UNC Basketball: All-time Kentucky vs. All-time North Carolina teams
The Kentucky Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels face each other this weekend. They have two of the basketball programs in the nation.
Hordes of great players have come through Kentucky and North Carolina. Some of them earned prestiguous awards for their on-court achievements, ranging from National Player of the Year, Conference Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of a Final Four.
Lets examine who are the best of the best from Kentucky and North Carolina. We will take a look at Kentucky’s All-Time team and UNC’s All-Time team.
Jack “Goose” Givens, UK (1975-1978)
Jack Givens is one of the best college basketball players ever. His NCAA Championship performance ranks among some of the best in history.
Givens scored 41 points in 1978 title game against the Duke Blue Devils. Likewise, he was the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of 1978 Final Four. Givens was the captain of the 1978 National Championship team that went 30-2 during the 1977-1978 season.
Givens averaged 16.6 points and 6.4 rebounds for the career, c made most field goals in Kentucky basketball program all-time (843), three-time All-American, 1978 Helms Foundation, National Player of the Year, All-SEC First-Team 1976, 1977, 1978, State of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, University of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame. His #21 jersey is retired.
Tony Delk, UK (1992-1996)
Tony Delk is a household name in the Bluegrass State. Delk is one of the greatest basketball players for the University of Kentucky. Delk averaged 14.2 points and 3.5 rebounds during his college career at Kentucky. He ranks second all-time in steals (201) and fifth all-time in total points (1,890).
During his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, Delk averaged nearly 17 points per game. Delk has more college achievements including the MOP 1996 Final Four, 1996 SEC Player of the Year, All-SEC Third Team (1994), All-SEC First Team (1995 & 1996), University of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame. His #00 jersey is retired.
Jamal Mashburn, UK (1990-1993)
Jamal Mashburn, better known as “Monster Mash,” had one of the most versatile skills sets for the Wildcats. He was big enough to play the power forward position, but agile enough to be a small forward. Mashburn guarded both forward positions and some centers during his college career.
Monster Mash averaged 18.8 points and 7.8 rebounds during his three-year career at Kentucky. During his freshman season, Mashburn was a member of the All-SEC Third Team and All-SEC Freshman Team. In the next season, he was a second-team All-American and first-team All-SEC as a sophomore,
During his junior and final season at Kentucky, Mashburn was a consensus first-team All-American, 1993 SEC Player of the Year, All-SEC First-Team State of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, University of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.
His #24 jersey is retired.
Anthony Davis, UK (2011-2012)
Anthony Davis may arguably be the most talented player to ever play for the University of Kentucky. The story goes that Kentucky head coach John Calipari recruited Davis as a guard since he was 6’3″ in high school. By the time Davis enrolled at UK, he was 6’9″. Instead of being a guard, Davis became a center.
During the 2011-2012 season, Davis averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game. As a center, Davis can play any position. 2012 should be called, “The Year of the Brow” simply because Davis dominated college basketball in his lone season as a scholar-athlete.
In addition, Davis was the 2012 consensus National Player of the Year (Sporting News, USBWA, Rupp, AP, Basketball Times, Wooden, Naismith), MOP of 2012 Final Four, National Defensive Player of the Year, National Freshman of the Year, 2012 SEC Player of the Year, 2012 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, 2012 All-SEC First Team, 2012 All-SEC Freshman Team.
Dan Issel UK (1967-1970)
Dan Issel may not have the popularity and following that other players on this list have. Despite his lack of notoriety. Issel has the statistics to support the fact that he is arguably the best basketball player to come from the University of Kentucky.
Issel averaged 25.8 points and 13 rebounds during his three-year college career at Kentucky. Issel made second-most field goals in Kentucky basketball program all-time (825), all-time leader in points (2138), all-time leader in rebounds (1,078), All-American in 1969 and 1970, All-SEC in 1968, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, State of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, University of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame. His #44 jersey is retired.
Issel had a long NBA career as a player and a coach.
Phil Ford, UNC (1974-1978)
Phil Ford averaged 18.6 points and six assists per game during his UNC career. Ford was the 1978 Wooden Award winner. His team was the 1977 national runner-up for the national championship. He won a gold medal as college player in 1976 (under Dean Smith). Likewise, Ford was a two-time ACC Male Athlete of the Year and a three-time All-American.
He held the all-time assists-per-game record (7.0) at UNC until it was broken by Ed Cota and Ford now ranks third all-time in assists at UNC (753). He held the UNC record for most assists in one game (14) until it was later broken. He also held scoring record at UNC until it was broken by Tyler Hansbrough in 2009.
Michael Jordan, UNC (1981-1984)
Michael Jordan averaged 17.7 points and five rebounds while at UNC. Jordan is arguably the best basketball player that ever lived. Hands down. Jordan remains the face of UNC basketball as the best player to ever play at the University of North Carolina.the top UNC shooting guard of all-time,
Jordan’s greatest achievements while at UNC include being the 1982 ACC Freshman of the Year, 1983 and 1984 ACC Player of the Year, the Naismith and Wooden Award winner in 1984 and a first-team All-American in consecutive years (1983, 1984).
Jordan was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. In addition, he was selected as ESPN’s Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century.
Lennie Rosenbluth, UNC (1954-1957)
Lennie Rosenbluth averaged 26.9 points during his UNC career. Rosenbluth holds many UNC records and a few ACC conference records. Some of his noteworthy accomplishments include:
Rosenbluth led North Carolina to a perfect 32-0 record during the 1956-57 season and a victory over the Kansas Jayhawks in the 1957 NCAA National Championship. He was named the 1957 Helms Foundation Collegiate Player of the Year and three-time All-ACC selection for his UNC career. He was a three-time first-team All-ACC selection.
Likewise, Rosenbluth was a consensus selection to the first-team All-American squad. Until Duke’s Christian Laettner, Rosenbluth was the only college basketball player to be named the National Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP and NCAA Regional MVP in the same season.
In 2002, Rosenbluth was named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary Team consisting of the 50 best basketball players ever in the ACC conference.
James Worthy, UNC (1979-1982)
James Worthy averaged 14.5 points and 7.4 rebounds during his career at UNC. Worthy was the MVP of the 1982 Final Four and led the Tar Heels to a national championship over Georgetown in 1982. Worthy was a All-American in 1981 and 1982. He was the Helms Foundation’s 1982 National Player of the Year in 1982. During this same season (1981-82), he was the ACC Athlete of the Year and first-team All ACC.
Worthy accomplished things no other player ever did at UNC. He was the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four after leading his team to a national championship. Then, he was selected as the number one pick in the NBA Draft.
Worthy was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2003. He was a part of the 2016 ACC Legends Class, in addition to being named one of the NBA’s 50th greatest players of all time.
Tyler Hansbrough, UNC (2005-2009)
Tyler Hansbrough averaged 20.2 points and 8.6 rebounds as a Tar Heel. Better known as “Psycho T,” Hansbrough is the most decorated North Carolina Tar Heels player.
Hansbrough holds several records, most notably
Hansbrough was the National Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, ACC Male Athlete of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP and NCAA East Regional Player of the Year during the 2007-08.
He was the 13th ACC player and first Tar Heel to earn first-team All-ACC Tournament honors three times. Hansbrough led the Tar Heels to a national championship in 2009.
The two teams played an alumni game a few years back but it wasn’t highlighted with the star power you think.
If the all-time greats from Kentucky and North Carolina faced each other in a game, then there would be a great deal of great players on the bench.
Kentucky would have Antoine Walker, John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Rex Chapman, Kenny Walker, Rajon Rondo, Derek Anderson and Pat Riley.
North Carolina’s bench would include Sam Perkins, Kenny Smith, Larry Miller, Charles Scott, Antawn Jamison, Billy Cunningham, Rasheed Wallace and Tywon Lawson.
The list of great players at each school is infinite, because there are so many. This weekend, we wil lsee two of the best schools to ever represent college basketball.
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