Jan. 25, 2017
Greensboro, N.C. – Matt Harpring, the No. 2 all-time scoring leader in Georgia Tech history, is among fourteen former standout players and an inspirational national championship coach named to this year’s class of Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Legends presented by New York Life.
Complete ACC Legends Class announcement | ACC Legends Class History
The Legends will be recognized during the 2017 New York Life ACC Tournament, which will be held March 7-11 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Harpring joins a class includes Troy Bell of Boston College, Edward Scott of Clemson. Shelden Williams of Duke, Tim Pickett of Florida State, Rodney McCray of Louisville, Wayne Beckner of Miami, Antawn Jamison of North Carolina, head coach Jim Valvano of NC State, Gary Brokaw of Notre Dame, Curtis Aiken of Pittsburgh, Dwayne “Pearl” Washington of Syracuse, Junior Burrough of Virginia, Bobby Beecher of Virginia Tech and Josh Howard of Wake Forest. This year’s ACC Legends class includes two individual that were integral parts of NCAA Championship teams, two National Players of the Year, one National Defensive Player of the Year, four conference Players of the Year and two ACC Tournament MVPs.
Harpring joins Mark Price as the only two Georgia Tech players to be named to the All-ACC first team three times during his career from 1994-98. He was named to All-America teams by seven different organizations as a senior, as well as a finalist for both the Naismith and Wooden Awards. His number “15” was retired by the school during the final home game of his senior year. Harpring finished his career as the second leading scorer (2,225 points) and third leading rebounder (997) in Georgia Tech annals, and he is widely considered one of the hardest working players in college basketball history. He remains the Yellow Jackets’ all-time leader in free throws made and attempted. Harpring was named Academic All-America twice and earned NCAA and ACC postgraduate scholarships. Harpring was selected by the Orlando Magic in the first round (15th pick) of the 1998 NBA draft. Named to the 1998-99 NBA All-Rookie first team, Harpring went on to play 11 years in the NBA and scored more than 12,000 career points.
Today, Harpring and his family live in Atlanta, and he works as a color analyst for the Utah Jazz television broadcasts. He is being inducted into the Georgia State Sports Hall of Fame in February.
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Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its first year under head coach Josh Pastner. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993), played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram.
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