Ralph Miller, Unseld, 2 Others Named to Hall

Oregon State Coach Ralph Miller, Wes Unseld and Clyde Lovellette were named to the Basketball Hall of Fame Thursday in Springfield, Mass. Also named was the late Bobby McDermott, who dropped out of high school and starred in the pros in the 1930s.

Although Unseld made it in his first year of eligibility, the Honors Committee passed over his flashier former teammate, Earl Monroe, for the second consecutive year.

“I wasn’t flashy and I never played pretty,” said Unseld, who last month became head coach of the Washington Bullets of the National Basketball Assn. “My contributions were in the things most people don’t notice. They weren’t in high scoring or dunking or behind-the-back passes.”

But during his 13-year playing career with the Bullets, the 6-foot 9-inch Unseld averaged 14 rebounds and 10.8 points in 984 games and led the Bullets to the 1978 NBA title.

A first-round draft pick who had averaged 19 rebounds and 20 points a game at the University of Louisville, Unseld was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player as well as Rookie of the Year in 1969. The only other player to gain both honors is Wilt Chamberlain.

Lovellette, who ushered in the era of the high-scoring big center in the early 1950s at the University of Kansas, said he had felt ignored by the Hall of Fame. “But I’m just glad it happened, before I passed away,” he said.

Miller is the winningest active coach in Division I after 37 years of coaching with a record of 642-358. After playing for Kansas, Miller coached 13 years at Wichita State and 6 at Iowa, before coming to Oregon State 20 years ago.

McDermott, who was killed in a 1963 auto crash at age 49, dropped out after one year at Flushing High School in New York to turn pro in 1932.