A total of 20 HBCU affiliates have been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame alongside the most prestigious figures in basketball history.
Eleven players, six coaches, six contributors, one referee and one set of teams have been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame from HBCUs. No HBCU has more than one individual player inducted while North Carolina Central, Tennessee State, Winston-Salem State, Cheney and North Carolina A&T are the only HBCUs with multiple Hall of Famers.
C. Vivian Stringer is the only woman affiliated with an HBCU that has been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Moreover, Tennessee State is the only HBCU with teams inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Here’s the complete list of inductees.
| Name | Role | College | Inducted Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| John B. McLendon | Contributor/Coach | North Carolina Central*, Hampton, Tennessee State^, Kentucky State |
1979/2007 |
| Willis Reed | Player | Grambling State | 1982 |
| Clarence E. Gaines | Coach | Morgan State, Winston-Salem State |
1982 |
| Samuel “Sam” Jones | Player | North Carolina Central | 1984 |
| Vernon “Earl” Monroe | Player/Contributor | Winston-Salem State | 1990 |
| Marques O. Haynes | Player | Langston U. | 1998 |
| John Chaney | Coach | Bethune-Cookman, Cheyney |
2001 |
| Earl F. Lloyd | Player/Coach/Contributor | West Virginia State | 2003 |
| Meadowlark Lemon | Contributor | Florida A&M | 2003 |
| C. Vivian Stringer | Coach | Cheyney | 2009 |
| E.B. “Ed” Henderson | Coach | UDC | 2013 |
| Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton | Player/Contributor | Xavier (LA) | 2014 |
| Zelmo Beaty | Player | Prairie View A&M | 2016 |
| Robert Hughes | Coach | Texas Southern | 2017 |
| Al Attles | Player/Coach/Contributor | North Carolina A&T | 2019 |
| 1957-1959 Tennessee State^ teams |
Team | Tennessee State | 2019 |
| Bob Dandridge | Player | Norfolk State | 2021 |
| Ben Wallace | Player | Virginia Union | 2021 |
| Hugh Evans | Referee | North Carolina A&T | 2022 |
| Dick Barnett | Player | Tennessee State | 2024 |
*Called North Carolina College at the time
^Called Tennessee A&I at the time
