Frazier, Monroe Nine Others Nominated for Springfield’s Basketball Hall of Fame

Former New York Knick guards Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe are among 11 men nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame in the city where the game was invented.

Also nominated as players are Rick Barry, Pete Maravich and Lenny Wilkins, screening committee chairman Bob Cousy announced at Monday night’s NBA exhibition game between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks to benefit the Hall.

Three coaches were selected by the nominating committee, including former Kansas State Coach Jack Hartman, former Illinois State Coach Will Robinson, and former San Francisco Coach Phil Woolpert. Woolpert and Robinson had also been nominated last year.

Grady Lewis, retired senior vice president of Converse Inc., who originated the low-cut basketball shoe and Boris Stankovic, secretary general of FIBA, the International Amateur Basketball Federation were nominated as contributors and veteran college official Steve Honzo was nominated as a referee.

The nominees names now go to the Hall of Fame’s Honors Committee. In order to be elected, an individual needs 18 out of 24 votes.

Joe O’Brien, executive director of the Hall of Fame, said the Honors Committee’s selections will be announced in late February.

Frazier and Monroe were teammates on the 1972-73 Knicks, who won the NBA championship. Four other players, including Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, Willis Reed and Jerry Lucas, as well coach Red Holzman and the late Ned Irish, who had been president of the team, already have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Four teams and 156 individuals are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.