Several UCLA alumni honored in Southern California Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021
The newest class of SoCal basketball legends was announced earlier this month, and there's blue and gold to spare.
The Southern California Basketball Hall of Fame released its selections for its class of 2021 on July 5, with six honorees boasting UCLA ties. Baron Davis, Gail Goodrich, David Meyers, Reggie Miller, Anita Ortega and Sidney Wicks were all named to the newest class of players, coaches and administrators that will be introduced at an in-person event alongside the 2020 class sometime next summer.
Eligibility for the hall, as defined by the SCBBHOF, starts with players, coaches and contributors who were involved with high school basketball in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange and other surrounding counties. Next on the list is success at the collegiate level, followed by professional prestige, so long as an individual tops 15 years of service in the local area.
Goodrich and Miller are both members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as well, with the former getting inducted in 1996 and the latter making it in 2012. Goodrich won NCAA titles in 1964 and 1965 and was a two-time All-American at UCLA before playing 14 seasons in the NBA and winning the 1972 championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. Miller never won a ring with the Bruins or the Indiana Pacers over the course of his 22-year college and pro career, but he was a Southern California high school star who also retired as the NBA's all-time leading 3-point shooter.
Davis made it into the hall thanks to his success at Crossroads High School and UCLA, where he was the 1998 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and a 1999 Third-Team All-American.
Three other former UCLA champions earned nods as well. Wicks was part of the Bruins' 1969-1971 three-peat under John Wooden, Meyers won NCAA titles in 1973 and 1975 and Ortega helped lead the way for UCLA women's basketball's lone championship back in 1978.
All six of this year's Bruin honorees played high school ball in the area as well.
Adding the half-dozen stars to last year's inaugural class, UCLA now leads all colleges with 15 members of the SCBBHOF.
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