DETROIT (8/17/2016) -- Another Titan will have his name enshrined among the best ever from the Great Lakes State as former University of Detroit men's basketball standout John Long will be inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall Of Fame.
The 2016 ceremony will take place on Sept. 9 from 7-9:00 p.m., at the Max M. Fisher Music Center.
Long is among eight new inductees into the class as he joins Tom Gage (Detroit News), Pete Holland (Oakland University Swimming & Diving Coach), Bob Mann (Detroit Lions), Kathy McGee (Flint Powers & CMU Girls Basketball Coach), Chris Osgood (Detroit Red Wings), Brendan Shanahan (Detroit Red Wings) and Ben Wallace (Detroit Pistons). Also being honored are 2015 inductees Derek Jeter and Mike Modano.
Long – who earned All-America laurels as a senior – ranks second on the Titans all-time scoring list with 2,167 points and is still the only player in school history to lead the team in scoring in all four years that he played. Long averaged 17.1, 19.5, 20.3 and 21.4 points per game, respectively, from 1975-78.
During the four years that Long was at Detroit, the Titans recorded an overall record of 86-25 setting and then tying a program record with 25 victories in 1976-77 and 1977-78.
The Titans also made back-to-back postseason appearances in those record-breaking years. The trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1977 snapped a 12-year drought of not reaching the postseason since 1965 as the red and white won its first-ever NCAA Tournament game, 93-76, over Middle Tennessee State. The following season, the Titans earned another postseason win as they defeated VCU, 94-86, in the first round of the NIT.
Long added 20 points in the NCAA Tournament win and tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds in the NIT triumph.
After his legendary career with the Titans, Long moved on to the NBA where he was drafted in the second round, 29th overall, by the Detroit Pistons. He played eight seasons for the Pistons and averaged a career-high 21.9 points per game during the 1981-82 season. Long later played for the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks, before signing with the Toronto Raptors for one season. Long retired in 1997 and finished his NBA career with 12,131 points.
He was inducted into the Titan Hall Of Fame in 2001.
Tickets to the event start at $25 for balcony seating. For more information,
click here.
