Former Ute Arnie Ferrin, a four-time All-American and member of Utah’s 1944 NCAA champion and 1947 NIT champion men’s basketball teams, will become the first Ute inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor, the conference announced this week. Ferrin joins 11 other incductees, one from each Pac-12 school, including 10 other players and one coach. 

Ferrin and the 11 other honorees will be inducted during the 2012 Pacific Life Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament in Los Angeles. Ferrin will be joined by Richard Jefferson (Arizona), Kurt Nimphius (Arizona State), Lamond Murray (California), Burdette Haldorson (Colorado), Jim Barnett (Oregon), A.C.Green (Oregon State), George Selleck (Stanford), EdO’Bannon (UCLA), Sam Barry (USC), George Irvine (Washington) and Steve Puidokas (Washington State). 

Ferrin is one of the most decorated players in Utah men’s basketball history. The only four-time All-American in Utah’s storied basketball heritage, he received the honor in 1944, ‘45 (Consensus), ‘47 and ‘48. 

As a freshman, Ferrin led the Utes to the 1944 NCAA Championship, scoring 22 points in the final game against Dartmouth, including four in overtime, and became the first freshman ever to be named MVP of the Final Four. That team was recently dubbed “The First Cinderella” in a March 2010 article in Sports Illustrated. As a senior, Ferrin helped the state of Utah celebrate its centennial as he led the Utes to the 1947 NIT Championship. 

Ferrin’s number 22 is one of seven retired jerseys hanging from the rafters of Utah’s current home, the Jon M. Huntsman Center, and was the simplest of choices for Utah basketball’s All-Century Team, unveiled in February of 2008. 

After graduating from the U. in 1948, Ferrin was named the MVP of the annual East-West All-Star game. He was then selected by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1948 BAA (later the NBA) Draft and played three years (1949-51) for head coach John Kundla. The team won the BAA championship in 1949 and the NBA championship in 1950. 

In 1969, Ferrin became the Director of Regional Programs for the University of Utah Alumni Association. He served in that position until 1971 when he left to become the General Manager of the ABA’s Utah Stars. He returned to the U. in 1974 as an Assistant to the Vice President for University Relations. He held that position until May 1, 1976, before he accepted the job as Utah’s Athletics Director. Ferrin was Utah’s A.D. for nine years before retiring in 1985. 

In 2009, Ferrin was inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame. 

Ferrin’s full name is Chariton Arnold Ferrin Jr. He was born in Salt Lake City on July 29, 1925, and played high school basketball in Ogden, Utah. He was first married to the former RoLayne Rasmussen and they had four children: Tres, Bard, Louanne and Shawn. Both RoLayne and Bard are deceased. Ferrin is remarried to Pat Panos. He now splits his time between his condo in Salt Lake and a home in Palm Springs.