NCAA Basketball: Mount Rushmores for the top 25 programs of all-time

Virginia Basketball Mount Rushmore: Ralphy Sampson, Tony Bennett, Sean Singletary, Kyle Guy

Ralph Sampson

The undoubtedly best player in Virginia Cavaliers history, Ralph Sampson was a force rarely seen in college basketball. He was dominant during his four seasons in Charlottesville, averaging 16.9 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game for his career.

Sampson was the first player to win three National Player of the Year awards since Bill Walton and was a consensus All-American in this sophomore, junior and senior seasons as well. Though he didn’t win a national championship, the 7-4 big man led Virginia to the NIT title in 1980, the Final Four in 1981 and the Elite Eight in 1983.

Injuries ultimately kept him from having what looked like a promising NBA career, as he played in just over half (441) of the possible games in his 10-year career (820).

Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett would have been on Virginia’s Mount Rushmore anyway, even if the Cavaliers had not won the 2019 National Championship. But in doing so, it only solidifies his standing in program history and is one of the very best coaches in the country.

Not only has Bennett led the Cavaliers to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in eight years and won the school’s only national title, he has done the unthinkable – unseated the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils as the best team in the ACC. Virginia has won four of the last six ACC regular season championships and two of the last six ACC Tournaments.

Yes, he’s the only coach in history to lose to a No. 16 seed and his slow, methodical defensive style is considered “boring” by many, but there is no doubting the overall results he produces with great regularity.

Sean Singletary

Sean Singletary was a great player for the Cavaliers in the mid-2000s, but is often overlooked because he only made the NCAA Tournament one time. That’s not his fault, though. The 6-foot guard ranks in the top five in UVA history in points (fifth), assists (third) and steals (second). He also was named an All-American after his junior season and was a First-Team All-ACC selection three times.

However, Singletary was unable to find similar success in the NBA. A second-round pick by the Sacramento Kings in 2008, he only last two seasons in the league before playing overseas.

Kyle Guy

Kyle Guy’s collegiate career is over after he announced that he will stay in the 2019 NBA Draft and miss his senior season, but he leaves Virginia as one of the program’s most accomplished players.

For starters, there’s that national championship no one from any other era has on their résumé. Guy played a huge part in that, too, thanks to the game-winning free throws he made against the Auburn Tigers in the Final Four.

Guy doesn’t have eye-popping stats because of the pace of play Virginia plays at and the way they limit possessions, but his accolades show the impact he had on games. He was a First-Team All-ACC selection and Third-Team All-American in both 2018 and 2019, and he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2019 Final Four.