WSU will raise a banner for former head men’s basketball coach Dick Motta during the game Saturday, March 5, at the Dee Events Center.

Motta coached Weber State for eight seasons (1960-68), including overseeing the transition from junior college to Division I, coaching to an overall record of 164-50. Thus, WSU will raise a “164” banner for Motta and make him the first coach at WSU to be dignified with a retired jersey or honorary banner.

“The tradition of success that Coach Motta established as Weber State became a four-year school transcended the basketball court,” WSU president Brad Mortensen said in a news release. “He established that just like Weber State can compete successfully in basketball, Weber State students and alumni can compete successfully in any walk of life.”

Motta was hired as head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1968, beginning a 25-year NBA career that included coaching future Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan all eight seasons in Chicago, and winning the NBA Finals in 1978 as head coach of the Washington Bullets. His 1,952 NBA games are the eighth-most in NBA history for a coach.

Motta — born in Midvale, Utah, in 1931 — began coaching and teaching in Grace, Idaho, where he coached Phil Johnson in high school. Johnson later played for and coached with Motta at Weber State before taking over as head coach for Motta upon his departure (going 68-16 in three seasons), and later became a longtime assistant with the Utah Jazz.

In two junior college seasons, Motta’s teams went 44-17 as he also helped coach football and baseball. WSU transitioned to a university and Motta coached the Wildcats to a record of 120-33 in six Division I seasons, including a 40-15 record in the Big Sky Conference. The latter mark is third in Big Sky history for conference winning percentage.

WSU won Big Sky championships in 1965, 1966 and 1968 under Motta, including the school’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1968. Motta coached several players now in the Weber State Hall of Fame, including Nolan Archibald, Jon O’Dell, Mike Sivulich, Dan Sparks, Justus Thigpen, Jerry Trice and Gene Visscher. He also recruited Willie Sojourner to Ogden and coached future, longtime basketball coach Roger Reid at WSU.

Motta was inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame in 1990. He will become the sixth person to be honored with a retired number or honorary banner at WSU, joining players Jamie Martin (football), Bruce Collins, Damian Lillard and Willie Sojourner (men’s basketball), and Kathy Miller (women’s basketball).