Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewa Great Dan Majerle To Enter MAC Hall of Fame
3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Dan Majerle, one of the icons of Central Michigan athletics, has been elected to the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame.
Majerle, CMU’s second all-time career scorer in men’s basketball with 2,055 points, will be inducted on May 31 during the MAC Honor’s Dinner at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel.
The hall comprises 81 of the conference's greatest student-athletes, coaches and administrators, including some of the legendary names CMU athletic lore such as Herb Deromedi, Marcy Weston, Dave Keilitz, Dan Roundfield, Gary Hogeboom, Casey Cunningham, Ted Kjolhede, Karen (Karner) Michalak and Charlie Coles.
The Class of 2017 comprises Majerle, Antonio Gates (Kent State men’s basketball), Jen Brown Mascari (Ball State field hockey), Dwight Gardner (Ohio wrestling), Betsy Kuhle (Western Michigan tennis), and Ron Oestrike (Eastern Michigan baseball).
Majerle, who played at CMU from 1985-88, is the only Chippewa men’s basketball player to be selected to the All-MAC First Team three times, is second in program history in scoring average (21.8 points per game), fourth in steals (171), fifth in rebounds (834), sixth in blocks (95) and ninth in field goal percentage (53.6 percent).
His 759 points in 1987-88 ranks No. 2 for a single season in CMU history and he still holds three of the top 10 season scoring averages. He tallied the third-most rebounds in a season with 346 in 1987-88. Majerle ranks 11th in career scoring in MAC history and his season scoring total of 759 points is ninth in the MAC record books.
In 1987, Majerle, a Traverse City native, led the Chippewas to the MAC regular-season and tournament titles, and was named the most valuable player of the conference tourney. He was named to the MAC All-Tournament team in 1987 and in 1988.
He was drafted in the first round, 14th overall, by the Phoenix Suns in the 1988 NBA Draft and won a gold medal at the 1994 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics.
 
Majerle played 14 seasons in the NBA with Phoenix, Cleveland and Miami. He was a three-time NBA All-Star and a two-time All-Defensive Second Team selection. He finished his NBA career with 10,925 points, 4,265 rebounds and 2,755 assists, and was inducted into the Phoenix Suns ‘Ring of Honor’ and had his No. 9 jersey retired by the Suns. The Suns’ Dan Majerle Hustle Award is named in his honor.
He was named the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year in 1988 and was inducted in the Marcy Weston Central Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Majerle is in his fourth season as the coach at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, overseeing the Antelopes’ transition to Division I. He led Grand Canyon to a 22-9 finish this season.
