March 10, 2003

SPRINGFIELD, MASS - Former University of Houston head coach Guy Lewis has been selected a finalist by the North American Screening Committee for election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2003 it was announced on March 10.

Lewis is joined by three other coaches- Lefty Driesell, Norm Stewart and Eddie Sutton- along with two of the NBA's 50 greatest players- Boston Celtics' center Robert Parish and Los Angeles Lakers forward James Worthy.

Lewis, Driesell, Stewart and Sutton have combined to win more than 2,700 games during their careers.

The largest group of finalists from this category in Hall of Fame history includes players, Parish and Worthy and Maurice Cheeks, Adrian Dantley, Walter Davis, Dennis Johnson, the late Gus Johnson, Bobby Jones, and Chet Walker. In addition to Driesell, Lewis, Stewart, and Sutton, former Lakers coach Bill Sharman, already enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1975, is being considered for election as a coach. Finalists from the contributor category include: Vic Bubas, Jerry Colangelo, the late Chic Hearn, Junius Kellogg, Meadowlark Lemon, and Tex Winter. Longtime collegiate official Hank Nichols is being considered from the referee category.

Thirty finalists will be considered by the 24-person Honors Committee for Enshrinement into the Basketball Hall of Fame on the weekend of September 4-6. Previous finalists include veterans Forrest Anderson, Grady Lewis and Earl Lloyd; international finalists Drazen Dalipagic, Pedro Ferrandiz and Dino Meneghin and women's finalists Leon Barmore, Harley Redin and Cathy Rush.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2003 will be announced on Monday, April 7 at a 12 noon news conference in New Orleans, LA, prior to the NCAA Men's Finals in the New Orleans Superdome

Bubas, Davis, Hearn, Lemon, Lewis, Nichols, Parish and Stewart are first-time finalists; the Honors Committee has reviewed the other candidates in previous years.