Don Otten’s career might seem pedestrian when you look at just the stats from Basketball Reference, but his Hall of Fame case is much stronger than at first glance.

A two-time All-American at Bowling Green, Otten turned pro with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in 1946, where he was named the league MVP and scoring champion (14.0) in 1948-49, the last year of the NBL’s existence.  The Blackhawks would join the NBA in 1949, but by this time, he was 28, and his skills were eroded year after year, though he was still a competent basketball player. 

Had the records been more detailed, Otten might have entered the Hall years ago via the Veteran’s Committee.

During the NBA free agency season, a significant player retired from the game of basketball. Kemba Walker, 34, announced his retirement.

Walker was a dominant force at UConn, leading the Huskies to a national championship in 2011, where he was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, the Big East Tournament MVP, and a consensus first team All-American.  For his efforts, he was drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats (later Hornets) ninth overall in 2011, the team he remains most associated with.

Walker broke out in the 2015-16 campaign, where he was second in Most Improved Player of the Year voting and had his first of five straight 20-PPG seasons. He went to his first All-Star Game a year later and was named to that mid-season classic the next two years.  This culminated in an All-NBA Third Team Selection in 2018-19, which was his best year in Basketball.

He joined the Boston Celtics as part of a sign-and-trade in 2019 and promptly had his fourth (and final) All-Star year, but knee problems began to rear its ugly head.  Walker was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where his contract was bought out.  He finished his NBA run with a year in New York and nine Games in Dallas.

He concluded his career with one season with Monaco in the French League, where his squad won the league championship.

Walker is eligible for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2028, though that might be a tough ask.  Hopefully, the Hornets will acknowledge him in some capacity in the future.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com wish Kemba Walker the best in his post-playing career.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB. Once that is done, we will examine how each team honors its past players, coaches, and executives. As such, it is important to us that Eastern Kentucky has announced the newest members of their Athletic Hall of Fame.

The Class consists of seven individual athletes and one team.

The new members will be:

Ole Hesselbjerg (Track/Cross Country 2011-15):  From Denmark, Hesselbjerg won two Bronze Medals in the NCAA Outdoor Championships and was a three-time First Team All-American.  He competed twice in the Olympics for his country.

Danny Hope (Football 1976-91, 2003-07, 2019, 2020-):  Hope played for the Colonels as a Guard on their first National Championship Team and later would be their Head Coach, where he won an OVC Coach of the Year.  He currently works for EKU in their development program.

Jacob Korir (Track/Cross Country, 2004-08):  From Kenya, Korir was a five-time All-American (three in Cross Country and two in Track.  He was second in the 5,000 M in the 2008 Outdoor Championship.

Sofie Levin (Women’s Golf, 2013-17):  From Sweden, Levin was a four-time All-OVC Selection and took the Colonels to two OVC Titles.

Nick Mayo (Men’s Basketball, 2015-19):  Mayo is the all-time scoring leader in school history with 2,316 Points and is a four-time All-OVC player.

Greg Stotelmyer (Broadcaster, 1979-present):  Stotelmyer has been the prime play-by-play broadcaster for EKU athletics since 1979 and has covered over 2,200 athletic contests for the school.

Corey Walden (Men’s Basketball 2012-15): Walden was a two-time OVC Defensive Player of the Year and was the 2014 OVC Tournament MVP.

1973 Women’s Volleyball Team:  The team went 26-4 and was undefeated in in-state competition.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the impending EKU Hall of Fame members.

The problem with running a Hall of Fame-related website is that many of the big ones we cover all have announcements within months of each other.  The backbone of what we do is list-related, resulting in a long push to revise what we already have, specifically now with our Football Hockey and Basketball Lists.

At present, we have a minor update as we have completed the next ten of the 2024 Basketball List, which you can comment on and vote on:

The new 111 to 120:

111. Kevin Porter
112. Jeff Malone
113. Derek Fisher
114. Jack Coleman
115. Darrell Griffith
116. Danny Manning
117. Dan Roundfield
118. Truck Robinson
119. Antoine Walker
120. Michael Redd

Rankings are impacted annually based on your comments and votes.

Thank you all for your patience. We will soon unveil more changes to the football and basketball lists.