Sam Perkins has become the sixth North Carolina player and second member of the Tar Heels’ 1982 national championship team to be elected into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
The three-time All-American forward was announced Wednesday as a member of the newest class of Hall of Famers, to be inducted on Nov. 18 at a ceremony in Kansas City, Mo.
The other new Hall of Famers are Houston’s Otis Birdsong, Arizona’s Sean Elliott, Arkansas’ Sidney Moncrief, Morgan State’s Marvin Webster and Southern California’s Paul Westphal, College of Charleston coach John Kresse and Oregon Tech coach Danny Miles.
A 6-foot-9 native of Latham, N.Y., Perkins finished his four-year college career as UNC’s all-time leading rebounder and shot blocker, while ranking behind only Phil Ford on the Tar Heels’ scoring list.
His awards include ACC Rookie of the year and ACC tournament MVP as a freshman in 1981, first-team All-America selections in 1983-85 and three first-team All-ACC selections, along with a national championship ring. Perkins was named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary team in 2002.
A testament to his accomplishments is the fact that 34 years after playing his final college game, Perkins still ranks second on UNC’s career list in rebounds with 1,167, third in scoring at 2,145 points, third in blocked shots with 245 and fourth in double-doubles at 47.
Following his time in Chapel Hill, Perkins went on to captain the gold medal-winning 1984 U.S. Olympic team, was drafted No. 4 overall by the Dallas Mavericks and spent 17 seasons in the NBA, amassing more than 15,000 points.
Perkins joins Billy Cunningham, Charlie Scott, Phil Ford, Bob McAdoo and James Worthy in the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Surprisingly, Michael Jordan is not yet a member of that club, although he has been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame is located inside the College Basketball Experience, adjacent to Kansas City’s Sprint Center.
