KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Longtime coach Jack Hartman and Utah State star Wayne Estes, who was tragically killed while trying to provide help at the site of a car crash after his final game, are among eight coaches and players who will be posthumously inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame revealed its latest class Tuesday. The date of the induction ceremony has not been announced.
The other members include Dave Meyers, who helped UCLA win the NCAA title in 1973 and ’75; Duquesne’s Sihugo Green, the first overall pick in the 1956 NBA draft; Lennie Rosenbluth, who led North Carolina to a 32-0 record and then the 1957 NCAA title; New Mexico State’s Sam Lacey, the fifth overall pick in the 1970 NBA draft; John Rudometkin, the first USC player to score more than 1,000 points in two seasons; and Tom Stith of St. Bonaventure, who average 26.5 points for his career.
Hartman, who played football and basketball at Oklahoma State, is perhaps the most high-profile member of the class. He played quarterback in the Canadian Football League after college before turning his attention to coaching, first as an assistant at his alma mater and later at Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College and Southern Illinois.
It was at Kansas State where Hartman made his biggest splash. He followed Tex Winter and Cotton Fitzsimmons in leading the Wildcats to four Elite Eights during 16 seasons, finishing first or second in the Big Eight in 10 of those years.
Hartman retired in 1986 with a 589-279 record. He died in 1998 at the age of 73.
Estes was just 21 when he died on Feb. 8, 1965. The 6-foot-6 forward had just scored 48 points for Utah State against Denver in his final game, pushing him past 2,000 points for his career, when he stopped at the scene of a car crash near campus. Estes was crossing the street when he accidentally touched a downed power line, fatally electrocuting him.
Estes, who was the second-leading scorer in the nation behind Rick Barry that season, was posthumously given All-America honors by The Associated Press. The Aggies retired his No. 33 jersey and the school’s practice facility, which opened in 2013, is named the Wayne Estes Center in his honor.
