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Icons of the Game
Breaking Barriers, Building Legacies:
Celebrating the Trailblazing Coaches
Who Reshaped Basketball’s Future
Icons of the Game
Breaking Barriers, Building Legacies:
Celebrating the Trailblazing Coaches Who Reshaped Basketball’s Future
Watch the Icons of the Game
November 13 – 6:00PM & 8:00PM Double Header
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum – Uniondale, NY
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Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
On November 13, 2024, two coaches who are long-time friends bring their teams together; Seton Hall and Hofstra will mark the first time the two basketball teams have faced each other in more than 50 years. The last time they tipped off was in 1970. Prior to this game will be a first as UMass and Louisiana Tech will be matched up for the first time ever. This double-header is the launch of what’s designed to be an epic competition between college basketball teams and the college coaches who strive to represent the icons who came before them.
The inaugural games are led by head coaches – Shaheen Holloway of Seton Hall, Speedy Claxton of Hofstra University, Frank Martin of UMass, and Talvin Hester of Louisiana Tech – who have established themselves as exemplary leaders on and off court, making positive impacts on their respective communities.
Celebrate the Icons of the Game
Shaheen Holloway of Seton Hall
Speedy Claxton of Hofstra University
Frank Martin of UMass
TAlvin Hester of Louisiana Tech
The mission of “Icons of the Game” is to honor the coaching pioneers who broke barriers and paved the way for today’s coaches, who carry on their legacies.
The ”Icons’ being honored have played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of the sport, breaking barriers and paving the way for future generations of coaches. Their perseverance and success have not only redefined leadership within the game but have also opened doors for greater representation and opportunities. From overcoming profound challenges to becoming influential role models, these trailblazing coaches have demonstrated the value of diversity in coaching, inspiring the next generation of coaches to follow in their footsteps and continue the legacy of excellence and resilience both on and off the court.
John Chaney was best known for his success at Temple University from 1982 through 2006. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. His first collegiate position was at Cheyney State College, where he led the Wolves to the 1978 NCAA Division II title. After a decade at Cheyney, Chaney moved on to Temple University in 1982. Chaney built a reputation as a tough coach who always demanded excellence on and off the court. He won the Henry Iba Award, given annually to the best college basketball coach by the United States Basketball Writers Association, in 1987 and 1988.
Clarence “Big House” Gaines was a pioneer of African American integration in intercollegiate athletics and is credited for altering basketball forever. His Winston-Salem State University 1967 squad, led by Hall of Famer Earl “The Pearl” Monroe compiled a 31-1 record, and became the first predominantly black school to win Division II NCAA Championship, making the Rams the first basketball program from a historically black college or university to capture an NCAA national championship. For his efforts, Gaines was named the NCAA College Division Coach of the Year. In 1993, Gaines retired after 47 years of coaching at Winston-Salem State University with an 828-447 record which, at the time, was the second most number of wins in college basketball history.
Ben Jobe is best known as the former head coach of Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons. He was also head coach at Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee, and South Carolina State. In the 12 seasons at Southern, Jobe compiled a 209-141 record, made four NCAA Tournament appearances, coached the Jaguars to one NIT appearance, five SIAC championships, eleven SWAC titles and two NAIA Tournament Championships. One of his greatest single game accomplishments as a coach was leading No. 15 seed Southern to a 93-78 win over No. 2 Georgia Tech in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. It stands as one of the great upsets in the history of the event.
John B. McLendon Jr. is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university and the first African American head coach in any professional sport. He was a major contributor to the development of modern basketball and coached on both the college and professional levels during his career, winning three consecutive NAIA national championships at Tennessee A&I (now Tennessee State University). He has been enshrined three times in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and also inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
George Henry Raveling was the head coach at Washington State University (1972–1983), the University of Iowa (1983–1986), and the University of Southern California (1986–1994). Raveling has been Nike's global basketball sports marketing director since he retired from coaching in 1994. For his accomplishments as a head coach, Raveling received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was also a recipient of the Lapchick award, in memory of Joe Lapchick, the legendary St. John's University basketball coach. Raveling was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Nolan Richardson Jr. is best known for his tenure at the University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and led the Razorbacks to three Final Fours. Elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014, Richardson coached teams to win a Division I Basketball National Championship, an NIT championship, and a Junior College National Championship, making him the only coach to win all three championships. During his 22 seasons of coaching in NCAA Division I, Richardson made a post-season tournament appearance 20 times.
Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith last coached the men's basketball team at High Point University, his alma mater, during the 2021-2022 season. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the University of Georgia, the University of Kentucky, the University of Minnesota, Texas Tech University, and the University of Memphis. With Kentucky, he coached the Wildcats to the 1998 NCAA title. In his 31 years as a head coach, Smith achieved 26 winning seasons. In 2005, he joined Roy Williams, Nolan Richardson, Denny Crum, and Jim Boeheim as the only head coaches to win 365 games in 15 seasons or fewer. With Texas Tech's invitation to the 2016 NCAA tournament, Smith became only the second of three coaches in history to lead five different teams to the NCAA tournament.
John Thompson Jr. was the legendary coach for the Georgetown Hoyas men's team. Over 27 years, Thompson's Hoyas went 596–239 (.714), running off a streak of 24 postseason appearances – 20 in the NCAA tournament and 4 in the NIT – including a 14-year streak of NCAA appearances from 1979 to 1992 that saw three Final Four appearances in 1982, 1984 and 1985. The 1984 squad, led by Patrick Ewing, won the Division I national championship and Thompson became the first African American coach to lead his team to the title. Thompson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Affectionately known as “Big John,” he encouraged his teams to value both the sport and academics – achieving an impressive 97% graduation rate. He amassed nearly 600 wins for Georgetown until he stepped down in 1999.
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