Jan. 29, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Pat Garrity, one of the most accomplished student-athletes on and off the basketball court in Notre Dame’s illustrious athletic history, has been named to the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Legends Class, announced today (Jan. 29) by ACC Commissioner John Swofford. Garrity will be among 15 individuals honored at the ’14 ACC Tournament and ACC Legends brunch.
Included in this year’s class are two members of the ACC’s 50th Anniversary basketball team, nine former All-Americans, seven former all-ACC selections, eight former first-round NBA Draft selections three players three players who led their teams to four ACC Championships and players who led their teams to an NCAA title and one NIT Championship.
The Legends will be honored at this year’s ACC’s Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., March 12-16. They will be feted at the annual ACC Legends Brunch, which will be held Saturday, March 15, beginning at 10 am in the Guilford Ballroom of the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel, and, later that day, will be introduced to the Greensboro Coliseum crowd at halftime of the first semifinal game. The event will include a short autograph session with the Legends at the conclusion of the Brunch. Tickets for the ACC Men’s Basketball Legends Brunch are priced at $35 each, and tables of 10 are available for $350 each. Information on purchasing tickets may be obtained at the official ACC website — http://theacc.co/MBB14legendstix.
Garrity starred for the Irish from 1994-98 and started all 111 during his Notre Dame career. The Monument, Colo., native stands fifth on the all-time scoring list with 2,035 points, one of just seven players in school history to score more than 2,000 points. He also finished with 776 rebounds and is one of just four players in school history with more than 2,000 points and 700 rebounds.
Garrity was the first Irish player to be named BIG EAST Player of the Year when he earned the award in ’97 after leading the Irish with 21.0 points and 7.4 rebounds. He capped off his senior season by averaging 24.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in league play and was named the BIG EAST/Aeropostale Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In his final season, Garrity earned All-America recognition from the Associated Press, Sporting News and Basketball Weekly.
A two-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American, Garrity was named the national Academic All-American of the Year for men’s basketball in 1998 and had a 3.659 overall grade point average during his eight semesters at Notre Dame. He graduated from the University with a degree in pre-professional studies from the College of Science.
Following graduation, he was selected as the 19th pick overall in the ’98 NBA draft. Garrity appeared in 513 games for Orlando, second-most in franchise history, and 552 overall during his NBA career with both the Magic and Phoenix Suns. He averaged 7.3 points and 2.5 rebounds.
Garrity also earned an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in 2011.
In addition to Garrity, the other members of the ACC Basketball Legends Class include: former Virginia head coach Terry Holland, who guided the Cavaliers to a pair of NCAA Final Four Appearances in a 16-year career in Charlottesville that included an NIT Championship, 13 post-season berths and nine NCAA Tournament invitations; former Syracuse sharpshooting guard Dave Bing, who was a consensus All-America for the Orange and a seven-time NBA All-Star while earning selection to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; Maryland’s John Lucas. one of the great overall athletes in ACC history who captured the ACC’s McKevlin Award in 1976 as the league’s top overall athlete after earning first-team All-America honors in both basketball and tennis; and North Carolina State’s Julius Hodge who earned ACC Basketball Player of the Year honors for the Wolfpack in 2004.
Also on the team are Boston College’s Jack Magee, who led BC to its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1958 and also its historic first win over Holy Cross; Clemson’s Wayne “Tree” Rollins, who at 7-1 was one of the great defensive intimidators and rebounders in league history; Duke’s Gene Banks, one of the key cogs of the Blue Devils’ 1978 Final Four team and one of the most versatile players in league history; Florida State’s Al Thornton, an All-America forward who was a powerful offensive force for the Seminoles and runner-up for ACC Player of the Year in 2007; Georgia Tech’s Travis Best, a sweet-shooting point guard who led the Rambling Wreck to two NCAA Tournament and one NIT berth; and Miami’s Steve Edwards, a multi-talented big guard for the Hurricanes who helped rebuild Miami’s program in the mid 1990s.
Completing this year’s ACC Legends class are North Carolina’s Eric Montross, a powerful pivotman who was a two-time All-America and key player on the Tar Heels’ 1993 National Championship team; Pittburgh’s Don Hennon, a two-time first-team All-America who is the Panthers all-time leading scorer and a member of the Helms Foundation Basketball Hall of Fame; Virginia’s Tech’s Bobby Stevens, the author of the Hokies famed game-winning shot in the championship of the 1973 National Invitation Tournament against Notre Dame and Wake Forest all-purpose forward Sam Ivy, a lynchpin of the Demon Deacon teams of the late 1980s.