Photo: UK Athletics
Dampier Voted in to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Wildcat great named one of five Direct Elects as the first members of the Class of 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky basketball great Louie Dampier was voted in to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday as one of the first five members of the Class of 2015. Dampier and four other committee selections were announced alongside 12 Hall of Fame finalists, which included John Calipari, on Saturday at a press conference at NBA All-Star weekend.
Dampier (1965-67), a Second Team All-American at Kentucky, was voted in as a Direct Elect by the American Basketball Association Committee. Dampier joins Lindsay Gaze from the International Committee, Tom Heinsohn from the Veterans Committee, John Isaacs from the Early African American Pioneers Committee and George Raveling from the Contributor Direct Election Committee.
These five new committees were established in 2011 to directly elect one nominee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This change was made to ensure that the Hall of Fame maintains a strong focus on presenting accurate historical information while utilizing voters who are intimately familiar with the special category they have been assigned to evaluate. These five individuals have officially been directly elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame and will be a part of the Enshrinement Ceremonies in August.
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Calipari could join Dampier in the Hall of Fame in August as one of 12 finalists for the Class of 2015. The entire class will be announced April 6 at a press conference in Indianapolis prior to the national championship game.
Dampier played three seasons as Kentucky where he was named a Second Team All-American twice and an Academic All-American once. When he graduated, he was ranked third all-time in points scored for the Wildcats and currently sits at 12th with 1,575 career points.
One of the few players to play all nine seasons the ABA was in existence (1967-76), Dampier was a star with the Kentucky Colonels. He finished first all-time in the ABA in games played (728), minutes played (27,770), points scored (13,726), and assists (4,044).
An ABA Champion in 1975, he was also named a seven-time ABA All-Star (1968-70, 1972-75), a member of the ABA All-Rookie First Team (1968) and a member of the ABA All-Time Team.
Dampier concluded his professional career with the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA after the ABA merger in 1976.
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