Hall of Fame Candidates Release 
 
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has announced the eligible candidates for the Class of 2021. The North American Committee Nominations include LMU Athletics Hall of Famers Rick Adelman and Paul Westhead. Adelman returns as a nominee, while Westhead is a first-time nominee.
 
Adelman played for the Lions from 1965-68, and finished his career as the seventh player in program history to hit the 1,000-point milestone. After leading the team in scoring as both a junior and senior, Adelman became the third player in program history to finish a season with an average over 20.0 points per game, which he did as a junior.
 
The future NBA head coach, which included stints with the Portland Trail Blazers (1989-94), Golden State Warriors (1995-97), Sacramento Kings (1999-06), Houston Rockets (2007-11), and Minnesota Timberwolves (2011-14), was a two-time first team all-conference selection with the Lions and winner of the John Donovan Memorial Trophy.
 
He graduated in 1968 and was drafted in the seventh round (79th overall pick) by the San Diego Rockets. He played until 1975 for the Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Jazz and the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. During his NBA playing career, Adelman averaged 7.7 points and 3.5 assists per game.
 
Adelman's 1,425 points currently rank 13^thin program history, and he was one of four players to be named Conference Player of the Year (1968).  He was inducted into the LMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986 and the WCC Hall of Honor in 2015.
 
Paul Westhead returned to the college ranks, and took over as the head coach of the LMU men's basketball program in the fall of 1985. From 1985-1990, Westhead oversaw an impressive run in which LMU became one of the original NCAA tournament Cinderellas. 
 
Westhead built the "system" thanks to recruiting some of the best players in program history, including the late Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble, Jeff Fryer and two-sport star Terrell Lowery. The Lions and the "system" rewrote many NCAA record books.
 
From 1988 to 1990, Westhead's teams went 27-3, 20-10 and 23-5 respectively, earning NCAA tournament berths each year. Gathers led the NCAA in scoring and rebounding (32.7 ppg, 13.7 rpg) in 1989 and Kimble led the NCAA in scoring in 1990 (35.3 ppg). After the on-court death of Gathers in its conference tournament, LMU went on an inspired run in the NCAA tournament in 1990 that captured the attention of the entire college basketball world for those weeks. The Lions blew out defending champion Michigan in the 2nd round and made it to the Regional Final round before losing to eventual champion UNLV. Westhead's teams led Division I in scoring in 1988 (110.3 points per game), 1989 (112.5), and 1990 (122.4). LMU's 122.4 point per game in 1990 was still a record as of February 2016. 
 
Westhead was named the WCC Coach of the Year in 1988 and 1990 and finished his five years at LMU with a 105-48 record, going 51-19 in WCC play. His 68.6 winning percentage is the best in school history. Westhead was most recently the head coach of the University of Oregon women's team. In his first year as an NBA head coach, he led a rookie Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1980 NBA Title. He has previously been a head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and has also coached in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), American Basketball Association (ABA) and Japan Basketball League (JBL). He won titles in both the NBA and WNBA. He attended Saint Joseph's University.
 
The Class of 2021 Enshrinement ceremony is scheduled to take place in Springfield, Mass., in September 2021. As previously announced, the Class of 2020 Enshrinement ceremony has been rescheduled and relocated due to COVID-19 and is scheduled for May 13-15, 2021 at Mohegan Sun.