HOUSTON (AP) -- Dennis
Rodman, Chris Mullin and a trio of coaching legends are part of the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2011.
Coaches Tex Winter, innovator
of the "Triangle'' offense, Stanford's Tara VanDerveer and Philadelphia
University's Herb Magee were part of the class announced Monday at the
Final Four in Houston.
"It's cool, man. It's a great feeling,'' Rodman said.
Longtime
NBA and ABA star Artis Gilmore, former Portland TrailBlazers center
Arvydas Sabonis and Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards also will be
inducted. They are joined by Harlem Globetrotter Reece "Goose'' Tatum
and Boston Celtic Tom "Satch'' Sanders.
The class will be formally inducted in Springfield, Mass., in August.
When asked who helped him get to the Hall of Fame, Rodman had a simple answer: "Me.''
Rodman,
known as much for his flair for fashion as his equally impressive
defensive skills, did not disappoint Monday. The two-time NBA defensive
player of the year wore sneakers, jeans, a black ballcap, tan vest with
leopard and tan scarves, and his white shirt with gold sequined cuffs
was unbuttoned and knotted at the waist, a la Julia Roberts in "Pretty
Woman.''
For VanDerveer, Monday's announcement was bittersweet,
coming just hours after her Stanford team lost 63-62 to Texas A&M in
a national semifinal in Indianapolis.
"This is kind of a tough
morning to be a basketball coach for me waking up after our loss last
night,'' she said on a conference call. "This opportunity to be
enshrined in Naismith is an incredible honor, and I'm overwhelmed by
it.''
In December, VanDerveer became the sixth woman to get 800 coaching victories.
"It's
the ultimate compliment to a coach or basketball player. I'm humbled
and honored. You should be really excited about it, but I wish it hadn't
come on this day. I'm not feeling great about myself or how we played.
You go back and think about all the things I could have done or should
have done. The sun didn't come up this morning here.''
Five-time
NBA All-Star and St. John's all-time leading scorer Mullin learned he
had made the hall in an early morning phone call that woke him up.
"I actually went back to sleep, but I slept with a big smile on my face,'' Mullin said.