ACC celebrates contributions of 'Legends'
Among the 15 honorees were nine former All-Americas, seven former All-ACC selections, eight former first-round NBA Draft selections, and players who led their teams to ACC, NCAA and NIT Championships.
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Among the 15 honorees were nine former All-Americas, seven former All-ACC selections, eight former first-round NBA Draft selections, players who led their teams to ACC, NCAA and NIT Championships and a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
North Carolina, long the heart of the conference, was especially well represented. A full one third of the roster either lived or played in the Tar Heel State.
Former Virginia head coach Terry Holland, originally of Clinton, N.C., and John Lucas, who played at Maryland but grew up in Durham, are the North Carolina natives. They are joined by Julius Hodge, who earned ACC Basketball Player of the Year honors for the Wolfpack in 2004, Eric Montross, who was a two-time All-America and key player on the Tar Heels’ 1993 National Championship team, and Duke’s Gene Banks, one of the key cogs of the Blue Devils’ 1978 Final Four team.
The rest of the legends are:
- Former Syracuse sharpshooting guard Dave Bing, who was a consensus All-America for the Orange and a seven-time NBA All-Star while earning selection to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame;
- Boston College’s Jack Magee, who led BC to its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1958 and also its historic first win over Holy Cross;
- Clemson’s Wayne “Tree” Rollins, who at 7-1 was one of the great defensive intimidators and rebounders in league history;
- Florida State’s Al Thornton, an All-America forward who was a powerful offensive force for the Seminoles;
- Georgia Tech’s Travis Best, a sweet-shooting point guard who led the Rambling Wreck to two NCAA Tournaments and one NIT berth;
- Miami’s Steve Edwards, a multi-talented big guard for the Hurricanes who helped rebuild Miami’s program in the mid 1990s;
- Notre Dame’s Pat Garrity, a second-team All-America and a two-time first-team Academic All-America for the Irish during the late 1990s;
- Pitt’s Don Hennon, a two-time first-team All-America who is the Panthers all-time leading scorer and a member of the Helms Foundation Basketball Hall of Fame;
- Virginia’s Tech’s Bobby Stevens, the author of the Hokies famed game-winning shot in the championship of the 1973 National Invitation Tournament against Notre Dame
- and Wake Forest all-purpose forward Sam Ivy, a lynchpin of the Demon Deacon teams of the late 1980s.
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