The Players

The year 1982 was a good one for James Wor t h y . He was named a consensus first team all-American, the NCAA to u r n a - ment MVP and helped lead to the NCAA ti t l e .

Er n i e Di G r e g o r i o averaged 25.6 points per game in five NC A A to u r n a - ment contests for Providence in 1973.

Na v y ’ s had an N C A As e a s o n record 207 blocked shots in 1986.

Pr i n c e t o n ’ s scored the most points ever by an individual in a Final Four game with 58 against Wic h i t a State in 1965. Bradley sank 14 free throws to rank him in a tie for fourth for most free throws made in a Final Four ga m e .

Ð 145 Ð In leading UNLV to the 1990 NCAA title, Larry Johnson led all tournament players in rebounds and blocked shots.

Jerry Lucas of Ohio State led the nation in field-goal per- centage three ti m e s , re b o u n d i n g twice and was named player of the year in 1961 and 19 6 2 .

Lew Al c i n d o r (K a r e e m Ab d u l - J a b b a r ) is the only player to earn three NCAA to u r n a m e n t MV P aw a r d s . Alcindor won the honors while leading UC L A to na t i o n a l ch a m p i - onships in 1967, 1968 Always looking to pass, Duke’s holds the and 1969. NC A A career record for assists.

Ð 146 Ð of Kansas was named to the Final Four all- time team along with Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) of UCLA, of State, Earvin “Magic” Johnson of Michigan State and of North Carolina.

Darrell Griffith was No. 1 after he scored 23 points to lead Lo u i s v i l l e over UCLA in the 1980 NC A A ch a m - pi o n s h i p ga m e .

Had the three- existed during ’s career from 1968- 70, the LSU star would have added who knows how many more points to his NCAA career record total of 3,667.

Only one father and son combination qualified for NC A A Men’s Basketball’s Finest and that’s the Bibbys. Father led UCLA as a to three NCAA ti t l e s while son, Mike (pictured above), took Arizona to the cham- pionship as a freshman point guard in 1997.

Ð 147 Ð led sixth-seeded Kansas over Oklahoma in the 1988 NCAA title game as he scored 31 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, blocked two shots, had five steals and was named the tournament’s MVP. Ch r i s t i a n La e t t n e r appeared in 23 NCAA to u r - na m e n t games for Duke from 1989-92 and scored 407 points. Both marks are to u r n a m e n t ca r e e r re c o r d s .

Du k e ’ s is one of only 13 play- ers to earn three first-team acade- mic all-America ho n o r s .

One of the newest members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Larry Bird led Indiana State to the NC A A championship game in 1979. It has been the only tournament appearance for Indiana State.

Ð 148 Ð scored 24 points to lead past Syracuse in was the 1996 NCAA championship game. almost perfect when he led UC L A pa s t Memphis in the 1973 NCAA ti t l e game. Wal t o n made 21 of 22 shots from the field for a Final Four record 95.5 shooting per- centage and a ch a m p i o n s h i p game record 44 po i n t s .

Among the numer- ous honors earned by North Carolina St a t e ’ s David Thompson are the N C A At o u r n a m e n t MV P , several pl a y e r - o f - t h e - y e a r awards, three first- team all-America selections and mem- led San Francisco to back-to-back NCAA ch a m - bership in the pionships in 1955 and 1956. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fa m e .

Ð 149 Ð Ho u s t o n ’ s Akeem Olajuwon ( changed to Hakeem) was the last player from a nonchampionship team to be named the NC A A tournament MVP when he earned the honor in 1983.

Walt Hazzard was named the NC A A to u r n a - ment MVP in 1964 when UC L A won its first national ch a m p i o n s h i p .

A master at the line, In d i a n a ’ s Steve Al f o r d led the nation in fr e e - t h r o w pe r c e n t a g e in 1984.

Isiah Thomas had a game-high 23 points to lead Indiana past North Carolina in the 1981 championship game.

Ð 150 Ð To be , you would have Ed O’Bannon has lasting memories of the 1995 season as the to earn several NC A A tournament MVP led UCLA to its first championship in 20 pl a y e r - o f - t h e - ye a r s . year awards, first team all- America honors, be named to the Final Four all- time team and hit the winning basket in the NC A A ch a m p i - onship game. In case you didn’t kn o w , “Mike” is Michael Jordan of North Ca r o l i n a .

Of all the great centers to play for Georgetown, tops the sc h o o l ’ s list as the Hoyas’ al l - time leading rebounder and shot blocker.

Grant Hill played in 20 NCAA tournament games for Duke from 1991 to 1994 and totaled a tournament career record 39 steals.

Ð 151 Ð In the highest- rated televised Bryant “Big Country” Reeves led Oklahoma State to the 1995 college basket- Final Four, the Cowboys’ first appearance there since 1951. ball of all-time, sl a m m e d Michigan State past Larry Bird- led Indiana State in the 1979 NC A A title game as almost one- quarter of all TVs in the U.S. were tuned in.

John Wal l a c e was a double threat in his four years at Syracuse as he collected 1,065 rebounds and 2, 1 19 points.

Sean Elliott decided to attend the in his hometown Tucson and ended up leading the Wildcats to their first Final Four appearance in 1988.

Ð 152 Ð The Coaches

The highest winning percentage in the NCAA tournament for a coach belongs to , who was 11-1 (.917) while lead- ing Cincinnati to two NCAA titles and a runner-up spot in the early 1960s. is one of only 11 coaches to take two dif- ferent teams to the Final Four. Bartow guided Memphis in 1973 and UCLA in 1976.

Tubby Smith topped off a period of five straight NCAA tournament appearances with three dif- ferent teams by winning the 1998 national championship with Kentucky.

Denny Crum is one of only three active coaches with more than one NCAA championship, having led Louisville to the title in 1980 and 1986.

Ð 153 Ð coached Kentucky for 41 years, totaled 876 vic- tories and won four NCAA championships. Through the 1998 season, has led the Orangemen to 18 NCAA tournament appearances in 22 seasons at Syracuse.

When Texas Christian made the 1998 NCAA tournament field, it marked the third differ- ent tourna- ment school for , who also guided Lamar and Oklahoma.

Guy Lewis took to five Final Four appearances in his 30-year career with