Posted: May 9, 2012
Phoenix Suns legend and former University of Oklahoma standout Alvan Adams joins United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, a basketball co-captain at Harvard University, University of Notre Dame women’s basketball star Ruth Riley, University of Southern California swimming great John Naber and Slippery Rock University soccer standout Dr. Todd Olsen, as this year’s 2012 inductees into the Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame, as selected by CoSIDA.
The five new inductees join 117 members of the Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame, which was created in 1988. They will be inducted into the Academic All-America® Hall of Fame at CoSIDA’s annual convention in St. Louis, Mo. on Monday, June 25th at the organization’s Capital One Special Awards Gala.
This marks the second year that Capital One is the title sponsor of both the Academic All-America® program and the Academic All-America® Hall of Fame.
The biographical information on this year’s Academic All-America® Hall of Fame induction class is listed below:
ALVAN ADAMS – UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
A gifted player on the basketball court and a valuable member of the community, Alvan Adams has made a positive impact in whatever setting his career has taken him.
A two-time Academic All-America® honoree in both the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons, Adams led the University of Oklahoma to national prominence as a three-time Big Eight Conference selection, earning league Player of the Year accolades after his junior campaign in 1975. Adams ranked as the Sooners’ all-time leading scorer (1,787 points) and rebounder (938) when he departed Norman for a standout career in the National Basketball Association, as he was chosen fourth overall in the 1975 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns and enjoyed a 13-year career in the desert.
The 1975-76 NBA Rookie of the Year, Adams led the Suns to a spot in a memorable 1976 NBA Finals series against the Boston Celtics and went on to become the franchise leader in scoring (13, 910 points), games played (988), rebounds (6,937) and steals (1,289). Alvan’s jersey was retired following the completion of his career in 1988, the third such honor in team history and one of only 11 Phoenix players to earn that accolade.
Adams returned to Oklahoma following his playing career and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1998. He is only the second Sooner in any sport to have his jersey retired, and he still ranks 14th in career rebounding in the history of the Big Eight/Big 12 Conference. As a freshman at OU, Adams played on the 1973 World University Games squad that captured the title with a perfect 9-0 mark.
As the Vice President for Facility Management for the Phoenix Arena Sports Corporation, Adams has been an active member of the Phoenix community. He serves on the Phoenix Pride Commission and was appointed by the city’s major to the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission. A member of the Board of Trustees of the Phoenix Museum of History, Alvan has also volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America and started the first NBA 65 Roses Club benefitting Cystic Fibrosis.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $122.2 billion in deposits and $197.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of December 31, 2010. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion and the entitlement rights holder for CoSIDA’s Academic All-America® programs, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Week. In 2010, Capital One launched the Capital One Cup, a prestigious new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men’s and women’s sports. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 89 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.
For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.
ABOUT CoSIDA
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA, www.cosida.com), now in its 56th year, was founded in 1957-making it the second oldest management association in intercollegiate athletics. Today, it is a vibrant 2,800-plus member national association comprised of the sports public relations, communications and information professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada.
CoSIDA has two primary missions: 1) Help the communications and media relations professionals at all collegiate levels with professional development and continuing education as it relates to strategically dealing in an effective manner with the various issues, challenges and opportunities that now exist within the fast-paced and ever-changing communications environment. 2) Play a significant leadership and resource role (i.e. "Strategic Communicators for College Athletics") within the overall enterprise of collegiate athletics.
CoSIDA founded in the mid 1950's the highly regarded "Academic All-America®" program, unquestionably viewed as the premier awards program in intercollegiate athletics for honoring combined academic and athletic excellence. CoSIDA, which became an affiliated partner with NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) in December of 2008, continues to fully manage and administer that program today.