The University of Mississippi Athletics
Van Chancellor to Enter Basketball Hall of Fame
4/2/2007 | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA (AP) - Former Ole Miss women's basketball coach Van Chancellor joined Phil Jackson and Roy Williams in heading a class of seven named Monday to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame in September.
Chancellor, who attended today's announcement, directed the Rebels from 1979 until 1997 and is the program's all-time leader in coaching victories with a 439-154 record. He was a three-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year and was selected National Coach of the Year in 1992, when he guided Ole Miss to the SEC championship.
From 1982-96, Chancellor's Rebels missed only one NCAA Tournament, earning 14 bids including the program's first postseason berth. They advanced in 10 tournaments and reached the Sweet 16 seven times and the Elite Eight on four occassions.
Chancellor went on to lead the WNBA Houston Comets to four straight championships from 1997 through the 2000 season. He also coached the 2004 U.S. gold medal team and has a 38-0 record in international competition.
Jackson rode his string of three separate NBA championship three-peats straight to the Hall of Fame in his first year of consideration. Jackson has won nine NBA titles as a coach with Chicago and the Los Angeles Lakers, matching Red Auerbach's record.
Williams is the third coach in history to lead two schools to the NCAA championship game, having won the title with North Carolina in 2005 and reached the final with Kansas. Williams' teams have made 18 straight NCAA tournament appearances, winning at least one game each year. He is the fastest coach to reach 500 wins and has coached in five Final Fours and three national title games - 1991, 2003 and 2005.
Also selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame were the 1966 NCAA champion Texas Western team, former NBA referee Mendy Rudolph and international coaches Pedro Ferrandiz of Spain and Mirko Novosel of Yugoslavia.
Jackson and Texas Western were elected in their first year of consideration. Novosel, Rudolph and Williams were first-time finalists. Chancellor and Ferrandiz had been named finalists in previous years.
Among the notable finalists who did not receive the required 18 votes from 24 members of the Hall of Fame honors committee were ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale and longtime college coach Eddie Sutton.
Texas Western was the first team in NCAA history to win a title with five black players, beating an all-white Kentucky team in the 1966 final. The achievement, regarded as a turning point in the integration of college athletics, was the subject of the movie ``Glory Road.''
Rudolph worked 2,112 games in his career, a record when he retired. He was selected to referee eight NBA All-Star games and at least one game in the NBA finals for 22 straight seasons. He died in 1979 at the age of 53.
Ferrandiz has led Real Madrid to a record 12 Spanish League titles, 11 Spanish Cup championships and four European Cup titles. He was a co-founder and first president of the World Association of Basketball Coaches.
Novosel coached the Yugoslavian team that won the gold medal in the 1980 Olympics. His teams won the silver medal in 1976 and bronze in 1984. He is one of only four Olympic coaches to win at least three medals.
The class will be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in September.
