DePaul men’s basketball legend Mark Aguirre has been elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame as the Class of 2016 was announced today.
Aguirre is one of eight inductees, which include players such as Kansas State’s Bob Boozer, Illinois State’s Doug Collins, La Salle’s Lionel Simmons, UCLA’s Jamaal Wilkes and Georgia’s Dominque Wilkins, and coaches Hugh Durham and Mike Montgomery.
He will be the third member of the Hall of Fame from DePaul. Prolific head coach Ray Meyer and legendary player George Mikan were part of the inaugural class in 2006.
Aguirre, and the rest of the class of 2016, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Nov. 18 at the College Basketball Experience facility, which houses the Hall of Fame, in Kansas City.
Aguirre played three seasons for DePaul and helped lead them to the school’s first and only Final Four appearance as a freshman in 1979. He was the AP, USBWA, UPI and Sporting News National Player of the Year in 1980 and was a first-team All-American in 1980 and 1981. He was drafted in 1981 with the first overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks and went on to have a 13-year NBA career, with the majority of the time spent with Dallas, earning All-Star honors in three of those seasons.
Double_Up • Mar 25, 2016 at 12:10 pm
Wonderful and overdue for Aguirre. Wonderful freshmen campaign (people today have no idea that back then freshmen were expected to sit or be minimal role players, then along comes Aguirre and a Final Four surprise! to change everything!). Consensus all-American twice thereafter, College Player of the Year, only losing two games a year but sadly no more Final Fours. the meme has long been, “Mark Aguirre ain’t walking through that door,” when a college team is underachieving and fans hope they can surprise.
Double_Up • Mar 22, 2016 at 6:26 pm
A well deserved and overdue honour, Mark Aguirre was an awesome player and DePaul fans get to celebrate his time again!