Not sure how you would know that, unless you mean the greatest combination of academic and athletic success. His success in a difficult finance major was well documented, but not sure we really know about the academic achievements of most players. Regardless, I think a better superlative would be simply, best UConn center. Apologies to Thabeet and Clingan but I will take Emeka over those two. His last year at UConn was historic dominance on both ends of the court.
I recall hearing that he had a 4.0 as a finance major in three years. If that is true (it would not have been quoted if not) He could only be tied at worst since he had a perfect academic score (and did it in 3 years!).
I don't recall his GPA but I believe it. If so and if you judge academic success solely on GPA then yes he would at least be tied for first. The fact that his finance major was not easy further helps your case, but again, I don't know every major and GPA of every UConn player all time. Doing it in 3 years is also a point in your favor, but again, don't know if other players did it too. But if you want to factor in how good of a player he was, it seems like a safe claim.
Well, we know he graduated Magna Cum Laude. I'm sure if there were boatloads of other UConn athletes that did the same, we would have heard about them. Then combine that with 1st team All American, National Champion and at least one Player of the Year award in his sport.....I think it's safe to say his accomplishments are unmatched at UConn, especially given the profile of the sport he played.
I did mean combination of academic and athletic achievement. He epitomized what a student athlete should be. 3.8 GPA, graduated with honors in 3 years from the School of Business. Athletic accomplishments, too many to mention. And he is as good of an ambassador for the program that you will find. He was very approachable at the Final Fours; would stop and take photos with anyone who asked, always with a big smile on his face.
Can't argue with that. He was a class act all the way!
That's the women's standard for number retirement. I'm not sure if the standard is the same for the men.
Bro, let's be real. The kid was an absolute stud both as a player and a student. If anyone else had pulled off this "double" we would have heard about it. Having met Emeka once, I can say that he handles himself with grace and poise, befitting of a guy of his caliber. Truly a high quality person.
HOF remains the standard for Women's team.
And he was neverv100%
I'm shocked that it isn't retired already!
IIRC, he didn’t have 4.0 because he tested out of Calculus and got a B. I would like to know the name of any college All-American basketball player who tested out of calculus. I would like to know the name of any other basketball player who’s tested out of calculus.
If he took it AP in HS and it was a great course then yeah. Isn’t Alex engineering? But most players are not those hard majors like math, science or engineering. Actually most college students are not either.
Maybe not until April 21 when Emeka’s inducted in the SBA Hall of Fame.
That was my recollection as well. It was required for a finance major and he didn’t want to waste his time - so he just read the textbook and took the test.
He was also named The 2004 Academic All-American of the year and 2004 Big East Men's Scholar Athlete of the year. I wasn't aware of this until I did a little research. He certainly was a highly motivated young man based on his performance on the court and classroom. JC said when he recruited him that we were going to get someone very special. In retrospect, kind of an understatement.
