KNOXVILLE -- Three-time Tennessee first-team All-SEC selection Len Kosmalski will be UT’s representative among the former greats from all 14 Southeastern Conference member institutions who will be honored as the 2013 Allstate® SEC Basketball Legends at the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament March 13-17 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
A native of Maple Heights, Ohio, Kosmalski lettered three seasons for the Volunteers and is Tennessee’s No. 31 all-time scorer with 1,212 career points.
Until his recent retirement, Kosmalski worked as a high school and college sales representative for Nike in Beaverton, Ore.
A starter on UT’s 1972 SEC Championship team, Kosmalski earned first-team All-SEC acclaim in 1972, 1973 and 1974. The 7-0, 245-pound center averaged 17.7 points and 8.4 rebounds during his days on Rocky Top before embarking on a professional basketball playing career.
In 1974, he was picked in both the ABA and NBA drafts. The ABA’s Utah Stars chose Kosmalski in the second round (20th overall), and the NBA’s Kansas City-Omaha Kings selected him in the second round as well (24th overall).
He played two years for the Kings, appearing in 76 games. He then spent the 1976-77 season playing for the Stella Azzurra franchise in Rome, Italy.
Kosmalski wore jersey No. 55 during both his collegiate and professional playing careers.
“The Allstate® SEC Basketball Legends Program allows us to honor our past and show everyone why the SEC is one of the nation’s premier basketball conferences,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said.
The 2013 class also includes Wimp Sanderson, Alabama; Jerry Carlton, Arkansas; Ronnie Battle, Auburn; Bill Koss, Florida; Tim Bassett, Georgia; Jamal Mashburn, Kentucky; Geert Hammink, LSU; Rahim Lockhart, Ole Miss; Horatio Webster, Mississippi State; Norm Stewart, Missouri; Eddie Fogler, South Carolina; John Beasley, Texas A&M; and Mike Rhoades, Vanderbilt.
Each SEC Basketball Legend will be recognized at halftime of his institution’s first game at the tournament.
Highlighting the schedule of events at the Sunkist Soda SEC FanFare will be appearances by selected legends. FanFare will be open Thursday-Saturday, March 14-16.
This marks the 15th year of the SEC Basketball Legends program.
TENNESSEE’S SEC LEGENDS
1999 - Reggie Johnson
2000 - A.W. Davis
2001 - Ernie Grunfeld
2002 - Tony White
2003 - Tom Boerwinkle
2004 - Dale Ellis
2005 - Ron Widby
2006 - Bill Justus
2007 - Allan Houston
2008 - Bernard King
2009 - Paul "Lefty" Walther
2010 - Don DeVoe
2011 - Jimmy England
2012 - Gene Tormohlen
2013 – Len Kosmalski
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)