NCAA Big Dance: Name Your Top 5 Most Memorable Players

Yeah, just looked on the website and you're right they do have a lot of players from UA. Is it like this with every ABA team?

 

Darvin Ham shattering the backboard vs UNC.

Bryce Drew was incredible in that game against Ole Miss - not just that last second shot - he ran that team.

Toby Bailey - Freshman who had a huge tourney for UCLA when they won the title in 95 w/ the O'Bannon brothers.

and of course - Lance Blanks, Travis Mays and Joey Wright.

And Royal Ivey shutting down Ben Gordon in the Sweet 16 game.

 

yes, i am. born in 74. in my lifetime..or at least when i was old enough to know...manning was the best NCAA performance. he was absolutely amazing.

 

Juan Mendez's name could be a notable NCCA name by time today is finished... The Rockets should pick this guy up in the draft!

 

I guess I jinxed myself.


C'mon Niagaa, put together a run.

 

I'll never forget Darvin Ham shattering that backboard

 

Granger-TSU

TSU was the 16th seed versus big bad Arkansas who had the big nasty. Granger, TSU's "star" player, injured his ankle early in the game, but played with it even though it caused him to hobble up and down court. Granger just kept making shots. My memory says he scored fifty-four, but it was probably only in the high twenties.

Arkansas ended up pulling it out by 2 or 3 points, but this is probably the best a 16 has ever done against the 1st seed.

 

Princeton lost to Georgetown by one. And Holy Cross took Kentucky to the wire a couple of years ago.

 

I was at that game!!! It was awesome. yeah..he was limping up and down the court and scoring at will it seemed like, as you said.

The game was in Austin. So all the UT fans were out rooting for TSU to beat Arkansas. There was a ton of animosity between Texas people and Arkansas people in the building...as much as I've ever seen at any sporting event. The Arkansas cheerleaders were doing the hook 'em horns down symbol (though UT was playing Oregon up on the west coast!!) and Nolen Richardson walked off the court doing that as well. In the post-game conference he talked about how he beat Texas before and he just did again. Ummm, Nolen. That was Texas SOUTHERN. Not the Longhorns.

 

A win is a win.

 

1982 NCAA Tourney Mideast:

11 Middle Tennessee State 50, 6 Kentucky 44

 

Not one guy but one unknown team in one of the most improbable games of all time: (and one of the best final 4's of all time)

This is a little long but it's a well writtten story that captures the feel of the Big Dance and why it exploded on to the national conciousness.



Villanova pulls a shocker - 1985
By Joe Gergen
For The Sporting News


Courtesy Villanova University

Rollie Massimino
The field of teams in the 1985 Final Four was not unlike a Fab Four featuring John, Paul, George and Wayne Newton. One member of the group simply didn't fit.

The sore thumb was Memphis State, the only surviving club in the NCAA Tournament not affiliated with the Big East Conference. Noting the other regional champions -- Georgetown, St. John's and Villanova, all Catholic institutions from the East -- Memphis State coach Dana Kirk claimed a victory of sorts before a shot had been fired.

"We already won the non-Catholic championship of the nation," he declared.

Ironically, the Tigers needed a last-second basket in the Midwest Regional semifinals to overcome Boston College, thereby depriving the Big East of a possible fourth team and a total monopoly of the Final Four. That achievement would have been all the more remarkable in a year in which the NCAA Tournament field, reflecting the skyrocketing popularity of the event, inflated to 64 teams.

As it was, no conference had advanced as many as three teams to the national semifinals. That this feat was accomplished by the Big East, which had begun competition only five seasons before among schools that never had won an NCAA title, was a tribute to the vision of Big East commissioner Dave Gavitt.

The former Providence coach and athletic director had conceived the idea of a league with ties to the major media markets in the East and sold it to the administrators of the traditionally independent schools.

The prime locations of the institutions enabled Gavitt to put together a lucrative television package, and before long the Big East was a financial success.

With Georgetown's rise to prominence, the league quickly gained stature for its high quality of play, too. And in 1985, one year after the Hoyas had become the first Big East team to win the national title, the conference virtually had swept the board at the Final Four.

There was no question about the favorite in Lexington, Ky. Georgetown had lost only twice in 36 games, and those losses (to conference rivals St. John's and Syracuse) had come by a total of three points.

It was the Hoyas' third Final Four appearance in the career of consensus All-American Patrick Ewing, a 7-foot senior center.

"Georgetown is as good a team as has ever been assembled," Villanova coach Rollie Massimino said on the eve of the semifinals, "and that's only because of Patrick. He's the best to ever play college basketball.

"When it comes time to make the decision to win or lose in the last four minutes, he's involved in every single defensive play. For that reason, Georgetown is a cut above St. John's and Memphis State."

Not to mention Villanova, which had been beaten twice by Georgetown and three times by St. John's that season. But with their constantly changing defenses, experienced lineup and ability to control the tempo, the Wildcats were a difficult opponent.

The absence of a shot clock, which had been utilized during the season but not in the tournament, enhanced Villanova's chances.

Villanova faced a test in Memphis State, the Metro Conference champion. The Tigers had won 31 of 34 games behind the play of 6-10 consensus All-American Keith Lee, 7-foot center William Bedford and 5-10 guard Andre Turner.

Memphis State had greater firepower than Villanova but couldn't solve the Wildcats' defense. And Lee, as he had many times before, spent much of the game in foul trouble and eventually fouled out.

Villanova advanced to the championship game, 52-45, holding an opponent under 50 points for the fourth time in five NCAA Tournament games.

Like Memphis State, St. John's was 31-3 entering the national semifinals. The Redmen had been ranked No. 1 in the country after edging Georgetown in January but were overwhelmed, 85-69 and 92-80, in subsequent games against the Hoyas.

With 7-foot Bill Wennington and 6-8 Walter Berry up front and consensus All-American Chris Mullin shooting from the perimeter, the Redmen had enjoyed the greatest season in coach Lou Carnesecca's long tenure.

"We take great pride in our defense," Georgetown coach John Thompson said, "and Chris Mullin has presented more problems for our defense than any player I've coached against."

But on March 30, before 23,124 fans at Rupp Arena, Georgetown presented one more problem than even Mullin, the college Player of the Year in some quarters, could fathom.

His name was David Wingate, and he chased the St. John's star all over the court in the Hoyas' box-and-one defense.

For long stretches of the game, Mullin didn't even touch the ball. He was limited to eight shots and eight points, ending his streak of consecutive games scoring in double figures at 100. He managed one basket in the second half as Georgetown drew away to a 77-59 victory.

More than ever, it appeared Georgetown was destined to become the tournament's first repeat champion since the final days of the UCLA dynasty.

"I'd have to put them with the great San Francisco teams of Bill Russell and the great Kentucky teams, Alex Groza and that club," Carnesecca said. "I'd also have to put them with the great UCLA clubs and the Indiana team (1976) that had five (future) pros.

"We tried everything, but when a club like Georgetown is performing at that level of proficiency, there's nothing you can do."

Villanova was not convinced. Although the Wildcats had suffered 10 defeats, they had given Georgetown fits before succumbing -- 52-50 in overtime and 57-50. And both of those games were played with a 45-second shot clock.

"Knowing you can take your time is great," said 6-6 Dwayne McClain, the Wildcats' finest marksman. "When you don't have to rush, you can stay fresh.

"The first two games against Georgetown started like track meets."

On the afternoon of the final, before the team's pregame meal, Massimino addressed his players.

"I told all the kids," he said, "to go to their rooms, sit for 15 minutes and tell themselves, 'You're not going to play to lose. You're going to play to win.'

"I told them, 'You can't play tentative; you can't play scared; you can't play not to lose. You're as good as the team you're playing tonight.'"

For one night, at least, Villanova was as good as any team that ever played the game. That fact began to dawn on the crowd late in the first half as the Wildcats, trailing by only one point, held the ball for a final shot.

Thousands of fans rose to applaud the team that had become America's favorite underdog, and they stayed on their feet to celebrate forward Harold Pressley's basket, which boosted Villanova into a 29-28 halftime lead.

The Wildcats had made 13 of their first 18 shots under intense defensive pressure. The obvious question was whether they could maintain that percentage. The answer was no. Instead, they improved upon it.

What followed was 20 minutes of near-perfect basketball, as flawless a half as any team had played in the history of the tournament.

The Wildcats attempted 10 field goals in the second half; they made nine. They shot 14 free throws in the final 2:11; they converted 11. And even those numbers don't begin to tell how superbly the Wildcats performed en route to a stunning 66-64 upset.

They had to. Nothing less would have succeeded. Villanova used a 9-2 run early in the second half to build a 38-32 lead. The Wildcats' defense held guard/forward Reggie Williams, who had 10 points in the first half, scoreless and limited Ewing to six points for a game total of 14.

Still, the Hoyas came back on the strength of their own defense and Wingate's shooting to take leads at 42-41, 44-43, 46-45 and 54-53, the latter occasion with 4:50 left.

In the most crucial stage of the game, Harold Jensen, a 6-5 reserve guard, stepped forward. After the Wildcats had passed the ball around the perimeter for almost 40 seconds, searching for the right man in the right place, Jensen hit an open jump shot from the right wing to reclaim the lead, 55-54, with 2:36 left.

It was the sophomore's fifth basket in as many attempts, and it was the last field goal Villanova would need.

Wingate was charged with an offensive foul on Georgetown's next possession and the Wildcats went into their delay game, forcing the Hoyas to foul.

Ed Pinckney, the senior center who outplayed Ewing in the most important game of his career, hit two free throws to begin Villanova's victory parade. Jensen's four free throws opened a 61-56 lead that Georgetown could not overcome.

Villanova's .786 field-goal percentage was an all-time tournament record -- and one team's solution to combating a superior force.

"They're definitely the better team," Pinckney, who was named the Final Four's outstanding player, said of Georgetown. "If we played 10 times, they'd probably win a majority of them."

But only one game is played for the national championship, and on the night of April 1, 1985, Villanova was the equal of anyone. Pinckney had 16 points and six rebounds, McClain knifed through the Georgetown defense for 17 points and senior point guard Gary McLain not only hit all three shots he took from the field but also turned the ball over just twice against a defense that contested every dribble.

"Without him," Massimino said of McLain, "there's no way we win this game."

That the Wildcats did win was a remarkable accomplishment.

"Any time you shoot that percentage," said Thompson, who had his team stand and applaud the winning players as they mounted the victory stand, "you deserve the praise. You couldn't get much better."

http://tsn.sportingnews.com/archives/ncaa/1985.html

 

Some great names on this list. Here are a few more:

Jason Kidd
Billy Donovan
Steve Alford
Keith Smart
Glen Rice
Mark Macon
Patrick Ewing
Reggie Williams
Miles Simon
Ed O'Bannon
TJ Ford
Steve Nash
Randolph Childress
Donald(?) Williams (the UNC sharpshooter)
Larry Johnson

 

Definately Darvin Ham.

 

John Wallace

 

this guy was absolutely incredible during the ACC tourney that year...i think that was 95. as dominant as i've ever seen a guard to be over the course of a few games in college basketball.

 

Yep, it was incredible to watch.

 

Danny Ferry
Bill Walton
Milt Wagner

 

Magic Johnson
Akeem Olajuwon
James Worthy
Danny Manning
Christian Laetner

I don't remember anything specific before Magic and Bird locked horns in the title game. Otherwise I would say that Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell deserved to be on the list, but that is pure speculation based on the history books.

 

When I first saw this thread I though of Pervis Ellison and Arceneaux.

When I think of Darvin Ham, I think about a player named Sonny Alvarado missing a layup for UT on the same day that would have advanced them to the Sweet 16 past Tim Duncan's Wake Forest team. Chris Klack was a freshman and he was having a great game against the Demon Deacons and Alvarado blew when he should have dunked the ball.


I used to play pickup ball with Granger a few years back. I can't believe he almost singlehandedly beat Arkansas. His game seems very ordinary.