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Rick Pitino, Jerry Tarkanian among 12 finalists for Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

St John's v Louisville

LOUISVILLE, KY - FEBRUARY 14: Rick Pitino the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals gives instructions to his team during the game against the St. John’s Red Storm at KFC YUM! Center on February 14, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame released its 12 finalists for induction into the Hall of Fame on Friday morning, and three of college basketball’s greatest coaches are among the finalists.

Guy V. Lewis, Rick Pitino and Jerry Tarkanian are all finalists for the Hall of Fame, and in order to be inducted they’ll need to receive at least 18 of the 24 possible votes. Lewis led the University of Houston for nearly 30 years, winning 592 games and leading the Cougars to five Final Four appearances. This is the second time that Lewis has been a finalist for enshrinement, with the first coming back in 2003.

Pitino, currently in his 11th season at Louisville, is the only coach in Division I history to lead three schools to the Final Four. Pitino has won 649 games at Providence, Kentucky and Louisville, making six Final Four appearances.

And Tarkanian won 990 games as a head coach at the junior college and Division I levels, a career that includes four Final Four appearances and a national title at UNLV. Overall Tarkanian won 81% of his games as a head coach.

Joining the three coaches as men’s committee finalists are Maurice Cheeks, Tim Hardaway, Spencer Haywood, Tommy Heinsohn, Bernard King, Gary Payton and Mitch Richmond.

North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley are the two women’s committee nominees, with Hatchell being nominated as a coach and Staley as a player. Hatchell won her 900th game as a head coach last Sunday, making her the third head coach in the history of women’s college basketball (Pat Summitt and Jody Conradt being the others) to do so.

As for Staley, she’s one of the greatest players in the history of the game. The Philadelphia native was a two-time national Player of the Year at the University of Virginia, and she won three Olympic gold medals (1996, 2000 and 2004) as well. Staley remains the NCAA’s all-time leader in steals with 454.

“We are proud to share an incredible group of finalists for the Class of 2013 – a distinct list of coaches and players who excelled at many levels of basketball,” Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the hall’s Board of Governors, said in the release.

“It will be a difficult decision for the Honors Committee to select the final class members from this prestigious group of individuals, each of whom has given so much to the game.”

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.