Reggie's not worthy?

If Indiana is a basketball hotbed, someone has forgotten this is the case.

During the weekend, former Indiana Pacer standout Reggie Miller did not receive enough votes to be mentioned as a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame this year.

Miller was in his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame. The selections will be announced April 4 during the NCAA Men's Final Four weekend.

Of the 12 selected as finalists, only a few should even be mentioned in the same breath as Miller.

Former NBA players Maurice Cheeks, Chris Mullin, Dennis Rodman, Ralph Sampson, along with former WNBA player Teresa Edwards, coaches Herb Magee, Dick Motta, Tex Winter and Tara VanDerveer, referee Hank Nichols and former coach and player Al Attles were named as finalists.

But no Miller.

This is a travesty.

All eligible players who have scored more than 25,000 points in their career are in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Miller currently is tied for 17th all-time on the NBA scoring list with 25,279.

More importantly, until Feb. 10, he was the league's all-time leader in 3-pointers, hitting 2,560. Ray Allen broke the record this year.

Current Chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Governors Jerry Colangelo had this to say about the situation: "Sometimes, you wait your time. You need to get traction ... That speaks nothing about the future. Next year could be a whole different story for Reggie Miller. He's certainly a candidate going forward for the Hall of Fame."

But why wasn't he a candidate this year?

Or for that matter, why wasn't coach Don Nelson, who was also overlooked?

I believe this has everything to do with where Miller played.

Had he been more in the limelight, say with the New York Knicks, he would be a first-time finalist for sure.

But he played for the Pacers.

Speaking of the Pacers, Bobby "Slick" Leonard, Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Roger Brown and now Miller have been sorely overlooked throughout the years.

Miller, ever the professional, will continue to move forward in life. He'll eventually end up in the Hall of Fame.

But to leave him out of this list in his first year of eligibility is an oversight.

One that should never have happened.