OGDEN, Utah, April 18, 2024 — Dick Motta, who began his legendary coaching career at Weber State, was announced Thursday as a member of the 2024 Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame class.
Motta, 92, spent eight seasons at Weber State from 1960-68 before embarking on a stellar 25-year NBA coaching career that included an NBA championship (1978) and Coach of the Year (1971) honors.
Motta will be officially inducted in the conference hall of fame on July 20 during the Big Sky Football Kickoff Weekend in Spokane, Washington.
Motta is credited with elevating the Weber State men’s basketball program to national prominence, first as a junior college and then at the Division I level.
He spent two seasons as head coach at Weber Junior College (1960-62) and then another six seasons (1963-68) after Weber State became a four-year school.
Motta’s teams went 44-17 in the junior college years, then 120-33 as a Division I program. The Wildcats won three Big Sky titles (1965, 1966 and 1968) during his tenure and made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in his final season.
He was selected as Big Sky Coach of the Year in 1965 and his .766 winning percentage still ranks as the third best in the history of the conference.
Motta was inducted into the Weber State Hall of Fame in 1990 and had a banner with his combined win total of 164 raised to the rafters at the Dee Events Center in March 2022. He became the first coach in school history to have their jersey or number retired.
The Utah native graduated from Utah State and began his coaching career at Grace High School in Grace, Idaho, where he also taught. One of his students was Phil Johnson, who later played and then coached under Motta at Weber State before becoming the Wildcats’ head coach from 1968-71.
Motta arrived at Weber State in 1960 as head coach of the men’s basketball and baseball teams, and also served as an assistant football coach, according to the university.
Motta jumped from Weber State to the NBA as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, spending eight seasons (1968-76) with the team. The Bulls posted four consecutive 50-win seasons from 1970 to 1974 and made six playoff appearances under Motta. He was honored as the NBA Coach of the Year in 1971.
Motta was the head coach of the Washington Bullets from 1976 to 1980 and led the team to an NBA championship in 1978.
His NBA career also included two stints with the Dallas Mavericks (1980-87 and 1994-96), the Sacramento Kings (1990-91) and the Denver Nuggets (1996-97). He coached 1,952 games in his NBA career, the eighth-most in league history. His 935 career wins rank 14th in NBA history.
Johnson also followed Motta into the NBA, joining him on the Chicago Bulls’ coaching staff in 1971 and later winning Coach of the Year in 1975 with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. Johnson also served as an assistant coach for the Utah Jazz from 1982-84 and again from 1998-2011.
Motta was honored with the NBA Coaches Association Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.
He’s one of eight members of the 2024 Big Sky Hall of Fame class:
- Natalie Doma, Idaho State women’s basketball (2004-08)
- Lindsay Haupt, Sacramento State volleyball (2004-07)
- Sonny Holland, Montana State football coach (1971-77)
- Bill Kollar, Montana State football (1971-73)
- Orlando Lightfoot, Idaho men’s basketball (1991-94)
- Erik Meyer, Eastern Washington football (2002-05)
- Dick Motta, Weber State men’s basketball coach (1960-68)
- Don Read, Montana football coach (1986-95)
