NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Niagara University Athletics will induct former men’s basketball player Daryl Greene (’02) and men’s hockey standout Joe Tallari (’04) into the Hall of Fame on Friday, Feb. 10.

Niagara University alumnus and former men's basketball coach Frank Layden ('55) will serve as the keynote speaker for the event. Layden, who played for the Purple Eagles and served as coach from 1968-76, will have his jersey retired at a halftime ceremony on Feb. 11 versus Rider (2 p.m. tip-off) and hung in the rafters at the Gallagher Center.

Greene, a 6-foot-1 guard from Largo, Md., finished his four-year run on Monteagle Ridge as one of the top guards in the program’s storied history. Greene finished his career ranking in the top-10 in scoring and is currently 14th all-time in scoring with 1,375 points. Greene also ranks 10th all-time in assists (377) and 10th in steals per game (1.3).

A 3-point specialist, Greene is fourth in program history with 209 3-pointers, while holding the record for most 3-pointers in a game by a junior (seven) and having the highest 3-point field goal percentage (.414) for a  sophomore during the 1999-00 season.

He led the program to 67 wins over the four years (67-51/.568) for Niagara’s best four-year run in total wins since the 1968-72 campaigns. As a sophomore, Greene recorded 144 assists from the point guard spot, the 10th-highest total in Niagara history. He also averaged a career-best 17.5 points per game, including a career-best 33 points in the MAAC Tournament semifinal loss to Siena at the Pepsi Arena.

After an injury-plagued junior season, Greene returned to his offensive form as a senior, hitting 81 three-pointers, which was second best in Niagara history. He earned first team All-MAAC honors and his second selection to the MAAC All-Tournament Team. He helped Niagara to two tournament wins and its first MAAC final appearance in nine years. 

Tallari was one of the best to ever don a Niagara sweater. The Thunder Bay, Ont. native scored 60 goals, 65 assists and 125 points in 144 career games. The 2002-03 College Hockey America Player of the Year had a stellar junior season, with 26 goals, 29 assists and 55 points en route to being Niagara’s first-ever finalist for the prestigious Hobey Baker award. Tallari finished sixth in the NCAA during his junior season in points per game (1.62) and 11th in goals (26).

It was in Tallari’s senior season that Niagara defeated Bemidji State 4-3 in overtime to claim the 2003-04 CHA Championship and the program’s second berth into the NCAA Tournament. Niagara finished with an overall record of 67-68-14 while Tallari was playing from 2000 until 2004.

Tallari’s name is still found numerous times within the Niagara Record Book, including for career points (10th – 125), career goals (T-4th – 60), career power-play goals (9th – 16), career game-winning goals (T-7th – 10) and career games played (T-4th – 144). The two-time captain also holds many of Niagara’s single-season records, including points (T-1st – 55), goals (4th – 26), assists (7th – 29) and game-winning goals (T-7th – 4).

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, inductees will be chosen on the basis of playing ability, integrity, character, leadership, sportsmanship and his or her contributions to the athletics teams on which he or she played as well as to Niagara University in general, among other qualifications.

The Niagara Hall of Fame Class of 2012 will be inducted at St. Vincent’s Hall on the campus of Niagara University on Friday, Feb. 10 from 6-9 p.m. Tickets for the hall of fame event will be $30. For more information about the event, contact Jennifer Ebbole at 716-286-8600 or jebbole@niagara.edu.