John Calipari to honor the late Howard Garfinkel at 2021 Naismith Hall of Fame

John Calipari will be one of three presenters at the 2021 NBA Hall of Fame to honor the late Howard Garfinkel, a legendary scout who ran the popular Five-Star Basketball Camp from 1966 to 2008. The UK head coach will be joined on stage by Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley during the presentation.

Garfinkel, who passed away at the age of 86 in 2016, is one of 16 individuals set to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021 in September.

“A really sad day for all of basketball. Howard Garfinkel, an icon who changed the game in many ways, passed away today,” Calipari said of Garfinkel’s death back in 2016. “My career, and many others, were started by him in the Five-Star Basketball Camp. Posted this last week before I went to the hospital to see him. I told him then & I’ll say it again: Love you, Garf.”

The 2021 Hall of Fame class will be officially inducted at the Enshrinement Ceremony on Saturday, September 11 at MassMutual Center. More than 50 Hall of Famers are expected to be in attendance for the ceremony, including all presenters.

The Class of 2021 inductees are ninth-winningest coach in NBA historyRick Adelman, two-time NBA champion and 11-time NBA All-Star Chris Bosh, NBA Finals MVP and 10-time NBA All-Star Paul Pierce, the first Black NBA head coach Bill Russell, four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and NBA Champion Ben Wallace, five-time NBA All-Star and NBA Rookie of the Year Chris Webber, two-time NCAA national champion Villanova coach Jay Wright, seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith and seven-time WNBA All-Star and three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player Lauren Jackson.

Distinguished committees focused on preserving all areas from the game also selected seven directly elected honorees: Val Ackerman, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Garfinkel from the Contributor Committee, Clarence “Fats” Jenkinsfrom the Early African American Pioneers Committee, Toni Kukoc from the International Committee, Bob Dandridge from the Veterans Committee and Pearl Moore from the Women’s Veterans Committee.

The 2021 Hall of Fame Inductees and Presenters:

• Val Ackerman, presented by Russ Granik (’13), Rick Welts (’18)
• Rick Adelman, presented by Vlade Divac (’19), Jack Sikma (’19)
• Chris Bosh, presented by Ray Allen (’18), Pat Riley (’08)
• Bob Dandridge, presented byOscar Robertson (’80)
• Cotton Fitzsimmons, presented by Charles Barkley (’06), Jerry Colangelo (’04), Phil Knight (’12)
• Howard Garfinkel, presented by John Calipari (’15), Grant Hill (’18), Bobby Hurley (’10)
• Yolanda Griffith, presented by Van Chancellor (’07)
• Lauren Jackson, presented by Sheryl Swoopes (’16)
• Clarence Jenkins, presented by Wayne Embry (’99)
• Toni Kukoc, presented byMichael Jordan (’09),Jerry Reinsdorf (’16)
• Pearl Moore, presented by Sylvia Hatchell (’13)
• Paul Pierce, presented by Kevin Garnett (’20)
• Bill Russell, presented by Charles Barkley (’06), Julius Erving (’93), Spencer Haywood (’15), Alonzo Mourning (’14), Bill Walton (’93), Rick Welts (’18)
• Ben Wallace, presented by Larry Brown (’02)
• Chris Webber, presented by Isiah Thomas (’00)
• Jay Wright, presented by Charles Barkley (’06), Bill Cunningham (’86), Herb Magee (’11), George Raveling (’15)

(Hoophall)