WESTWOOD — Walt Hazzard, the anchoring 6-foot-2 shooting guard of the legendary UCLA John Wooden era, will have his legacy memorialized as one of the all-time great college players.
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UCLA announced Monday that Hazzard will be enshrined posthumously into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City. He died in 2011 at the age of 69.
Hazzard was a two-time All-American (1963, 1964) and three-year starter for UCLA under Wooden between 1962-64.
He guided UCLA to a 30-0 record in 1964, capturing the National Championship over Duke, 98-83, the first of 10 titles in 12 years under Wooden. Hazzard averaged a career high 18.6 points per game. Hazzard was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player and named Player of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. That same season, Hazzard won a gold medal playing for the U.S. in the Tokyo Olympics.
His midrange jumper, ball-handling and ability to read defenses and make simple but timely passes made Hazzard one of the most well-rounded and respected guards of his era.
Hazzard played 10 seasons in the NBA, averaged a career high 24.0 points per game, averaged 6.2 assists per game for the Seattle Supersonics during the team’s inaugural season and was named an NBA All-Star that same season in 1968.
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After playing, Hazzard became head coach at UCLA from 1984-1988 after stints at Compton College and Chapman University. He led UCLA to its first NIT National Championship during his first season at the helm.
Hazzard is the 10th UCLA member to be inducted, alongside Wooden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Gail Goodrich, Sidney Wicks, Marques Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes, David Greenwood and Dave Meyers.
Wooden, Abdul-Jabbar, Walton and Goodrich were part of the inaugural class selected in 2006.
Hazzard will be inducted alongside Villanova two-time national champion coach Jay Wright, former Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, Kansas coach Ted Owens, former BYU forward and two-time NBA champion Danny Ainge, and Michigan all-time leading scorer Glen Rice.
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