Already with his jersey on the McKale Center wall, former Arizona basketball star Jason Terry will be inducted into the 2024 Arizona Sports Hall of Fame class along with fellow NBA champion Andre Iguodala, five other former standout athletes and former team doctor Donald Porter.
The eight inductees will include decorated softball pitcher Kenzie Fowler, former baseball standout Bob Ralston along with track and field athletes Lawi Lalang, Nick Ross and Julie LaBonte.
Terry, who played a key role off the bench as a sophomore during Arizonaâs 1997 national championship run, qualified to have his jersey raised at McKale Center by becoming a national player of the year as a senior in 1998-99. He went on to become the NBAâs Sixth Man of the Year and helped the Dallas Mavericks win the 2011 NBA title before later starting a coaching career that included a stop as an assistant at Arizona during the 2020-21 season.
Terry was initially banned from the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame and could not have his jersey retired because of an agreement the school made with the then-Pac-10 Conference in 2000 after an investigation found Terry accepted $11,500 from agents while playing for the Wildcats. Terry was asked to repay UA $45,363 in forfeited revenue revenue from the 1999 NCAA Tournament and then-UA athletic director Greg Byrne said in 2015 that Terry had done so.
Iguodala, an honorable mention Associated Press all-American as a sophomore in 2003-04, became an NBA lottery pick after that season and went on to play 19 seasons in the NBA. He was named an NBA all-star in 2011-12 and the NBA Finals MVP in 2014-15.
A Tucson native, Fowler won two all-America awards while Ralston became a first-team all-American at UA in 1984 after hitting .363.
On top of winning eight NCAA championships, Lalang was twice named Division I Indoor National Men's Track Athlete of the Year while LaBonte was a three-time NCAA Indoor All-American, winning both indoor and outdoor shot put titles in 2011. Ross was a nine-time All-American who remains the Arizona program record holder in the high jump.
Porter oversaw the medical treatment of nearly all the other inductees. During his 32-year stint at Arizona, he worked with all team physicians, trainers and surgical consultants.Â
Athletes who win NCAA titles are automatically inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame after a 10-year waiting period from when they finished their eligibility at UA or, they left early, 14 years after initial enrollment.
The Arizona Sports Hall of Fame Committee can also name other athletes based on criteria that include being named a player of the year, first team all-American, participating in the Olympics, or having at least 10 years of a statistically significant pro career.
The 2024 class will be formally inducted during a dinner and ceremony on Aug. 30 at La Paloma. Tickets are $75 on Arizonawildcats.com.
