The Associated Press HALL OF FAME HOG: Milwaukee Bucks' Sidney Moncrief (4) drops in two of his game high 27 points over the New Jersey Nets' Mike O'Koren in a May 4, 1984, NBA playoff game at Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. Moncrief, along with NBA stars Vlade Divac and Jack Sikma and WNBA star Teresa Weatherspoon, headlines the 2019 class for the Basketball Hall of Fame. The honorees were announced Saturday in Minneapolis before the Final Four.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Sidney Moncrief is the first University of Arkansas player who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Moncrief, a 6-4 guard from Little Rock Hall who starred on the Razorbacks' 1978 Final Four team and was a consensus All-American as a senior in 1979 and became an NBA All-Star with the Milwaukee Bucks, was among a group of 12 inductees announced Saturday at the Final Four in Minneapolis.

The 2019 class will be celebrated and enshrined during the weekend of Sept. 5--7 in Springfield, Mass.

"It was a great feeling," Moncrief said during an interview on ESPN2 when asked his reaction to learning he would be inducted. "I'm elated to be part of this elite group. To be here in their presence is special.

"I think it represents more than me. It's about all the players I played with, the fans, the coaches."

Moncrief, 61, averaged 15.6 points per game during 11 NBA seasons -- 10 with the Bucks and one with the Atlanta Hawks -- but was the league's Defensive Player of the Year in 1983 and 1984.

"They finally realized the value of players that played both sides of the ball," Moncrief said of his defensive skills being acknowledged by the Hall of Fame voters. "That's good."

Moncrief said he first realized the importance of defense in high school when he played at Hall for coach Oliver Elders.

"I had scored 20 or 30 points in a high school game," Moncrief said. "Coach Elders called me into the gymnasium, and I thought he was going to compliment me on my great game.

"Back then you watched the film, and he said, 'You played horrible.' He started picking out everything I did wrong on the defensive end."

Moncrief said defense also was stressed by Arkansas coach Eddie Sutton as well as his assistants, Pat Foster and Gene Keady, and by Don Nelson, his coach with the Bucks.

"On the back of our shorts, we had 'dedication, discipline, defense.' On the back of our jerseys, we had 'dedication, discipline, defense.' So he [Sutton] forced you to be a team player," Moncrief said of his Arkansas playing days during a media interview session after he appeared on ESPN2. "You had to play the game the right way, and you had to play defense. You had to show up on time, you had to go to class, you had to make good grades -- all the things that made you a better man.

"I became a better person, I became a better teammate, I became a better man under coach Sutton, and it made me an NBA ballplayer."

Sutton was a finalist for the Naismith Hall of Fame for the sixth time this year, but he did not receive enough votes to be inducted.

"One day he will get that call," Moncrief said. "He's a Hall of Fame coach. In my mind, he's the best."

Moncrief is second on the Razorbacks' career scoring list with 2,066 points from the 1975-76 through 1978-79 seasons. He is Arkansas' all-time leading rebounder with 1,015.

The Razorbacks were 83-11 in Moncrief's last three seasons, reaching reached the NCAA Tournament three times. In 1978, they were 32-4 and went to the 1978 Final Four in St. Louis with Moncrief, Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph -- 6-4 guards who became know as "The Triplets" -- leading the way.

In the NBA, Moncrief was a five-time NBA All-Star in 1982-86 and a first-team All-NBA pick in 1983.

Sports on 04/07/2019