Nov. 19, 2007
Austin Carr Hall of Fame Photo Gallery
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Former Irish great Austin Carr, who still remains Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer with 2,560 points and a career scoring average of 34.6 points per game, was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Sunday night at the College Basketball Experience next to the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Carr was part of the second class inducted into the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, joining coaches Norm Stewart (Missouri), Guy Lewis (Houston) and Lefty Driesell (Maryland). Other players selected were Dick Barnett of Tennessee and Dick Groat from Duke. Former Duke coach Vic Bubas, a former basketball committee chairman and the first commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, was inducted as a contributor. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of UCLA was honored as a founding class member. Also, four coaches received similar recognition: Phog Allen (Kansas), Adolph Rupp (Kentucky), Henry Iba (Oklahoma A&M) and John McLendon (Tennessee State). Founding class members are those who are already enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
Carr was presented for induction by his former teammate and fellow Washington D.C., product Collis Jones. Also in attendance was another teammate, former Irish guard Jack Meehan. Representing the Notre Dame administration were athletics director Kevin White, senior associate athletics director John Heisler, assistant athletics director Mike Danch, along with John Tracy, who coached the Irish freshman team when Carr was a rookie at Notre Dame. Irish coach Mike Brey had planned to attend, but since his team was competing the same night at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, he was represented by way of a video message.
“I told (Kareem Abdul) Jabbar it’s finally good to be on the same team,” Carr said Sunday, as part of a pre-induction news conference.
During his acceptance remarks, Carr talked about getting married and starting his family after leaving the game.
“My kids always ask me, `Did you play? We don’t see you on a video game.'” Carr said. “I hope this night shows my kids that I played the game.”
Tracy, who coached that Irish freshman group featuring Carr in 1967-68, told the Kansas City Star, “When he got there, and we were preparing for our season, the freshman team beat the varsity team seven out of eight times.”
“I had warned the (varsity) guys, even before we played them. I told them, `You’re not going to believe this guy.’ He was amazing.”
There is no doubt in his mind, Carr said, he could be as effective today as he was three decades ago. Perhaps even more, if that’s possible. It has everything to do with playing smart.
“In the first quarter, I will understand everything you can do, everything you can’t do. Kids today don’t do that. They’re just out playing, caught up in themselves.”
Carr also referenced about his alma mater’s reputation as a football school: “If you go to Notre Dame, you have to like football. I aspired to be a football player until I got knocked out in little league, and I quit.”
“I never won a championship. So for me, this is the ultimate.”
Said Jones, as part of his introductory remarks: “He was the first one to practice. He was the last one to leave. He practiced harder than anyone else.”
“All the kids flocked around Austin. After he put on a shooting exhibition at a clinic, it was very easy for them to listen to how great an education meant to him.”
Carr played for the Irish for three seasons (1968-71), and more than 30 years following his graduation, and still today remains the school’s all-time career scoring leader. A consensus All-American during his senior season in 1970-71, Carr was the National Player of the Year by both Associated Press and United Press International in ’71. He ranks as the greatest scorer in NCAA tournament history, thanks to his 41.3 career scoring average in NCAA games. Carr still holds the record NCAA tournament single-game scoring record with 61 points against Ohio University in ’70, one of six NCAA tournament marks he holds. He has posted three of the top five single-game scoring efforts.
While at Notre Dame, he played in 74 career contests and scored 40 or points on 23 occasions. A three-year starter, he averaged 22.0 points as a sophomore, 38.1 points as a junior and 37.9 points as a senior. Carr’s 34.6 career scoring average ranks second all-time on the NCAA list.
Carr was the first player chosen in the 1971 National Basketball Association Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and played 10 seasons in the NBA.
— ND —