NCAA Basketball: Top 10 programs that can be called ‘Big Man U’

1. NCAA Basketball “Big Man U” programs – UCLA Bruins

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest college basketball player of all time. Bill Walton had the greatest NCAA Tournament championship game performance of all time. Both went on to Hall of Fame careers in the NBA that included championships, league MVPs and Finals MVPs.

Kareem and Walton aren’t just the top two players in UCLA history, they are arguably the top two players in college basketball history.

Kareem, who played in college under his birth name Lew Alcindor, led the Bruins to three straight national titles and an 88-2 record from 1966-69. He averaged 26.4 points and 15.5 rebounds per game on his way to three national player of the year and three Final Four MOP victories.

After wrapping up the GOAT college career, Kareem was picked No. 1 in the 1969 NBA Draft and put together a GOAT-level pro career. Six league MVPs, two Finals MVPs, six NBA championships, 11 All-Defensive Team nods, and he’s still the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Walton led the Bruins to national championships in 1972 and 1973. He was named Final Four MOP both times; in the second title game win over Memphis, Walton scored 44 points on 21-of-22 field goal shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Like Kareem, Walton won national player of the year in each of his three seasons at UCLA. He was taken with the No. 1 pick in the 1974 NBA Draft and collected a league MVP, Finals MVP, and NBA championship before injuries slowed him down and cut his prime short.

Power forward Sidney Wicks bridged the gap between Kareem and Walton, and he won three national championships in his three years with the Bruins.

Wicks wasn’t as individually accomplished as the other two legends, but who could live up to those standards? Wicks was Final Four MOP in 1970 and national player of the year in 1971, averaging 21.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game that season. He went on to be NBA Rookie of the Year and a four-time All-Star.

Kevin Love only played one season at UCLA, and that freshman campaign resulted in a Pac-10 Player of the Year award, a first-team All-America selection, and a trip to the 2008 Final Four.

Marques Johnson was on the Bruins’ 1975 national title team as a sophomore, but the 6’7″ power forward’s brightest shining moment came as a senior. Johnson won AP Player of the Year while averaging 21.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.

UCLA’s 11th and most recent national championship team in 1995 was led by power forward Ed O’Bannon. He was national Player of the Year, Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year and Final Four MOP, averaging 20.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game as a senior.

Then there’s Don MacLean, who didn’t win a national title but does hold the distinction of being UCLA’s all-time leading scorer (and the Pac-12’s all-time leading scorer) ahead of all those other great players.

MacLean, a 6’10” power forward, was an All-America and three-time all-conference performer who averaged 20.5 points per game over four seasons.

Other notables: Richard Washington, David Greenwood, Dave Meyers, Curtis Rowe, Swen Nater, Mark Eaton

Handfuls of national championships, handfuls of national player of the year awards, some all-time records, sustained greatness over more than 50 years … coming from a versatile and stylistically diverse cast of centers and power forwards who starred in college and the NBA.

There isn’t a thing missing from UCLA’s case to be “Big Man U.” No other program can beat the Bruins here.