Huskies on SI.com 10 Greatest Huskies of All-Time Ranking

[CONN78SEJ]

I was at Storrs during Hanson's time. Went to many games at the Fieldhouse and HCC in his final year. Very good player. Major caveat: Half his schedule was vs Yankee Conference. Most of the rest from NY/NJ/MA. UConn's SOS was in bottom third of nation all four years.

Quimby's teams played even weaker schedules - bottom 15% each year.

Toby's and Wes's teams played even weaker schedules than that - bottom 10% each year.

UConn was basically playing a schedule that a Southern, SWAC or MEAC team plays these days. Would you really compare a good player from any of those conferences to someone like Kevin Freeman who played more than 25% of his games vs ranked opponents?

That doesn’t detract at all from the fact that Bialosuknia made All-American Honorable Mention and was invited to a couple of All Star games, and in one of those he was voted MVP in that game. You can not ignore that the players he played against in that game were nationally recognized collegiate players. The guy was legit and should be on ANY top 10 all time UConn list. I’m old enough to remember him and do recall the local news stories and local sports reporters like Dick Galiette going crazy about his exploits on the court.

 

[storrsroars]

Are Bazz, Kemba and Newton really in a league with Huskies than Chris Smith, Ray, Rip because they have rings?

In addition to being great guards, their leadership led to rings. "Cardiac" Kemba was a thing. Newton knew how to carry a team through a trough. And the thing I remember most about Bazz wasn't an actual play, it was dressing down Boatright to get everyone on the same page.

Yes, they definitely belong.

 

[Sonova]

That doesn’t detract at all from the fact that Bialosuknia made All-American Honorable Mention and was invited to a couple of All Star games, and in one of those he was voted MVP in that game. You can not ignore that the players he played against in that game were nationally recognized collegiate players. The guy was legit and should be on ANY top 10 all time UConn list. I’m old enough to remember him and do recall the local news stories and local sports reporters like Dick Galiette going crazy about his exploits on the court.

You’ve made your point. People have listened and respectfully disagreed. All American Honorable Memtion isn’t a case for Top 10 at UConn anymore, nor is 48 free throws consecutively. Those are accolades from an era long gone. No need to be insistent. You have your point of view but, frankly, experts and BY knuckleheads don’t remotely agree that he is a Top 10 on ANY list.

 

[Sonova]

My simple list consists of the following:

Six Championships, best player on each team:

Hamilton
Okafor
Walker
Napier
Sanogo
Newton

First Team All Americans:

Donyell
Ray
Rip
Emeka
Shabazz
Tristen

Conference POY:

Donyell
Allen
Hamilton (x2)
Butler
Okafor
Thabeet

That gives us a list of 10:

Hamilton
Walker
Napier
Newton
Okafor
Sanogo
Marshall
Allen
Butler
Thabeet

I know putting Thabeet on that list isn't particularly popular, but his team went to the final four, he was twice DPOY, All Freshman BE, and 2nd team All American. I'd be curious to see a list of other nationally recognized players who ended up flaming out of the NBA as spectacularly to see if it affects their recognition as college players by that school's fans the way it does Thabeet.

Next guys on the list would be first team all Big East that didn't make the previous 3 lists:

Chris Smith
Khalid El-Amin
Ben Gordon
AJ Price
Jeff Adrien
Jeremy Lamb
James Bouknight
RJ Cole
Jordan Hawkins
Cam Spencer

Then add Freshman of the Year and Defensive POY:

Nadav Henefeld
Doron Sheffer
Rudy Gay
Josh Boone (D)
Hilton Armstrong (D)
Isaiah Walley (D)
Stephon Castle

And after that, Honorable Mention All Americans:

Marcus Williams
Donovan Clingan

And, finally, 2nd team All Big East:

Earl Kelley
Cliff Robinson
Scott Burrell
Charlie Villanueva

Kemba was a 1st team AA in 2011

 

[RuffRuff]

You’ve made your point. People have listened and respectfully disagreed. All American Honorable Memtion isn’t a case for Top 10 at UConn anymore, nor is 48 free throws consecutively. Those are accolades from an era long gone. No need to be insistent. You have your point of view but, frankly, experts and BY knuckleheads don’t remotely agree that he is a Top 10 on ANY list.

It’s borderline ridiculous to be honest. I know some people behold yesteryear for nostalgic reasons but Wes isn’t even in the discussion. This feels like UK over indexing on titles from 1930. He’d be a bench player in today’s era. Lot has happened since those days, like welcoming certain demographics into the sport that have changed the entire game.

 

[storrsroars]

If Calhoun doesn’t land Chris Smith 90% of the players on everyone’s list don’t play here.

Oh by the way Smith is also the all time scorer in the program..

I don't have Smith in my top 10, but at least I get the argument here. If it's a list of the "most important" UConn players, he's on it, along with Corny for exactly the reason mentioned in your first sentence.

And yes, he is the all-time scorer (although Hanson had 62 more buckets - no 3pt line - and a 7% higher make rate). But I have a hard time knocking off anyone mentioned on SI's list to include him. He reliably put up numbers, yet I don't recall a "Chris Smith moment" in a huge game. Maybe if he took the shot vs Clemson instead of Tate.

It's a good reminder to take another look at Basketball-Reference's UConn records page. Especially for the folks who don't think Bazz deserves a spot on the top 10. Hell, spend enough time on that page and you might convince yourself that Vital belongs.

 

[Waquoit]

Hell, spend enough time on that page and you might convince yourself that Vital belongs.

No, you might convince yourself Vital belongs. Anyone else would need to stop drinking immediately.

 

[huskyjawz]

KEA earned his spot with clutch free throws to seal the deal vs Dook for Natty #1 and in Feb of 1999 led Rip-less team vs #4 Stamford and blew them out on national TV in a marquee away game. If KEA hadn’t twisted his ankle in the 2000 NCAA tournament they could have gone at least to the SS if not the EE.

Since he be mentioned, I’ll move RIP up too because of his chill inspiring half court swish in front of a taunting Jay Williams on ESPN’s game day last year. Hey he did it at Gampel as a Husky of honor so I’ll give him due props there to further cement his all time greatness as a true blue blood!

Weren't we losing the game when KEA got injured?

 

[huskyjawz]

Why is Ray always higher than Donyell on these lists? Is it because he has more personality and better NBA?

 

[superjohn]

That doesn’t detract at all from the fact that Bialosuknia made All-American Honorable Mention and was invited to a couple of All Star games, and in one of those he was voted MVP in that game. You can not ignore that the players he played against in that game were nationally recognized collegiate players. The guy was legit and should be on ANY top 10 all time UConn list. I’m old enough to remember him and do recall the local news stories and local sports reporters like Dick Galiette going crazy about his exploits on the court.

He was obviously great but he didn't win anything in college and had no impact in the NBA/ABA. UConn has had a bunch of college all-Americans who won national championships and had major impacts in the NBA and several of them have won two NCAA championships.

 

[Waquoit]

Why is Ray always higher than Donyell on these lists? Is it because he has more personality and better NBA?

0-2

 

[jibsey]

Can't be done. Is this list based on individual achievement, stats, eye-ball test, dominance against their competition, championships or importance to those championships? How does longevity count?

You get a different list every time.

Are Bazz, Kemba and Newton really in a league with Huskies than Chris Smith, Ray, Rip because they have rings?

Are you really separating Okafor, Sanogo, Clingan based on their non-dominant seasons? Oak was the best center in 2004 they others played against some.guy named Edey.

Are we going to ignore how big deals Ben Gordon, Donyell, Caron, Clifford Robinson were?

While I'm not the fan of the pre-Calhoun players in these rankings, you can't just ignore them either.

I think best is top broad a category for UConn. I think there is a bar and once cleared you are just a Husky Great, no need to further define or condition it. If your name is or will be on the wall at Gampel, your in.

Are we propping or dissing Edey? He just had 21 pts 16 rebound and 2 blocks in a game the other night and he did everything he could in that championship game to keep it from being worse for them.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'll be turning 69 is less than 100 days from now. This thread makes me hate old people.

Does Mrs Storrsroars know about your plans?

 

[Waquoit]

Weren't we losing the game when KEA got injured?

He was injured going in to the game. He gave it a go. Earlier that year he clearly outplayed Gilbert Arenas in a big win against #2 Arizona.

 

[storrsroars]

No, you might convince yourself Vital belongs. Anyone else would need to stop drinking immediately.

It was tongue-in-cheek, but the guy did put up some numbers. Had no idea he's 4th all-time in defensive rebounds. 10th in plus/minus despite being on KO's worst teams. 2nd all-time in 3 pointers. 2nd in FT shooting % (.003 behind Wes). 7th in offensive win shares. 7th in player efficiency. 10th in points scored. 3rd in steals. 6th in true shooting %.

Given he was unfortunate to play 3 of his 4 years in the worst run of UConn hoops since JC signed on, that's a pretty nice career.

 

[Waquoit]

It was tongue-in-cheek, but the guy did put up some numbers. Had no idea he's 4th all-time in defensive rebounds. 10th in plus/minus despite being on KO's worst teams. 2nd all-time in 3 pointers. 7th in offensive win shares. 7th in player efficiency. 10th in points scored. 3rd in steals. 6th in true shooting %.

Given he was unfortunate to play 3 of his 4 years in the worst run of UConn hoops since JC signed on, that's a pretty nice career.

I'm well aware of your love for the man.

 

[storrsroars]

Does Mrs Storrsroars know about your plans?

Not for the 100 days, but we were having a discussion in the car this morning about Russia using nukes, and she agreed that if we were alerted of the incoming missiles and had 10 minutes she'd do something for me...

 

[storrsroars]

I'm well aware of your love for the man.

Well, he did deserve to have a post-season tournament game. And he was robbed of that.

 

[huskyjawz]

0-2

I guess you're right.

 

[Waquoit]

That is not all time. It is the Gampel Era.

Does any pre-Gampel team rate? Post-Gampel UConn loses to Duke in the Elite 8 on a miracle buzzer beater. Pre-Gampel UConn loses to Duke in the Elite 8 by 47.

 

[DblCrossbar]

Weren't we losing the game when KEA got injured?

Maybe by a few points in the first half. Calhoun was terrific at making adjustments after the half. Having your best player out suddenly at that juncture was catastrophic however.

 

[SubbaBub]

Not trying to be dismissive of anyone here, especially the old heads....but anyone before 1999 shouldn't even be considered for top 10 lists of all time besides Ray Allen & Donyell Marshall.

Our success nationwide is viewed post-1999, and over the past 25 years, it's the most dominant run since UCLA...this is where the majority of our all time players will end up.

Personally, Tristen Newton would be a top 5 UConn player all time if he had his entire career at UConn.
Adama Sanogo and Clingan are 2 of the 3 best big men we've ever had.
Andre Jackson is as much a cornerstone to this program as KEA is.

I just try to take into account the rejection of recency bias when doing these type of lists.....Donovan may end up being #2 10 years from now...jussss sayin....

The problem with the pre-1999 argument is that our best players, basketball wise are all pre-99. They may not have won tournament championships but they won the bulk of our BE titles back when the BE was hands down the beat league. The others barely won any in a watered down BE, AAC.

The best players, not what's being asked here are Ray, Rip, Emeka and, Cliff. Kemba and Caron are a step below these guys. Bazz and Newton are another step below.

Who had the best Husky career depends entirely on what criteria you're giving the most value. Is is contribution to the legacy of the program, pure stats, championships? Most seem to be going on personal memories which is fine but ultimately not going to be correct.

It's not difficult to combine all those things an create a consensus list of 10-15 names or just use the Wall of Honor, but to put them in some definitive order that's impossible.

 

[Coach J]

They say it is based entirely their collegiate career. We have Tristen Newton who was The Bob Cousy award winner, first team all American, final 4 mvp, never lost a tournament game , Husky for 2 years and won championships both years. How the heck can he be 7th? In my opinion he should be first. I think the only one who might be above him is RIP.

Not Kemba?

 

[willie99]

Why is Ray always higher than Donyell on these lists? Is it because he has more personality and better NBA?

Yes

First ballot HOF helps