University of Georgia Athletics
Durham Enters Kentucky Sports Hall
June 07, 2012 | Men's Basketball
June 7, 2012
ATHENS ----- Former University of Georgia basketball coach Hugh Durham will be inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony Thursday evening in Louisville.
Durham, UGA's all-time winningest men's basketball coach, is among the 7-person Class of 2012 that includes the following: former UK basketball players Rick Robey and Bobby Watson, University of Louisville women's basketball player Angel McCoughtry, ESPN broadcaster Lee Corso, former athletic director and football coach Homer Rice and Claiborne Farms owner Seth Hancock.
Hugh Durham became the 17th head basketball coach at the University of Georgia in 1978. During the 17 seasons under his guidance, he compiled a record of 297-216, the best mark of all 20 head coaches in the history of the program.
The native Kentuckian owns the unique distinction of being the all-time winningest basketball coach at three different institutions: Florida State, Georgia and Jacksonville.
Before Durham arrived in Athens, no Georgia team had ever appeared in a post-season tournament. He took 11 of his 17 teams to post-season play, four NCAA Tournament berths and seven NIT showings. In the school’s first-ever NCAA appearance in 1983, his Bulldogs made the farthest advance yet in school history, racing all the way to the Final Four. Durham also led Georgia to a pair of Southeastern Conference championships: 1983 SEC Tournament title and the 1990 regular-season crown.
Three times during his 17 years at Georgia, Durham was named SEC Coach of the Year: 1985, 1987 and 1990.
Born Oct. 26, 1937, Durham earned a combined 15 letters in four sports (basketball, football, baseball and track) at Eastern High School in Louisville, Ky. In 1993, he was inducted into the Kentucky High School Hall of Fame.
