College Hall of Fame names Class 2022, includes John Beilein, Richard Hamilton, Jimmy Walker

June 30, 2022

College Basketball Hall of Fame has recently added two new names to its Class of 2022, the first honor goes to former Michigan Wolverines head coach John Beilein and former Chicago Bulls Richard Hamilton for his endeavor in the UConn Huskies.

Both individuals are the most recent to have been inducted into the 2022 Hall of Fame Class. Aside from the two, Jimmy Walker also has joined the class as the former athlete turned actor has been given recognition for playing for the Providence Friars.

Beilein’s career in college basketball

Beilein began his coaching career early on in 1975 with a New York State public school, the Newfane High School. His time in Newfane lasted for three years. In 1978, he began his grand voyage to coaching college basketball debuting at SUNY Erie, a public community college located in western New York 1978-1982.

Long after that, the 69-year-old found his way to coach Michigan after jumping from one program to the other, such as Le Moyne, Canisius, Richmond, West Virginia, and more. He began coaching the Wolverines from 2007 to 2019.

The veteran coach is the only collegiate coach to have achieved 20-win seasons in Division I, II, III, and even junior college.

Despite ending his collegiate coaching career with Michigan, Beilein finally made his way to coach an NBA team in 2019-2020. The Cleveland Cavaliers was his debut and also last appearance in the NBA. He resigned from the team before wrapping his first season with the team.

For his contribution to Michigan, the program named him into this year’s class of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

Hamilton’s playing career

As for Hamilton, the former professional debuted his career in the NBA with the Washington Wizards in 1999 fresh off from playing for the Huskies.

Washington picked him as the 7th pick of the 1999 NBA Draft. His debut game with the Wizards was outstanding, the Coatesville-born made 10 points within 16 minutes when the team played the Atlanta Hawks that year. The matchup was won by Washington 94–87.

He wrapped his season with the Wizards in 2002 to join the Detroit Pistons. The former shooting guard made his career-best in Detroit, by helping the team to claim the 2004 NBA championship title. The three-time NBA All-Star was crucial behind the Pistons’ success in the early 2000s.

During his time with the Huskies, the 44-year-old made countless awards with the program, from winning back-to-back First-team All-Big East and Big East Player of the Year in 1998-1999 to Consensus first-team All-American in 1999, just to name a few.

Playing at UConn, Hamilton helped the program to its first national title win in 1999, which he averaged 24.2 points per game. All in all, Hamilton made a career total of 15,708 points, 2,852 rebounds, and 3,125 assists.

Joining Walker in Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022

Walker is a former basketball player turned actor and comedian. He was a two-time consensus All-American with Providence. During his collegiate career, he posted an average of 30.4 points and was the nation-leading senior at the time. Detroit drafted him No. 1 overall pick in 1967.

Jake
Jake Williams
Jake Williams is a sports gambling expert. He's been writing in the sports betting and DFS industry for over a decade. He specializes in MLB and NBA, along with College Basketball and College Football.