NEW ORLEANS, LA - The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced that former Utica Pioneers men's basketball Head Coach Larry Costello will be one of 13 honorees in the Hall of Fame Class of 2022. The Class of 2022 announcement was made in New Orleans, Louisiana, the site of the 2022 NCAA Division I Men's Final Four and was televised live on ESPN2.
 
Costello was at the helm of the men's basketball program from 1981-1987 in a time where Utica was transitioning from NCAA Division III to an NCAA Division I Independent. Over his six seasons, Costello led the Pioneers to 65 wins while in his second season helping the team become the seventh most-improved team in the nation based on the team's win-loss record. The team's best season under Costello came in the 1984-85 season in which the team ended the year 16-12 with notable wins over Robert Morris (twice), Bucknell, Canisius, Colgate, Vermont, Loyola-Chicago, Valparaiso, Marist, Monmouth and Fairleigh Dickinson. 
 
Prior to Utica, Costello played college basketball at Niagara University from 1951-54 before becoming a second round selection by the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1954 National Basketball Association draft. He played professionally from 1954-68 and was a member of the 1967 NBA Champion Philadelphia 76ers. For his career, Costello averaged 12.2 points and 4.9 assists per game over 12 seasons and was also a six-time NBA All-Star (1958-62, 1965) and an All-NBA Second Team selection in 1961. Often regarded as the last two-handed set shooter, Costello led the NBA in free throw percentage two times (.881 in 1963 and .877 in 1965). 
 
He began his coaching career in 1968 with the Milwaukee Bucks and led the team to the 1971 NBA title where the Bucks, headlined by Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Oscar Robertson, swept the Baltimore Bullets 4-0 for the organization's first championship and only until the Bucks captured the crown again in 2021. He also led the Bucks to the 1974 NBA Finals where the team fell to the Boston Celtics in seven games. Costello went on to coach the Chicago Bulls from 1978-79 and the Milwaukee Does of the Women's Professional Basketball League from 1979-80 before making his final coaching stop at then Utica College. He ended his professional coaching career with a win/loss record of 430-300 (.589). 
 
The Minoa, NY native is also a member of the Niagara University Hall of Fame, Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame, Greater Buffalo Hall of Fame and the New York State Hall of Fame.
 
Costello will join Hugh Evans (Referee), Manu Ginobili (Player), Tim Hardaway (Player), Bob Huggins (Coach), George Karl (Coach), Swin Cash (Player), Marianne Stanley (Coach), Lindsay Whalen (Player), Lou Hudson (Player), Del Harris (Contributor), Theresa Shank-Grentz (Player) and Radivoj Korac (Player) as the complete Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022. 

Per the NBA, the Class of 2022 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass. on September 9-10, 2022. Ticket packages to the 2022 Enshrinement Ceremony and all the Enshrinement events are on sale now and available at Hoophall.com/events/enshrinement-2022/.