Adrian Delano Dantley was a scholastic All-America player playing for legendary prep coach Morgan Wooten at DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland.

He played at Notre Dame from 1973-76, winning first-team All-America honors from The Sporting News for the 1974-75 (when he averaged 30.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game) and 1975-76 seasons. As a freshman in '73, Dantley helped the Irish beat UCLA and end the record 88-game win streak that belonged to a John Wooden-coached Bruins club that featured Walton at center. In '76, he was named the nation's outstanding men's college basketball player by the United States Basketball Writers Association — winning an award now known as The Oscar Robertson Trophy, which this year went to University of Texas star Kevin Durant.

It was also in 1976 that Dantley was the leading scorer on the United States team that won Olympic gold at the Summer Games in Montreal.

He was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1977 and NBA Comeback Player of the Year in 1984 after missing 60 games the previous season with torn wrist ligaments but returning to lead the league in scoring with an average of 30.6 points per game.

Dantley's best years were with the Jazz from 1979-86, a span in which he averaged more than 30 points per game for four straight seasons (leading the league in '81 and '84) and made all six of his All-Star Game appearances.

He also led the league in free throws six times and was a career 54 percent shooter from the field.

Perhaps most mindboggling of all facts, though, is that Dantley scored 23,177 NBA points — more than 15 years after his 1991 retirement, that still ranks No. 18 all-time — and yet he's not among the 258 individuals, including players, coaches and contributors, already enshrined in the Hall.

"The guy led the league in scoring for, heaven's sakes, two years ... I mean, the guy was a scoring machine, and he had a great college career and a great pro career," Rick Barry said. "Go back and look at guys that are in there, and look at their overall career, and compare it to Adrian Dantley. How can he not be in?"

"If you ever had to play against Adrian Dantley, you knew right away he's one of the best players you've ever faced. (You) could not guard the guy. No one could," added Clyde Drexler, who like Walton, Barry and other Hall members were in Las Vegas for the February announcement of finalists. "He was consistent, he was durable, he was a winner. He had a great collegiate career, an incredible NBA career. There is no way he's not a Hall-of-Famer."

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So why has Dantley been snubbed for so long?

Many wonder.