Barkley, Wilkins, Auriemma lead ´06 Hall of Fame class
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- One was all muscle and mouth, the other all hang time and highlights: Charles Barkley and Dominique Wilkins went at each other all through college and the NBA. Now, they´ll go into the Basketball Hall of Fame together.
On Monday, Barkley and Wilkins joined Joe Dumars, Connecticut women´s coach Geno Auriemma, contributor Dave Gavitt and longtime Italian coach Sandro Gamba in this year´s class of inductees.
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Auriemma made it another way -- by becoming one of the most feared coaches in women´s basketball. In 21 seasons at Connecticut, Auriemma has established the Huskies as one of the nation´s top programs.
He´s won more than 570 games and five national championships there, led UConn to eight Final Fours and produced two undefeated teams. And he´s only 52 years old.
Gavitt, a Rhode Island native, finally made it in as a contributor.
As a coach at Providence, he led the Friars to eight straight 20-win seasons and five NCAA tournament appearances. As chairman of the NCAA men´s selection committee, he worked to expand the NCAA tournament field to 64 and provide more network television coverage of the tourney.
He also helped establish the Big East Conference, and as chairman of the Hall of Fame board of directors, modernized election rules -- the same ones that kept him out of the Hall until now.
Gamba has coached European basketball for more than three decades, coached four straight Italian Olympic teams from 1980-92 and won a silver medal at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. He also won the gold medal at the 1983 European Championship.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 9 in Springfield, Mass.
By MICHAEL MAROT, AP Sports Writer
Updated on Monday, Apr 3, 2006 2:05 pm EDT