Hofstra University will host a memorial reception for legendary head coach Butch van Breda Kolff on Friday afternoon on the 10th floor of the Hofstra Library from 4-7 p.m.

Van Breda Kolff coached at Hofstra from 1955-1962, then returned to coach six more seasons from 1988-1994 before retiring from the coaching ranks at the end of the 1993-94 campaign. His overall record in 13 seasons with the Flying Dutchmen was 215-134, including a 23-1 campaign in 1959-60 that still holds as the best single-season winning percentage in school history.

In his first stint with Hofstra, van Breda Kolff had five 20-win seasons in seven years. He began with a 22-4 record in 1955-56 and concluded with a 24-4 mark in 1961-62. His 1961-62 team reached the second round of the NCAA Small College Eastern Regionals, while his 1959-60 and 1960-61 teams won a combined 23 games in a row, which remains a Hofstra record for the longest winning streak.

In his second tenure with the Flying Dutchmen, van Breda Kolff earned another 20-win season in 1991-92, when Hofstra finished with a 20-9 record. In his final coaching season, he earned the unique opportunity to end his career a winner, as the Flying Dutchmen earned the 1994 East Coast Conference championship with a dramatic 88-86 double-overtime win over Northeastern Illinois. The East Coast Conference did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, enabling van Breda Kolff to win his final game as a head coach.

Butch van Breda Kolff is the only person to have coached both an NCAA Final Four team (Princeton, 1965) and an NBA Finals squad (the Los Angeles Lakers, 1968 and 1969). He compiled a professional and collegiate coaching record of 773-585, while coaching such basketball legends as Bill Bradley, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Pete Maravich. During his career, he served as the head coach for Hofstra, New Orleans, Lafayette, and Princeton at the college level, and the Lakers, Pistons, Suns and Jazz in the NBA.