Kay Yow - along with the first elected team since 1963 - the world famous Harlem Globetrotters, comprise the Class of 2002.
The Class of 2002 was selected from a record-group of 24 finalists. The Honors Committee has elected Johnson and the Harlem Globetrotters on their first year of eligibility and first time being reviewed as finalists by the Honors Committee. Brown and Yow were finalists last year; Olson has been a finalist the last two years and Petrovic was a finalist three other times since first being reviewed by the International Screening Committee in 1999. An individual needed five of seven votes from their Screening Committee to become a Hall of Fame finalist and 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election.