In continuing our series, Yahoo Sports put together its list for a Louisville All-time Starting Five. We're curious if Louisville fans agree.
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Who's in your Louisville All-Time Starting Five?
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That's a solid top 5. The only change I would make is LaBradford Smith or DeJaun Wheat for Milt Wagner just because he felt disrespected by the program despite being at the university for 6 freaking years without earning a degree. One of the criteria to be a coach at UofL is to have a degree, and he didn't have one so he was turned down. That's why he went to Memphis to hook up with John Calipari. That makes him as sleazy to me as Kenny Payne currently is.
Maybe Unseld based on stats but I did not get to see unseld play at U of L only for the Bullets and I was a Knicks fan growing up. I chose Wagner for what he did at U of L not sometime later. If crum was still around, I doubt he would have acted the way he did.
Unseld averaged 20.6 pts 18.9 rebs for his career at UofL.
FWIW,
Wagner did earn a degree in sports communication at Memphis and led us to three final fours, 1 NCAA championship and 1 sweet sixteen. He is still top 10 in several categories including assists, points, games played and free throw percentage. If you were going to replace Unseld with someone it would more likely need to be Rodney or Derek. I also don't list Charlie Tyra although statistically he probably is one of the 5 greatest.
Wagner did earn a degree in sports communication at Memphis and led us to three final fours, 1 NCAA championship and 1 sweet sixteen. He is still top 10 in several categories including assists, points, games played and free throw percentage. If you were going to replace Unseld with someone it would more likely need to be Rodney or Derek. I also don't list Charlie Tyra although statistically he probably is one of the 5 greatest.
Wes Unseld was the greatest player ever to play for Louisville. Put him on any of Crum or Pitino's teams, and they would have been very difficult to beat. He dominated the backboards, had the best outlet pass ever in the game, and could create his own shot under pressure. He was just simply awesome, and made an otherwise average team a top three team in the age of Alcindor and the big E.
Hedley - I definitely don't disagree that he is one of the greatest, but when you say he made an average team better, none of the teams he played on contended for a championship, NIT or NCAA. I hold the players that I listed as being in my top 5 because of the success they brought to the program, not individual talent.
This. I can't imagine coming up with a starting five for Louisville that doesn't include Wes Unseld
Ok homer. I am going to take the bait and then from here on out i am putting you on ignore. Is there any reason why you picked all white players? If you have any balls you will respond honestly which should get you banned for life if I was a Mod. Well?
i'll keep my 5 to players I saw play once I was old enough to remember them.
Wheat
Griff
Derek Smith
Rodney McCray
Ellison
2nd Five
LA Smith
Lancaster Gordon
T-Will
Billy T
Cliff Rozier
Unselfd was done before I was born and while his numbers are amazing, I'll have to defer to those who saw him play live.
Wheat
Griff
Derek Smith
Rodney McCray
Ellison
2nd Five
LA Smith
Lancaster Gordon
T-Will
Billy T
Cliff Rozier
Unselfd was done before I was born and while his numbers are amazing, I'll have to defer to those who saw him play live.
Name that player. Two time consensus first team AA, led the Cards to two conference championships while averaging a double double for his career. Second pick in the first round of the NBA draft, won rookie of the year and League MVP in his first year. Averaged a double double as a pro, and lead his team to an NBA championship. Later became their coach. College and NBA hall of fame. A great player, and a great man who represented Louisville with dignity and class. You youngsters need to read up on the great Wes Unseld.
We don't need a lecture on who Wes is. It's just natural to identify top players with championships, not just conference but national titles. For U of L that usually starts with Griff. Not to knock Wes but if he loved Louisville so much why does he call Baltimore home?
I never actually noticed the skin color until you said something.
But now that you have, I see all of yours are African-American.
Yeah but nobody but a blue neck slapd$ck would come up with a five like yours. And yeah I knew you wouldn't own up.
I did get to see Unseld. And everybody since.
Unseld belongs on there. He would have used any other Centers we've had since.
He KNEW where the rebound was going, snatched it, and had to the other end of the floor before the other team knew what hit them.
Subjective? Yes. But at least I've seen them with my own lying eyes to compare.
In reality, there is no "best" starting five. Or probably even top 15 fifteen. (3 starting fives)
No argument Rollem. There's no right or wrong here. I wished I had seen Unseld when he was at Uof L. I was in high school the same time as griff and saw all the guys play I listed. Went to the 82 Final Four in New Orleans. Unfortunately when I think of Unseld I see him in a Washington Bullets uniform and not Cardinal Red but he was indeed great.
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Beau Zach in the house!!!
I, like everyone, had high expectations for this young man. Very high rated recruit out of high school. UK actually recruited him. I actually thought of him while compiling my list, but he just never lived up to the hype,imo.
Just a guess, is that a most hyped recruit list?
Tough to pick five. Unseld, Griffith, Thompson, Wagner, Wheat. Crum coaching.
Hard team to beat...
Hard team to beat...
Unseld and Griffith were two of the greatest players to ever play at Louisville. I was just a little kid when Unseld was at Louisville and he was awesome to watch. I remember St. Louis came to town highly rated and they had a 7'2" center name Rich Newman and Unseld destroyed him.
My top 5 would be:
Griffith
Unseld
Wheat
R. McRay
Ellison
These are my top 5 players not my best starting lineup.
My top 5 would be:
Griffith
Unseld
Wheat
R. McRay
Ellison
These are my top 5 players not my best starting lineup.
Heres how I'd BUILD my Best Louisville Teams...
1st Team
Butch Beard PG
Darrell Griffith SG
Junior Bridgeman SF
Wes Unseld PF
Pervis Ellison C
2nd Team
DeJuan Wheat PG
LaBradford Smith SG
Rick Wilson SF
Wesley Cox PF
Charlie Tyra C
3rd Team
Phil Bond PG
Milt Wagner SG
Derek Smith SF
Larry Williams PF
Charles Jones C
4th Team
Alan Murphy PG
Lancaster Gordon SG
Billy Thompson SF
Rodney McCray PF
Gorgui Dieng C
5th Team
Peyton Siva PG
Russ Smith SG
Francisco Garcia SF
Montrezl Harrell PF
David Padgett C
6th Team
Reese Gaines PG
Taquan Dean SG
T - Will SF
Clifford Rozier PF
Samaki Walker C
Then we have these guys that played big rolls:
Jerry Eaves, Robbie Valentine, Evrick Sullivan, Wiley Brown, Scooter McCray, Bobby Turner, Felton Spencer, Jeff Hall, Earl Clark, Ellis Myles, Luke Whitehead, Tony Williams, Poncho Wright, B.J. Flynn, Tony Branch, Bobby Turner, Roger Burkman, Herbert Crook, Jim Price, Ron Thomas, Henry Bacon, Keith Williams, Eric Jhonson, Nate Johnson, Alex Sanders, Alvin Simms, Damion Dantzler, Marques Mabin, Larry O'Bannon, Bill Bunton, Stanley Bunton, Preston Knowles, Chane Behanon, Tony Kimbro, Kenny Payne, Manual Forest, Terry Howard, Don Goldstein, Jerry Smith, Edgar Sosa, Kyle Kurick, Luke Hancock, Wayne Blackshear, Kevin Ware, Stephan Van-Treese...And I HATE to say it...Andre MaGee...And there's15 or 20 more that could be added...But you get the point!!!
Just an FYI item...
Louisville with Wes Unseld and Butch Beard was the FAVORITE to win the Title in Wes Senior year, but they got upset due to an injury to Butch Beard if I'm not mistaken...So it's NOT like those two players did NOTHING for Louisville!!!
Kind of like when a 100% FT Shooter...Terry Howard missed the Front End of a 1 and 1 in the closing seconds of OT against UCLA in 1975...UCLA rebounded the ball and scored with 3 seconds left to win by ONE FRIGGEN POINT...THAT was Denny's BEST TEAM...And they SHOULD HAVE WON THE Title!!!
1st Team
Butch Beard PG
Darrell Griffith SG
Junior Bridgeman SF
Wes Unseld PF
Pervis Ellison C
2nd Team
DeJuan Wheat PG
LaBradford Smith SG
Rick Wilson SF
Wesley Cox PF
Charlie Tyra C
3rd Team
Phil Bond PG
Milt Wagner SG
Derek Smith SF
Larry Williams PF
Charles Jones C
4th Team
Alan Murphy PG
Lancaster Gordon SG
Billy Thompson SF
Rodney McCray PF
Gorgui Dieng C
5th Team
Peyton Siva PG
Russ Smith SG
Francisco Garcia SF
Montrezl Harrell PF
David Padgett C
6th Team
Reese Gaines PG
Taquan Dean SG
T - Will SF
Clifford Rozier PF
Samaki Walker C
Then we have these guys that played big rolls:
Jerry Eaves, Robbie Valentine, Evrick Sullivan, Wiley Brown, Scooter McCray, Bobby Turner, Felton Spencer, Jeff Hall, Earl Clark, Ellis Myles, Luke Whitehead, Tony Williams, Poncho Wright, B.J. Flynn, Tony Branch, Bobby Turner, Roger Burkman, Herbert Crook, Jim Price, Ron Thomas, Henry Bacon, Keith Williams, Eric Jhonson, Nate Johnson, Alex Sanders, Alvin Simms, Damion Dantzler, Marques Mabin, Larry O'Bannon, Bill Bunton, Stanley Bunton, Preston Knowles, Chane Behanon, Tony Kimbro, Kenny Payne, Manual Forest, Terry Howard, Don Goldstein, Jerry Smith, Edgar Sosa, Kyle Kurick, Luke Hancock, Wayne Blackshear, Kevin Ware, Stephan Van-Treese...And I HATE to say it...Andre MaGee...And there's15 or 20 more that could be added...But you get the point!!!
Just an FYI item...
Louisville with Wes Unseld and Butch Beard was the FAVORITE to win the Title in Wes Senior year, but they got upset due to an injury to Butch Beard if I'm not mistaken...So it's NOT like those two players did NOTHING for Louisville!!!
Kind of like when a 100% FT Shooter...Terry Howard missed the Front End of a 1 and 1 in the closing seconds of OT against UCLA in 1975...UCLA rebounded the ball and scored with 3 seconds left to win by ONE FRIGGEN POINT...THAT was Denny's BEST TEAM...And they SHOULD HAVE WON THE Title!!!
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I am a Dukie, so very sad day today for me. But I loved Rodney McCray, super player. Roger Burkman was very underrated but his defense was outstanding. You have to love Russ, a kid a lot of schools did not want. There are just so many great UL players, hard to narrow it down. Chane was tremendous but something happened off court or whatever, so I guess he is sullied a bit. Sort of like Lattener and now Grayson Allen, good players who are not even liked by teammates that much. Grant Hill hated Christian, and I assume that UL has had similar players. UL has been so good for so long, a top five is tough. I think D. Griff has to be near the top, hometown kid from Male HS I think...I am a Duke fan, so you can rag on me all u want...I am used to it. Great win today Cards.
That's a great lineup. Pervis plays the 4. I could live with that with maybe putting Peyton ahead of Wheat. Tough call. You gotta respect the ring.
Different styles, different eras, but Griff and Wes belong on any All-time Card team. They were transcendent. Arguments about the rest of the starters is ongoing and I change weekly. That is the sign of a great program.
IMO the big question should be who do you bring off the bench and when. Guys like Burkman, Knowles, Sims, Luke and Russ all earned their keep and more.
Maybe this will answer your question, captain snarky ;
Wes Unseld's wife, Connie, opened Unselds School in 1979. A coed private school located in southwestBaltimore, it has a daycare program, nursery school and a kindergarten-to-eighth grade curriculum. Connie and daughter Kimberley serve as teachers at the school.[3][4] He works as an office manager and head basketball coach.
A little short sighted on this one maybe?.
A NBA 13 yr playing career followed with a 7 yr coaching career all with the Baltimore Bullets then Washington Bullets would do that for you.
A little thing like 'connections' and attachments in your adult life expereinces.
In addition, he had a stellar career in the NBA.....and was the consummate team player and pro. One that was arguably better than Grif's pro career based on achievements alone. Look him up, then come back and talk with a better perspective on the issue.
A little short sighted? Sure. I got caught up in a discussion trying to say that griff means more to u of L because he brought us a NC, grew up in Louisville and then came back to the Ville after his playing days were over. Yeah he could have stayed in Salt Lake City but that wasn't his home. I was never trying to downplay Wes. He is one of the greatest to play for the Cards but this thread was not about who had the greatest NBA career. Yes that would be Wes. Maybe if I went back and answered the question U of L best five, then maybe it should include Wes and Charlie Tyra. I responded with the best five that I actually saw play. Sorry everyone took that to be offensive to Wes which was not my intention.
It is interesting that our greatest pro football player and basketball player both made their mark in Baltimore. I'm hoping that we can revisit this discussion in a few years and add Donovan Mitchell and VJ King to the discussion. Go Cards!
