Morgan State University Newsroom Morgan State University
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Morgan State University athletic legend Marvin Webster will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the organization announced Wednesday. Webster is one of six former players in the Hall of Fame’s 2018 class. The 2018 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Celebration, presented by Nike, will take place on Sunday, Nov. 18 in Kansas City, Mo.
Dubbed “The Human Eraser,” the late Marvin Webster was one of the most dominant big men in college basketball history. From 1971–75, Webster tallied an NCAA record 2,267 rebounds, and his 740 boards in 1974 and 650 in 1973 are the two highest single-season totals in Division II history. Webster was a three-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year, and he holds Bears program records in rebounding, blocks, field goals made and free throws made. He averaged 21 points, 22.4 rebounds and eight blocked shots in 1973–74, leading Morgan to the Division II national title.
Webster was drafted in the first round by both the NBA and ABA in 1975 and played 10 professional seasons. He played for the Denver Nuggets in the ABA and for the Seattle Supersonics and the New York Knicks in the NBA.
Webster will be the first Morgan alumnus inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Webster, Houston’s Otis Birdsong, Arizona’s Sean Elliott, Arkansas’ Sidney Moncrief, North Carolina’s Sam Perkins and USC’s Paul Westphal will join former Charleston coach John Kresse and former Oregon Tech coach Danny Miles to make up the Class of 2018.
Webster is one of 11 players from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to be selected to enter the Hall of Fame, joining: Willis Reed Jr. (Grambling State); Vernon “The Pearl” Monroe (Winston-Salem State); Earl “Big Cat” Lloyd (West Virginia State); Samuel Jones (North Carolina Central); Marques Haynes (Langston); Dick Barnett (Tennessee State); Travis “The Machine” Grant (Kentucky State); Bob Hopkins (Grambling State); Zelmo Beaty (Prairie View A&M) and Cleo Hill (Winston-Salem State).
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame is located inside of the College Basketball Experience (CBE), an experiential entertainment facility adjacent to Kansas City’s Sprint Center. The Hall of Fame’s 13th induction celebration will precede the 2018 Hall of Fame Classic, which will showcase Nebraska, Texas Tech, USC and Missouri State competing on Nov. 19–20 at Sprint Center.
About Morgan
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
About the Hall of Fame
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame was founded by the National Association of Basketball Coaches Foundation, Inc., to honor and celebrate those who have made extraordinary contributions to the game of men’s college basketball. Located at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Mo., the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inducted its first class in November 2006, with a Founding Class consisting of Dr. James Naismith, who invented the game; former University of North Carolina head coach Dean Smith; Oscar Robertson, considered by many to be the most outstanding all-around player in the history of college basketball while playing at Cincinnati; Bill Russell, who led the University of San Francisco to two NCAA championships and is one of the game’s greatest defensive players; and John Wooden, an All-America player at Purdue and longtime coach at UCLA, where he led the Bruins to 10 NCAA titles, including seven in a row.
