Poll: Greatest Husky of All Time | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Poll: Greatest Husky of All Time

Who is the Greatest Husky of All Time?

  • Ray Allen

    Votes: 58 21.6%

  • Ben Gordon

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Rip Hamilton

    Votes: 14 5.2%

  • Donyell Marshall

    Votes: 3 1.1%

  • Shabazz Napier

    Votes: 31 11.6%

  • Emeka Okafor

    Votes: 16 6.0%

  • Chris Smith

    Votes: 3 1.1%

  • Kemba Walker

    Votes: 143 53.4%
  • Total voters
    268
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
The voting on this started, lots of questionable votes.
 
huskyrob1 said:
You can't compare any of them to Dropo, he graduated as UConn's all time leading scorer in basketball, was drafted by the Chicago Bears for his football exploits at UConn, but decided to play baseball in which he was the first ever Boston Red Sox player to be named AL Rookie of the Year in 1950, also an All star as a rookie, set the Boston Red Sox record for most home runs by a rookie with 34, and tied the AL record for consecutive hits with 16 in four games in 1952.

As an all around athlete, no one comes close.
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Best all-around athlete likely. Only Scotty comes close. But in basketball, what did he win? A Yankee Conference championship? Ray was the leader of one of the best teams in the country.
 
CL82 said:
I wouldn't do it, but it is definitely not insane. Bazz has the extra natty. He stuck with team during the ban and more importantly was a leader during the ban year and the championship year. And then there's this...

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It’s insane.
 
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Mr. French said:
"better" depends on how you view it. Better overall player? You're probably right, but that's not the question. Best overall player is Ray, Emeka, Rip, Donyell in that order. But they aren't the greatest Husky (all IMO of course).

In a "greatest Husky ever" discussion, EXACTLY as it is laid out here, Bazz is at least on par with Emeka. He's got 2 rings, signature moments, a conference player of the year trophy, big time numbers ...
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Not even close. Emeka was the best player in college ball. Bazz was/is awesome. Mek dominated college basketball. He was the best player on the best team that destroyed and humiliated the rest of college basketball. On par with Gordon but not Mek.
 
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Clearly, given my username, I voted for Kemba. His accomplishments are laid out by others in this thread, and to me his leadership is unmatched (I give him a lot of credit for the incredible leadership skills Shabazz displayed - as does Shabazz himself in a number of interviews).

I just want to shoutout Ben Gordon here because he hasn’t gotten any votes. Before Kemba came along, Gordon was far and away my favorite Husky. He was such a great complement to Emeka, and he played with a “quiet cool” demeanor that made it even more outstanding when he would dial it up to 11 and just humiliate defenders. It was also very cool to have that Gordon/Okafor duo right on the heels of the Kobe/Shaq 3-peat; Kobe was a legit hero to me growing up, and Gordon was like “our Kobe” during his time here (or he was to me, at least). I had a similar feeling about Rip, but Ben was an idol to me during the time that I really started developing as a basketball player myself, so he had more of an impact on me personally. I wouldn’t make the argument that Gordon is the “greatest Husky” by any means, but I just wanted to give him some love because he was a big inspiration to me. (Plus he rocked the UConn jersey like an absolute boss.)

Also, if there was a poll for “greatest Husky parent fan,” the lovely Andrea Walker would run away with it, right? Maybe “greatest fan” period...
 
Captbluefin said:
You ever see Ray or Rip or Oak ? or were you to young to understand.

Bazz is not there he is the next tier below.
Gordon is on that level too.

It’s absolutely insane to put Bazz above Kemba.
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Here are Kemba’s Wikipedia highlights:
NCAA champion (2011)
NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (2011)
Consensus first-team All-American (2011)
Bob Cousy Award (2011)
Big East Tournament MVP (2011)

vs. Shabazz’s Wikipedia highlights:
2× NCAA champion (2011, 2014)
NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (2014)
Consensus first-team All-American (2014)
Bob Cousy Award (2014)
AAC Player of the Year (2014)
First-team All-AAC (2014)
First-team All-Big East (2013)

You can make the argument that Kemba is the better player, because he is, but as far as college career accomplishments...this makes it crystal clear Shabazz was on Kemba’s level.
 
JimHurley said:
Here is Wikipedia for Shabazz:
Career highlights and awards
2× NCAA champion (2011, 2014)
NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (2014)
Consensus first-team All-American (2014)
Bob Cousy Award (2014)
AAC Player of the Year (2014)
First-team All-AAC (2014)
First-team All-Big East (2013)

Damn impressive.
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Oh it totally is because Bazz is a beast. I just wanted to show that Okafor had tons of accolades that, outside of 2 titles (which is obviously huge), he did actually have accolades that you could argue are better. If someone is going to place titles as the most important factor, I won’t say that’s wrong. I just think Okafor was the perfect embodiment for what you’d want as a student athlete.

For funsies, below are Rips.
 
David 76 said:
Best all-around athlete likely. Only Scotty comes close. But in basketball, what did he win? A Yankee Conference championship? Ray was the leader of one of the best teams in the country.
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Dropo was good enough to get drafted in the BAA which was the precursor of the NBA, and he left Storrs it's all time leading scorer. Again, this is along with getting drafted by the Chicago Bears to play football, and probably would have ended up playing for the Bears if the Red Sox had not offered him a contract, and played 13 years in the majors, setting many records, and Red Sox team records. It's clear that he was great in all three sports, but baseball was his best.
 
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lavuuk153 said:
Oh it totally is because Bazz is a beast. I just wanted to show that Okafor had tons of accolades that, outside of 2 titles (which is obviously huge), he did actually have accolades that you could argue are better. If someone is going to place titles as the most important factor, I won’t say that’s wrong. I just think Okafor was the perfect embodiment for what you’d want as a student athlete.

For funsies, below are Rips.
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Impressive. I was 3 when he left so needless to say I don’t remember him. Based on those accomplishment I’d say our amount Rushmore is Kemba, Shabazz, Rip then a toss up between Ray and Okafor.
 
huskyrob1 said:
Dropo was good enough to get drafted in the BAA which was the precursor of the NBA, and he left Storrs it's all time leading scorer. Again, this is along with getting drafted by the Chicago Bears to play football, and probably would have ended up playing for the Bears if the Red Sox had not offered him a contract, and played 13 years in the majors, setting many records, and Red Sox team records. It's clear that he was great in all three sports, but baseball was his best.
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If it was best multi sport athlete I’m sure he would win but in basketball only he doesn’t really compare
 
8893 said:
That and the intangibles is why I have to go with Kemba.


Interesting. I hadn't thought of that, but the same "representative" considerations tipped in favor of Kemba for me. The championship matters. Putting the team on his back mattered. As @CL82 and @B1GEast note, the eleven game run and the five in five days mattered. And he really could not be better a ambassador for everything you would want the University to represent.

I have said this before and been pilloried for it, but I always had a perception of Ray as a little soft in college. Perhaps it was JC's game plan, but my image of him is always camped at the three point line, not driving and mixing it up like Kemba, Rip or Shabazz so often did. And, fair or not, the lack of a NC hurts him imo.
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Ray possessed so many physical gifts. People forget at times how freakishly athletic he was, I assume because he was a shooter. I didn't think soft though, but rather I wanted more. I would go nuts when he would settle, knowing he could cuff on someone's neck.
 
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huskyrob1 said:
If Burrell had starred at UConn playing for Randy Edsall or Skip Holtz or whoever, and was a Major league All star, I'd say ok.

That being said, as a great all around athlete, Burrell comes closer than anyone else I can think of.
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And he can make a free throw in front of MJ!
 
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Screen Shot 2020-05-14 at 9.24.34 AM-min.png

TV room wall in my apartment, hope to get these signed one day.
 
lavuuk153 said:
I love Bazz, but I look at it this way: if all these players were lined up in a gym (their peak college version), Bazz isn’t one of the first four taken. I think I would go Okafor but trying to pick between him, Ray, Rip, and Kemba is really tough.

Now that I’ve said that, I really want to see that pick up game!
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You forgot Donyell, but yes. Are we talking about best career with the Huskies? Best actual player? Best overall career UConn + NBA? Lots of different criteria.

In terms of best actual player, Shabazz is probably the worst player in this poll. UConn + NBA is probably Ray for now, with Kemba gaining on him. Lots of ways to look at this. I tend to not go with Emeka or Ben because they had each other and an overall loaded team. In any event we are blessed.
 
mauconnfan said:
Sorry but they don't keep me from thinking he had the absolute best single year for sure of all listed. Kemba was 2nd, Emeka 3rd but 'Yell was dominant. The FT's were killer but they don't tell the whole story at all.
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Agreed. I may have attended more games that season than any other; and I was at the Garden when he dropped 42 points on St. John's in the BET. He made 20/20 free throws that game (and 18 boards!). I thought we were finally getting to the top of the mountain and I had planned to attend the FF...

It's funny that we all have our own scars from the pre-1999 years that are still difficult to overcome. I was floored when I circulated that "One Shining Moment" video among one group of friends last week that had attended "The Shot" game in 1990, as well as the next game, and were planning to attend the FF. None of them could get past the trauma they were still suffering from the letdown after the Laettner dagger, and they couldn't even appreciate the video as a result because it started with "The Shot." I was living in San Francisco at the time so I watched the games on TV, and I had no plans to attend the FF because I couldn't, so I wasn't nearly as traumatized.

But the Donyell missed FTs vs. Florida definitely scarred me in a similar way. I got over it once we finally won it all in '99, but I still hold it against his legacy, justified or not. I think the fact that he was reportedly partying until 3:00 a.m. the night before, and left after that season for the NBA, helped the bad taste linger longer than it would have otherwise.
 
If we're talking someone that represents UCONN, we need to consider Rudy Gay.
1. 2005 co-rookie of the year. Big East
2. National rookie of the year. Sporting News 2005
3. First team All America 2006
4. Huskies Ring of Honor
5. #8 pick in the 2006 NBA draft
6. Still active in the NBA (season 14)
7. This car!!
See the source image
 
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