By Camille Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

SAN ANTONIO, April 7 -- Adrian Dantley had gotten into the habit of turning off his cellphone on the day that the Basketball Hall of Fame announcements were made. It was easier to deal with the disappointment that way; after all, he had been a finalist for the honor six times between 2001 and '07, and was passed over each time. But when Dantley switched on his phone Saturday evening, he knew something was different because he had close to 17 messages.

"I didn't answer my phone because I was disappointed in other years," said Dantley, a former DeMatha standout and six-time NBA all-star. "The previous years, I would get some calls from people, seeing if I made it. When I saw all those messages, I said I might make it this year. I turned my phone on at 8 o'clock, and one of the coaches from the Nuggets called me and said 'Oh, you didn't get [passed over] this time.' "

Dantley, indeed, finally was elected to the Hall of Fame and is part of a seven-person class that will be inducted during a ceremony in early September.

Patrick Ewing, who led Georgetown to the 1984 national title and is the New York Knicks' career leading scorer and rebounder, and Hakeem Olajuwon, a 12-time all-star with the Houston Rockets, were elected in their first year of eligibility. Pat Riley, a three-time NBA coach of the year with the Lakers, Knicks and Heat, and Cathy Rush, who led Immaculata College to three straight AIAW national titles, were enshrined as coaches. Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson and college basketball announcer Dick Vitale were elected as contributors.

Vitale, who was a finalist in 2004 and 2006, wept as he addressed the crowd that gathered for the announcement in a San Antonio hotel ballroom, and said, "I can't run, can't jump, can't shoot but I just have had a tremendous -- I'd like to think -- passion about the game."

Ewing did his best Dickie V impression as he spoke with a small group of reporters, saying that getting into the Hall of Fame "is unbelievable, bay-bee!" Ewing, who moved to Cambridge, Mass., from Jamaica as a child, recalled visiting the Hall of Fame on school field trips and marveling at the great players, such as Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, who were enshrined there. At that time, he didn't dream of joining them; he barely knew the game.

"People used to laugh and joke at me because I was so tall, and I didn't know the game and couldn't play. I guess I didn't really start knowing how good I was until high school," said Ewing, who eventually became the national high school player of the year. "Even when I stunk and people used to laugh at me, I told myself, why stop doing something because you're not good at it, if you love it? I loved doing it, so I kept playing, kept getting better and here I am today."

Ewing, an 11-time NBA all-star and member of the league's 50th anniversary team, was happy to be honored in the same year as one of his playing rivals (Olajuwon) and former coaches (Riley). He said Olajuwon, whom he faced in the 1984 national title game, was the "hardest player that I had to face."

His coach at Georgetown, Hall of Famer John Thompson Jr., was present for the announcement.

"I've spent a lifetime avoiding things like this. I came because of my respect and feelings about him," Thompson said. "To me, he was a perfect player, attitudinally as well as effort-wise, and that's all you want. People have successes and failures, but a person that gives you everything that they possibly can give you and also acts like a decent human being, you respect him for that. He deserves that, and I'm very happy for him."

Thompson also was happy for Dantley, whom he saw play as a ninth-grader at DeMatha. "He was special then," Thompson said. Dantley, who played for Hall of Fame Coach Morgan Wootten, was a two-time all-American at Notre Dame and played for seven NBA teams. He is now an assistant with the Denver Nuggets.

"Every year, April the 5th, I knew in my heart, I'd always be in the office and I wanted to be by myself," Dantley said of waiting to get the call for the Hall of Fame. "It's a strange feeling. Now I don't have to worry about that strange feeling anymore."