Prairie View A&M University Athletics

Prairie View A&M University basketball legend Zelmo Beaty was  inducted posthumously into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame Friday in Springfield, Mass. in 2016.
 
The journey to the sports' highest honor was long but now complete for the Panther legend, who averaged 25 points and 20 rebounds on The Hill from 1958-62, leading Prairie View A&M to the 1962 NAIA Championship while earning MVP honors.

The 6-foot-9 center was the third overall pick in the 1962 draft by the then St. Louis Hawks of the American Basketball Association. He played 13 seasons for the Hawks, both in St. Louis and Atlanta, along with the Utah Stars and Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged a double-double for his career with 16 points and more than 10 rebounds per game.
 
Beaty, who was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014, scored more than 15,000 points and grabbed more than 9,600 rebounds during his pro basketball career. He was a five-time All-Star, and earned playoff MVP honors in leading the Stars to the 1971 ABA Championship.