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imsoblue
11-19-2012, 06:37 AM
Former Kentucky coach and John Calipari mentor Joe B. Hall was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday night.

Hall was one of several inductees welcomed into the Hall of Fame on Sunday in Kansas City, Mo. Joining him was Patrick Ewing, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Phil Ford, Clyde Lovellette, Kenny Sailors, Willis Reed, Dave Robbins, and contributors Jim Host and Joe Dean Sr.

Hall has served as a mentor and friend to Coach Cal since Calipari took the job in 2009. Calipari has embraced Hall’s place in Kentucky lore and reminded UK fans the job Hall did in the overwhelming shadow of another Hall of Famer, Adolph Rupp.

Under-appreciated at times, Hall won a national championship and went to three Final Fours in 13 years. He was responsible for pushing the Joe B. Hall Wildcat Lodge and recently had a statue dedicated to him at the new Wildcat Coal Lodge.

Rather than me tell you the whole story, check out Les Johns’ story from the Kentucky Kernel on Hall. Not sure anyone could have done the profile better. Below is an excerpt of the piece.

He is the only coach in college basketball history to successfully follow directly in the footsteps of a coaching legend.

Not only did he follow a legend, but he followed a legend who left the game reluctantly. Rupp was forced to retire because of hitting the university policy mandating retirement at the age of 70 for administrative positions.

“Adolph went out kicking and screaming,” Combs said. “There were people that were going to resent whoever replaced him.”

Other programs have struggled replacing coaching legends, even without such extenuating circumstances.

Former UCLA head coach John Wooden (620-147) won 10 national titles in 12 seasons, including seven in a row, retiring after winning it all in 1975.

The Bruins subsequently went through five new coaches over the following 10 years and have one national title (1995) since Wooden departed.

Bob Knight led the Indiana Hoosiers for 29 years (662-239), winning the national title three times (1976, 1981 and 1987). The Hoosiers went a perfect 32-0 in 1976.

After Knight’s dismissal in 2000, the Hoosiers were led by Mike Davis for six years. Davis led the team to the finals in his second year, but failed to advance beyond the second round the rest of his tenure.

Davis was eventually replaced by Kelvin Sampson, who took the Hoosiers from losing in the early rounds to not even competing in the postseason due to probation.

Some 13 years later, IU appears to be back on the right track under the direction of Tom Crean, who has the Hoosiers on top of the polls this season.

Dean Smith coached North Carolina for 36 seasons (879-254), taking the Tar Heels to 11 Final Fours and winning two national titles.

When Smith retired in 1997, he had the most wins in Division I history.

Smith was succeeded by 30-year assistant Bill Guthridge, who also retired after a 80-28 three-year record during which the Heels made two Final Fours.

The Heels then turned the reigns over to former player Matt Doherty, who led UNC three years, including an eight-win season in 2001-02.

Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, Bobby Knight and John Wooden — all coaching legends.

Only one of those men had someone follow him directly and achieve success in the form of a lengthy tenure and a national championship — that is Rupp with Joe B. Hall.

“He (Hall) was able to follow a legend,” Macy said. “There are really no other cases where a coach has come in after a legend has coached and continued that success.”
link (http://www.coachcal.com/18555/2012/11/hall-inducted-into-national-collegiate-basketball-hall-of-fame/)