Gene Frenette: Mind-boggling to think Artis Gilmore still not in college basketball Hall of Fame

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Artis Gilmore is too mild-mannered to let one of the most glaring oversights in his fabulous basketball career get underneath his skin.

You won’t catch the Jacksonville University legend and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer pounding his fists on a table in protest. There’ll be no verbal outcry of injustice from Gilmore, as appropriate as it might seem in this unusual instance.

The 7-foot-2 Gilmore, as always, will remain the gentle giant he’s been all his life when dealing with unfair treatment. Dating back to countless acts of discrimination he faced while growing up impoverished in the Panhandle town of Chipley, the even-tempered Gilmore, who is Black, will not let this mind-boggling inequity rattle him.

Artis Gilmore, seen here working on a rebounding drill as Jacksonville University teammate Rex Morgan trails behind him during a Dolphins’ practice in the 1969-70 season. Dolphins’ head coach Joe Williams (R) looks on.

All JU fans and hoops historians should take a deep breath on this head-scratcher. Are you ready?

Gilmore, who led the Dolphins on a historic run to the 1970 Final Four and remains the all-time NCAA leader in career rebounding average (22.66), is not in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

What you just read is not a misprint. It’s one of those mystifying facts that few people are aware of because many just assumed since Artis is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Ma., then he must be in the college version located in Kansas City as part of the College Basketball Experience in the T-Mobile Center.

Nope, Gilmore has never been enshrined there despite being one of the most dynamic forces in college hoops history.

In 2023, five years after Winter Haven native and University of Houston star Otis Birdsong was inducted into the college Hall of Fame, the four-time NBA All-star called Gilmore and said: “Man, do you realize you’re not in the college basketball Hall of Fame?”

Gilmore had known for quite some time. He just…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gene-frenette-mind-boggling-think-155442485.html

Author : The Florida Times-Union

Publish date : 2024-04-05 15:54:42

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