Rodman, Mullin headline HOF class

HOUSTON

Rebounding specialist Dennis Rodman and longtime Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Chris Mullin headlined the 2011 Basketball Hall of Fame class, which was announced Monday in Houston ahead of the national championship game between UConn and Butler.

Joining Rodman and Mullin in the 2011 class are NBA and ABA star Artis Gilmore, Georgia standout Teresa Edwards, and Lithuanian center Arvydas Sabonis, who was selected by the International Committee.

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From the coaching ranks, longtime NBA assistant Tex Winter, Stanford women's coach Tara VanDerveer, and Herb Magee, the winningest coach in college basketball history, were also named for induction.

Reece "Goose" Tatum, one of the first stars of the Harlem Globetrotters, was elected posthumously. Tom "Satch" Sanders, a member of eight champion Boston Celtics teams in the 1960s, was elected by the Veterans Committee.

Rodman's selection comes just a few days after his No. 10 Pistons jersey was raised to the rafters at Detroit's Palace of Auburn Hills. Known for his flamboyant off-the-court behavior and ever-changing hair color later in his career, Rodman was a staple of the "Bad Boys" Pistons squads of the late 1980s.

The unheralded second round draft pick out of Southeastern Oklahoma State helped the Pistons to two NBA titles in 1989 and 1990, and took home three more rings as a Chicago Bull from 1996-98. Rodman was picked seven times for the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and led the league in rebounding for seven straight seasons.

Mullin, who won the Wooden Award in 1985 at St. John's, was selected to five straight NBA All-Star Games from 1989-93 with the Warriors. He averaged 18.2 points per game over his 16-year NBA career.

The seven-foot-two Gilmore starred in the ABA for the first five years of his career winning the league's MVP award in 1971-72. In 1976 when the ABA merged with the NBA, Gilmore was the top selection of the Chicago Bulls and went on to become a six-time All-Star.

Edwards was a two-time All-American at the University of Georgia and won gold medals on the US women's basketball team in 1984, '88, '96, and 2000.

Sabonis, a sweet-shooting center from Lithuania, was named European Player of the Year six times from 1984 to 1999 and was a member of the Soviet Union's gold medal-winning Olympic team in 1988. He went on to play for the Portland Trailblazers in 1995 and maintained a double-digit scoring average for six straight years.

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Monday's announcement is bittersweet for Stanford's VanDerveer, coming the morning after the Cardinal lost a 63-62 heartbreaker to Texas A&M in the Final Four in Indianapolis. VanDerveer, the 11th woman to gain enshrinement, has led Stanford to 18 Pac-10 titles since 1989, along with national championships in 1989 and 1992. Her career coaching record stands at 802-197.

The 89-year-old Winter has spent most of the past 26 years as the right-hand man of coach Phil Jackson with the Bulls and Lakers. He is credited as the mastermind of the Triangle offense, which has been used by the duo to win 11 NBA titles.

Magee has been the head coach of Division II Philadelphia University since 1967, winning a record 922 games, more than any other coach in college basketball history.

The 2011 class will be inducted August 12 at a ceremony at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.