Louisville Basketball: Top 15 players to ever play for legend coach Denny Crum

4. Rodney McCray

McCray stood 6’7 and had been a star at the high school level in Mount Vernon, New York, but this forward made his way to Louisville in 1979 and didn’t realize the success he’d experience under Crum with these Cardinals. He wasn’t the flashiest scorer in the world, but he was an above-average defender who contributed to one of the greatest runs of success in program history.

An important figure all four seasons in Louisville, McCray helped lead the Cardinals to the national championship as a freshman, with a pair of nice outings in the NCAA Tournament. He averaged at least 7 rebounds a game in all four collegiate seasons and saw his shooting numbers increase, hitting nearly 59% of his field goals in both his sophomore and senior seasons. Even more important, McCray was a major part of Louisville advancing again to the Final Four in both 1982 and 1983, these final two seasons on campus.

McCray was part of a lot of winning basketball at Louisville and his success saw him selected 3rd overall in the 1983 NBA Draft. He’d spent the next decade playing professionally and was twice named to the NBA’s All-Defensive team in the late 80’s. McCray was never a superstar, but did win a championship ring with the Chicago Bulls at the tail end of his career. McCray is one of five Cardinals with at least 1,000 career rebounds and sits among the program’s leaders in blocks as well; he had quite the impact during his college days.