Charlie Scott Elected to Naismith Hall of Fame

CHAPEL HILL—Former University of North Carolina basketball star Charlie Scott, a first-team All-America in 1969 and 1970, an Academic All-America, ACC Athlete of the Year and NBA world champion, was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2018.

Scott, the first black scholarship athlete to attend UNC, was elected by the veteran's committee. He is part of a 13-person class, which includes Ray Allen, Maurice Cheeks, Lefty Driesell, Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, Dino Radja, Steve Nash, Katie Smith, Tina Thompson, Rod Thorn, Ora Mae Washington and Rick Welts.

Scott is one of six Tar Heels to score 2,000 or more career points and one of only two (with Lennie Rosenbluth) to do that in three seasons. He averaged 22.1 points per game, third best in school history behind only Rosenbluth and fellow Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham.

He helped Carolina win ACC regular-season, ACC Tournament and NCAA East Regional titles in 1968 and 1969 and is one of eight Tar Heels to win first-team All-ACC honors three or more times.

In one eight-day span in 1969, Scott authored two of the greatest moments in Carolina Basketball history. He scored 40 points in the ACC Tournament championship game win over Duke, rallying the Tar Heels to a win after a nine-point halftime deficit; a week later, he hit a buzzer-beating jump shot from the top of the key to beat Davidson, 87-85, to win the regional final and send UNC to the Final Four.

A prolific scorer and one of the best rebounding guards, Scott averaged 27.1 points and 8.6 rebounds as a senior. He finished his UNC career with 2,007 points (without a three-point shot) and averaged 22.1 points and 7.1 rebounds in 91 games.

A gold medalist at the 1968 Summer Olympics, Scott played professionally for 10 seasons. He was a three-time NBA All-Star (1973, 1974, 1975), a two-time ABA All-Star (1971, 1972) and a member of the ABA's All-Time team selected in 1997.

He scored a game-high 25 points for the Boston Celtics against the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the NBA Finals as the Celtics clinched the 1976 NBA title.

Scott is the 10th Tar Heel elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame, joining (in order of induction) head coach Ben Carnevale, head coach Frank McGuire, head coach Dean Smith, Billy Cunningham, Bob McAdoo, Larry Brown, James Worthy, head coach Roy Williams and Michael Jordan.

He is the fourth starter on the 1976 Celtics to join the Hall of Fame with Dave Cowens, John Havlicek and Jo Jo White.

Scott was inducted in 2015 in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2018 will be inducted in Springfield, Mass., in September.

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