Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Moncrief a Hall of Fame finalist

- — Matt Jones

Former Arkansas guard Sidney Moncrief is a finalist for the 2017 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class.

Moncrief is one of 14 finalists. Other notable finalists include former players Tim Hardaway, Chris Webber and Tracy McGrady; NBA Finals championsh­ip coach and former player Rudy Tomjanovic­h; NCAA championsh­ip coaches Bill Self and Rollie Massimino; and former college coach Bo Ryan.

This year’s class will be announced April 3 at the Final Four in Phoenix and will be enshrined Sept. 9 in Springfiel­d, Mass.

Moncrief, a Little Rock native, was part of Arkansas’ famed “Triplets” in the 1970s, along with Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph. The trio led the Razorbacks to the 1978 Final Four where they finished third.

In four seasons, Moncrief averaged 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Razorbacks. He led the NCAA in field goal percentage (66.5 percent) during his freshman season and was a first-team All-American as a senior. Moncrief’s No. 32 jersey was retired at Arkansas in the 1980s. Moncrief was a five-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA defensive player of the year in 11 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks. He had a career average of 15.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

No former Arkansas player has been elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame. Former Razorbacks coach Nolan Richardson was enshrined in 2014.

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