NCAA Basketball: Top 10 programs that can be called ‘Big Man U’
By Amaar Burton
3. NCAA Basketball “Big Man U” programs – Kentucky Wildcats
It’s easy to forget, but there were good reasons why Sam Bowie was taken ahead of Michael Jordan with the No. 2 pick in the 1984 NBA Draft.
Bowie, a 7’1″ center, was a three-time All-SEC pick and All-America who helped Kentucky get to the 1984 Final Four. In his best season for the Wildcats, he averaged 17.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game.
Even in college, though, the injuries that plagued Bowie’s career were a factor. He missed two whole seasons at Kentucky due to a stress fracture in his leg.
Anthony Davis is one Kentucky big man who has lived up to his draft hype. The No. 1 pick in 2012 had one of the best one-and-done freshman seasons in history: National player of the year, national defensive player of the year, national championship, Final Four MOP, SEC Player of the Year, led the country in blocks, and he averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game.
In the pros, Davis is a multi-time All-NBA first-team pick, All-Defensive first-team pick, All-Star, and league leader in blocks. In his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers he’s playing the 1A role next to LeBron James and the team currently has the best record in the Western Conference.
Karl-Anthony Towns followed Davis’ path as a one-and-done Kentucky big man who was picked No. 1 in the draft (2015). Towns was SEC Freshman of the Year and an All-America — despite playing just over 20 minutes per game on a loaded Wildcats squad — who helped UK go undefeated until they lost in the Final Four to Wisconsin.
Nerlens Noel was also supposed to follow the one-and-done, No. 1 pick, NBA All-Star track.
He came to Kentucky in 2012 right after Davis as the top-ranked recruit in the country, and Noel was doing great — 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per game — until tearing the ACL in his left knee. The 6’10” center still won SEC Defensive Player of the Year, but Kentucky’s season slipped into an NIT bid, and Noel slipped to the No. 6 pick in the 2013 draft.
Before Bowie and all the one-and-dones, there was Dan Issel.
In three seasons from 1967-70, Issel was a three-time All-SEC pick and two-time All-America center. In his senior year, Issel averaged 33.9 points and 13.0 rebounds per game, and he remains UK’s all-time leading scorer.
Issel went the ABA route as a pro and stayed local, playing for the Kentucky Colonels. He led the ABA in scoring as a rookie and was an All-Star in each of his five seasons with the Colonels. He led the team to an ABA championship in 1975.
Other notables: Alex Groza, DeMarcus Cousins, Mel Turpin, Bill Spivey, Rick Robey, Jamaal Magloire, Willie Cauley-Stein, Cotton Nash, Julius Randle