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Author
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Topic: The top 10 UK basketball players
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catmandoo
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Member # 1284
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posted 09-07-2020 11:16 AM
10. Tayshaun Prince (1998-02)
Although Tayshaun Prince’s most prominent place in Kentucky’s record books comes from his scoring—his 1,775 points are eighth in school history—he did a little of everything as a Wildcat. As a senior, he averaged 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
One of the best defensive small forwards of his generation, Prince has one championship ring and four All-Defensive team selections in his Pistons career.
9. Louie Dampier (1964-67)
Few Kentucky players in history can rival the pure scoring ability of Louie Dampier. The 6’0” shooting guard averaged 19.7 points a game for his Wildcats career, which included a trip to the 1966 championship game.
8. Kenny Walker (1982-86)
One of the most dominant individual players in Kentucky history, Kenny Walker is second on the school’s all-time list with 2,080 points. In addition, the high-flying forward pulled in 942 rebounds in his career, placing sixth in school history in that category.
7. Frank Ramsey (1950-54)
A three-time All-American, Frank Ramsey averaged 19.6 points per game as a senior in Lexington. In his sophomore year, he provided some of the scoring punch for the Wildcats’ 1951 national champs.
Although his career average of 13.4 points per game isn’t anything too remarkable, his contributions to seven NBA championships in Boston (teams led by Bill Russell and Bob Cousy) earned Ramsey a spot in the Hall of Fame.
6. Rajon Rondo (2004-06)
45 OF 50
In two seasons at Kentucky, Rajon Rondo looked a lot like the rest of the Wildcats’ string of good-passing, wretched-shooting point guards. For his career, he averaged 9.6 points, 4.2 assists and 2.3 steals, though he did open eyes by averaging (at 6’1”) 6.1 rebounds a game as a sophomore.
Though he still can’t hit the outside shot, he’s been quite a bit more successful as a pro, racking up 12 career triple-doubles and helping Boston to the 2008 NBA title. He’s been an All-Star each of the last two seasons, averaging 9.8 points and 11.2 assists in those years while leading the league in steals in 2009-10.
5. Tony Delk (1992-96)
A top-notch shooting guard at just 6’1”, Tony Delk was a force on both ends of the floor while helping Kentucky to capture the 1996 national title. His 210 career steals are second in Wildcat history, while his 283 three-point field goals are a school record.
Delk’s height meant that he was frequently shoehorned into a point guard role as a pro. A career backup for eight teams, Delk was a 34.3 percent three-point shooter in the NBA.
4. Antoine Walker (1994-96)
47 OF 50
Limited on defense though he may have been, Antoine Walker was one of the great scorers of his generation at PF. As a sophomore, he averaged 15.2 points (and 8.4 rebounds) as he led the Wildcats to the national title in 1996.
Walker became an NBA All-Star under his former college coach Rick Pitino in Boston, scoring 20 points a game or better five times. He also developed a devastating long-range shot (largely absent at Kentucky), once leading the NBA in three-pointers made (and three times in attempts).
3. Jamal Mashburn (1990-93)
48 OF 50
One of the best all-around players Kentucky has ever seen, Jamal Mashburn averaged 21 points, 8.4 boards and 3.6 assists per game in his All-America senior year. His 1,843 career points are fourth all-time for the Wildcats.
Monster Mash played in two NCAA tournaments, getting knocked out of the first by Christian Laettner’s buzzer-beater in 1992. In the second, an epic overtime Final Four battle with Chris Webber and the Fab Five ended with a Michigan victory.
As a pro, Mashburn was an impressive scorer who twice hit better than 40 percent from three-point range. He was a valuable starter for 11 years with the Mavericks, Heat and Hornets, but made just a single All-Star appearance.
2. Cliff Hagan (1950-54)
49 OF 50
A sophomore backup on Kentucky’s 1951 national champions, Cliff Hagan came into his own as a junior. He averaged 21.6 and 24 points per game in his last two seasons, with the latter average (a Wildcats record at the time) tying for third-best in school history.
At 6’4”, Hagan was a center for Kentucky, averaging 13.4 rebounds per game for his career.
Hagan put up impressive numbers in the NBA as well, averaging 20 points or better in four straight seasons and double-digit rebounds in three. A six-time All-Star and one-time NBA champ, Hagan spent the great majority of his Hall of Fame career with the Hawks.
1. Dan Issel (1967-70)
The only thing that Dan Issel couldn’t do in a Wildcats uniform was win a national championship. Kentucky’s career leader in points and rebounds, the 6’9” Issel lost in the Elite Eight twice in his career.
Issel, one of the all-time great jump-shooting big men, went on to earn a Hall of Fame plaque with the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels and the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. He averaged a combined 22.6 points and 9.1 rebounds a game for his career.
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Posts: 186362 | From: st. augustine florida 32092 | Registered: Mar 2001
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handycat
Player
Member # 2323
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posted 09-07-2020 12:15 PM
To each their own but I’ll just say I disagree with this author’s list of our greatest players
Posts: 5414 | From: decatur ill. | Registered: Feb 2005
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Old Norm
Administrator
Member # 1482
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posted 09-07-2020 12:59 PM
Had Anthony Davis stuck around Lexington 4 years, no one would have been close.
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Pray For Our Country!
Posts: 36274 | From: Western KY | Registered: Aug 2001
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Bama Cat
Player
Member # 153
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posted 09-07-2020 01:00 PM
There are a lot of great players who only played one year at UK which sort of limits them being named one of the top 10 players the way I see it. This whole list could be different if we didn't have the one and done rule. I could name at least a dozen of the more recent kids who if they had played for four years would have stolen a lot of the records away from the guys named above. But they didn't stay and they don't deserve the ranking.
Posts: 14191 | From: berea, ky, usa | Registered: Sep 1999
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MountainMafia
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Member # 2066
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posted 09-08-2020 08:43 AM
BC:
quote:
But they didn't stay and they don't deserve the ranking.
I agree 100%.
Norm:
quote:
Had Anthony Davis stuck around Lexington 4 years, no one would have been close.
I also agree with this 100%.
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"It's amazing what you can accomplish when nobody cares who gets the credit"....Tubby Smith after winning 1998 National Title.
Posts: 4694 | From: Alabama | Registered: Aug 2003
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Bama Cat
Player
Member # 153
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posted 09-08-2020 10:00 AM
In my opinion he would have easily surpassed Dan Issel in just about all categories except points. Issel was the main scoring threat on his teams where Davis was more inclined to the defensive side.
Posts: 14191 | From: berea, ky, usa | Registered: Sep 1999
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catmandoo
Player
Member # 1284
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posted 09-08-2020 10:03 AM
This year in 62 NBA games Davis averages 26 points 9 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field and 84.6% from the line.
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http://www.ukfightsong.com/
Posts: 186362 | From: st. augustine florida 32092 | Registered: Mar 2001
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clydeh
Player
Member # 7
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posted 09-08-2020 04:11 PM
I remember three names since I was a little boy:
Hagan
Ramsey
Spivey
I understand that they were not of the same athletic ability of some of players mentioned above, but they were great UK players.
Posts: 845 | From: Cullman, AL, USA | Registered: Aug 1999
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jerseycat
Player
Member # 9
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posted 09-11-2020 11:48 AM
Just curious....where is the criteria used for this list? So you had to have played at least 2 seasons?
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UK Class of 1968
Posts: 1791 | From: Red Bank, NJ | Registered: Aug 1999
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