Connie Hawkins Elected to Hall of Fame

Connie Hawkins, who was banished by basketball 30 years ago in a gambling scandal, Friday was awarded the sport’s highest honor--election to the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless,” said Hawkins, who has long maintained his innocence.

Hawkins grew up on the playgrounds of Brooklyn, N.Y., and his swooping dunks and high-flying acrobatics changed the game.

He was one of five players--including two women--plus three former coaches and Lou Carnesecca of St. John’s to be elected in basketball’s centennial year.

Lucy Harris, a 6-foot-3 center who led Delta State to three national championships during the 1970s, and Nera White, who led her Nashville-based AAU team to 10 national titles and one world title during the 1950s and 1960s, were the first female players elected into the Hall.

The other players to be inducted May 11 will be center Bob Lanier from St. Bonaventure, who had a 14-year pro career with Detroit and Milwaukee, and Sergei Belov, who led the Soviet national team to four European and two world championships and the gold medal at the 1972 Olympics.

Elected as coaches were Al McGuire, whose 1977 Marquette team won the NCAA championship; Jack Ramsay, whose 864 career victories with four NBA teams rank second in league history, and the late Phil Woolpert, who led San Francisco to NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956.

Hawkins was tossed out of college during his freshman year at Iowa and banned by the NBA for seven years after being accused of introducing players to a man convicted of fixing games. But the NBA lifted the ban in 1969 after settling a damage suit for more than $1 million.

Meantime, Hawkins toured with the Harlem Globetrotters and won most valuable player honors in the rival American Basketball Assn.’s inaugural season after leading Pittsburgh to the ABA title.

He joined the Phoenix Suns as a 25-year-old in a coin toss that sent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Milwaukee. During his seven years in the NBA, Hawkins played with Phoenix, the Lakers and Atlanta.