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Some surprises but Number 1 wasn't
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00:07welcome to another edition of who's number one i'm trey wingo espn classic is picking a hoops
00:13team actually we're picking the equivalent of four our 20 players include a couple of big men
00:18from a certain southern california-based dynasty and a center who led his northern california-based
00:24team to back-to-back national championships and from ohio one who was a magician with his mind
00:29and one who was a magician with the ball here then are the 20 greatest college basketball players
00:34of all time
00:46here's bill bradley everybody's all-america choice bill bradley to me was the consummate basketball
00:54player in terms of getting the most out of the physical part of his game he could shoot it he
01:01could pass it before he got the ball the play was made bill does everything in basketball smoothly
01:06easily and superbly well bill bradley was a technician in terms of what he wanted to do
01:13one of the great shot makers
01:18he should have wrote for president
01:22of his time and one of the great shot makers of all time in ncaa history
01:28now watch bradley number 42
01:31beautiful
01:33they called him dollar bill with the game on the line and the winning shot to be made
01:38bill bradley was money he was an ivy leaguer who understood the sport subtleties a two-time all-american
01:45at princeton he averaged 30 points and in the 1965 ncaa final four consolation game lit up wichita
01:52state for 58
01:54i have asked people since that day
01:59can i get a film of this game because i was unconscious that night everything i threw up went in
02:03he had a presence as a college player that even players who were probably more talented than him later didn't
02:09have
02:1219
02:13number 19
02:1419
02:1519
02:1619
02:1619
02:1719
02:20tim duncan is a unique player
02:22i never see him on all-time college lists
02:26but he was a number one pick for a reason
02:28because of his mindset and of course he's never rattled
02:32um you can never really throw him off
02:35he doesn't dazzle anybody with the things that he does
02:38but he can score low he can score facing he's a great passer very unselfish
02:44the most fundamentally sound college basketball player since bill walton just did everything right
02:51there was a sense of serenity in tim duncan's game seamless and unhurried all the dots connected
02:57at wake forest at wake forest he was a two-time all-american and the first player in ncaa history
03:02with more than
03:05adamuel with more than 515
03:10anybody that doesn't understand the brilliance of tim duncan's play
03:15anybody that doesn't understand the brilliance of tim duncan's play
04:01He could shoot it, he could make it.
04:04Tom Gola had great court vision.
04:06He truly understood what it took to run a show.
04:11Have the ball at a crucial time so that either he would have the choice of taking the shot himself
04:18or making sure that the right person got it.
04:20A three-time All-American, the 6'6 Tom Gola was a tireless retriever and a solid...
04:25Yeah, he was also 40% from the field at 6'6, so he wasn't good at everything.
04:33Solid scorer, only one of two players with more than 2,000 points and 2,000 rebounds.
04:39He led LaSalle to two straight NCAA finals, including the 1954 National Championship.
04:45His career total of 2,201 rebounds remains the NCAA record.
04:51Really?
04:52Russell, Chamberlain, Kareem, Mos Malone...
04:56Well, Mos Malone didn't play that many years in college.
04:59A lot of people played that game.
05:02No way a 6'6 guy has the NCAA record for rebounds.
05:18He still has that record in which he played.
05:28George worked as hard as any man that ever played for me.
05:32He was playing, they called the big guys goons.
05:35And they were just big guys that were taller than anybody else, stronger than anybody else.
05:40Stood under the basket and put the ball in the basket.
05:43That's all he did.
05:44George Mikan, I don't think, ever took a shot.
05:46Yeah, he rarely ever dunked the ball.
05:50He had a middling shot.
05:54He had a middle range shot.
05:56He had a hook shot.
05:58He had a skill for his error.
06:08Uh-huh.
06:11Where he was more than three steps away from the basket.
06:13He kept opposing teams busy defending their basket, most often without success.
06:19Gangling, bespectacled, and immovable, the 6'10 George Mikan was college basketball's first dominant big man.
06:26A three-time All-American, he led DePaul to the NIT title in 1945.
06:31And the next season, as Player of the Year, was the nation's top scorer with 23 points a game.
06:37The thing about him that I remember the most is not just his size, but he was like an oak
06:43tree.
06:43You couldn't push him out.
06:45He just stood there.
06:46Even today's players, as much as they push, they couldn't push George Mikan out there.
06:50He was too big and too strong.
06:55I'm pretty sure Alonzo Mourning, Dwight Howard, Shaq, Ben Wallace could've pushed, uh, uh, Mike Mikan out of the paint.
07:06Pretty sure.
07:1116.
07:12Yes, the States.
07:20Jordan, look at this, Michael Jordan.
07:23Holy cow!
07:24Michael Jordan.
07:25So this is an, this is an honest list.
07:29Michael freaking Jordan, at 16, is an honest list because, really, James Worley might have been better than he was
07:36in college.
07:37And, uh, they're not taking his NBA career into account because, obviously, he'd be much higher.
07:45He came to us, not highly recruited compared to what people are today, but, uh, one that improved every year.
07:53He grooved, and he also would listen to every practice and work so hard.
07:58Alley open!
07:59Michael Jordan!
08:01This guy hated to lose anything.
08:04I mean, he had to be the first guy dressed.
08:06He had to be the first guy in the shower.
08:08He had to be the first guy out of the locker room.
08:10He had to be the first guy that's sitting down at a training table to eat.
08:14The fact that Michael Jordan is not in the top one of college basketball players is because of the system
08:24in which he played.
08:25The line went that the only person who could stop Michael Jordan was Dean Smith.
08:29But in three seasons at North Carolina under Smith, MJ flourished.
08:34He was player of the year as a junior, and as a freshman nailed the game-winning jump shot from
08:39the wing that delivered a national championship.
08:41Twenty seconds to go.
08:43Jimmy Blatt, cross-border.
08:44Here's Jordan.
08:45Yep, he's letting it go.
08:46Good!
08:46From 15 feet.
08:47I think if you followed North Carolina the second and third year of Jordan, and you saw his progression, and
08:55you saw some of the games he played, it was not a surprise that he became this player of the
09:01age.
09:11He was a take-charge guy from the day he walked on the court.
09:15He was never concerned with points or assists or whatever.
09:19All he wanted was the bottom line.
09:22That was all that Irvin ever cared about was winning.
09:24Magic was a great competitor and a guy that really had fun playing the game.
09:29I think that's the thing, of all the things that I think about in competing against Magic, was the fact
09:35that Magic always was having fun.
09:37He enjoyed it.
09:38Teams were winning, but they weren't winning with style.
09:41And when we played, we played with some flair.
09:44That's what I remember about Michigan State.
09:46The fact that we got a chance to change college basketball, in a sense, and we did it with style
09:53and flair.
09:59Magic was the name, and Magic, indeed, was his game.
10:03He makes our list despite only playing two years at Michigan State.
10:06The multi-talented Irvin Johnson was an all-American in 1979, when he led the Spartans to their first national
10:18title and revolutionized the game.
10:21Nobody's ever seen a guy play guard that size before.
10:23He's been able to post you up, play the game, and it's just unbelievable court vision to make teammates better.
10:29All of us in coaching had to deal with that over the next few years after Magic.
10:33You know, you'd get the 6'8 guy that had no business being out on the court, and they were
10:37all thinking they were going to be the next Magic Johnson.
10:39He was so unique in that position.
10:42As a college basketball player, he was unbelievable.
10:44You rarely get a player with that type of imagination to have a player that fits that imagination.
11:01He didn't really care what people thought of him.
11:05He did things his way and was very successful at it.
11:08Iceberg pool with a smirk and the willingness to take the big shot, Christian Laettner led Duke to four straight
11:15Final Four appearances and back-to-back national titles in 91 and 92.
11:20His turnaround jumper against Kentucky in the 92 regional finals remains one of the most memorable game-winning buckets.
11:27Laettner catches, comes down, dribbles, shoot!
11:30How could WWE use this for one of the Divas themes?
11:37Christian Laettner, when the lights were on, when it was nationally televised basketball games, he came to play.
11:48And he always put up good numbers.
11:55Actually, maybe he should be hired.
12:19That package included three-time Player of the Year and the only two-time winner of the Wooden Award.
12:25Ralph Sampson averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds in his four seasons.
12:31He's one of those players that 10 years from now, 15 years from now, people talk about Ralph Sampson.
12:38Like, Ralph Sampson, in his time, was, you know, the best player in college basketball.
12:45And he changed the game.
12:48Yeah, that too.
12:50Can we get some Lynn Bias on this list?
12:54Number 12.
12:56Number 12.
12:57Number 12.
13:03Elvin Hayes is one of those guys that slips through the cracks.
13:07The quickest release.
13:09Showed up.
13:14Showed up, Ruau Cinder, into UCLA's massive winning streak in 68.
13:22Not on national television.
13:27So the turnaround jumper, his size and mobility, just unerring accuracy.
13:34You can get a lot of points from different angles.
13:37And he could explode to the basket.
13:39Underrated and understated, Elvin Hayes averaged 31 points and 17 boards in his three-year career in Houston.
13:46And his biggest performance.
14:18I looked at it as, I have an opportunity to shine brighter and to lift my star up a little
14:25higher against probably one of the greatest basketball players to ever play in college basketball.
14:31One of? No. There is no one of.
14:36And so that night was my chance and my opportunity, and I took it.
14:41Number 44, Elvin Hayes, the Houston hero.
14:45In an era of great scores, he was one of the absolute best.
14:49He was 31-17 and ended in an all-time record winning streak.
14:5731-17 on 53 from the field.
15:00How can he not be higher on the list?
15:04What a great, great college player.
15:06And really, at the University of Houston, you had never heard of them before, Elvin Hayes.
15:1111.
15:12Number 11.
15:20Jerry never had two bad games in a row.
15:26He's going to tear your head off.
15:27He was best when things were rough.
15:30I mean, when the goal was tough and his team was mine or he was in a tough situation, that's
15:35generally when he arose to the occasion.
15:37One of the things I always remember is they had this big gold and blue carpet that led from their
15:43bench right out to the jump ball circle.
15:45And when they introduced the home team, they would run out on this carpet and they had the lights dim.
15:51Of course, they always introduced Jerry West last.
15:53He would come out and they'd say, and the greatest Mountaineer of them all, number 44 from Cabin Creek, West
15:59Virginia, Jerry West.
16:01They might as well said, they're number 44, Jesus Christ from heaven.
16:06Shy and quiet.
16:07I remember 25 on 51 from the field.
16:11That was 13 rebounds.
16:13He's only 6'4".
16:15Nicknamed Zeke from Cabin Creek, Jerry West put his beloved West Virginia on the basketball map,
16:20averaging 25 points and 13 boards in his career.
16:24A two-time All-American, West led the Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA title game as a junior.
16:31The mechanics and everything were there, but they hadn't been polished, and he taught himself how to play the game.
16:36He's one of those guys that first guy to practice, last guy to leave.
16:40That's Jerry West.
16:41His work ethic was unreal.
16:43We lived probably 100 yards from the field house, and everybody would have games for three or four hours,
16:51and we'd go on home, and he'd be there practicing on the shooting.
16:55Two or three hours later, here he comes.
16:56He just finished up.
16:57I truly love to compete.
16:59Sitting in a locker room, even then, water dripping off your hands, the electricity going through your body.
17:06Just going out there and letting those emotions try to be controlled and to play in an environment which would
17:13allow you to win.
17:15Welcome back to Who's Number One, an ESPN Classics ranking of the 20th.
17:23Look at Ewing.
17:25Backwards stop.
17:27Amazing.
17:28Patrick could hurt you in many ways.
17:30First of all, he could block the shot.
17:31Second, he could rebound.
17:33Third, he was an intimidator.
17:35I mean, guys, we're afraid to go.
17:37Can you drink some water?
17:40Winning.
17:41It was so clear in college that he was the heir apparent to Bill Russell as that dominant defensive force
17:49who could alter a game without scoring a point.
17:52Got it to McLean.
17:54Walked away by Ewing.
17:56He could cover up my mistakes, Michael Jackson mistakes.
17:58Someone beat us off the dribble.
18:00I mean, he's blocking a shot here, blocking a shot there,
18:02and then plus, at the same time, running the length of the floor, scoring.
18:06His career numbers.
18:07He led the nation in blocks every year he was in college.
18:11Georgetown were modest.
18:1315 points, 9 boards.
18:14But it was his role of the great eraser that made three-time All-American Patrick Ewing so dominant.
18:20He helped the Hoyas win the national title in 84
18:22and was the symbol of the team that was feared by others.
18:26Two!
18:28Sends it in, Patrick!
18:30We were the Raiders of college basketball.
18:32But it was fun.
18:34Everybody hated us, and we loved kicking everybody's butt.
18:36When he went to Georgetown, a Big East school,
18:39that was the most symbolic message to the rest of the basketball world
18:45that this was a serious league,
18:47and this league was going to change basketball in the East.
18:49They were going to be a major player.
18:51If you think of the Big East in the early 80s,
18:55you really have to think Patrick Ewing.
18:57To make three championship games in four years,
19:01and to almost win three of them,
19:04I mean, that's really a sensational record to have.
19:129.
19:149.
19:149.
19:169.
19:169.
19:1610.
19:1710.
19:1910.
19:1910.
19:1910.
19:2010.
19:2010.
19:21There's no question he was the best player ever in the Big Ten.
19:24Nobody ever has been able to do the things that he did.
19:28He could go in the post.
19:29He could rebound.
19:30He played a game so easily.
19:32You know, he was very graceful.
19:33He ran easily, and incredible.
19:41I know this is Jerry.
19:43From the standpoint of being able to catch the ball, deflect the ball, tap the ball, cushion the ball,
19:49whatever he wanted to do, I mean, it just seemed like a sponge with absorbing water.
19:55Jerry Lucas would develop total recall and a photographic memory.
19:58But at Ohio State, it seemed he already could foretell the future.
20:02Averaging 24 points and 17 boards, he appeared to see the play before it unfolded.
20:07He was a three-time All-American and led the Buckeyes to three straight title games, winning it all in
20:121960.
20:14Top all-round performer is the Buckeyes' Jerry Lucas.
20:18Ohio State takes the crown with a runaway 75-55 victory.
20:22And Jerry Lucas cuts away the net as a trophy of the first Big Ten NCAA championship since 1953.
20:30There's an individual that had a record of 78-6 with a national championship, shot over 60% from the
20:37field.
20:37I don't know if you could match that anywhere in the annals of college basketball.
20:54David Thompson did things nobody had ever seen before.
20:59He had that wow factor.
21:01Passing to Walton.
21:02Runoff by David Thompson.
21:03The 17 years I coached in the ACC, David Thompson was the toughest guy to stop.
21:09Passing up and left.
21:11Run in, Junker.
21:12I thought it was the greatest basketball player in college basketball because he kind of revolutionized the game.
21:17He had about a 42-44 inch vertical leap so he could compete inside with the big guys.
21:22Had a feathery touch.
21:23I called him Skywalker.
21:25He was the first guy to do a 360 dunk in basketball history.
21:34He did it in the ABA dunk contest.
21:37Outside, so he had a strong perimeter game.
21:41I told one of the great stories about stealing a ball against North Carolina State when he played for Virginia.
21:48And he could hear David Thompson coming from behind.
21:52So he gave a little head fake just before he went up for the layup.
21:56And the fake worked.
21:57He went over him and kicked Dan in the back of the head.
22:01Right?
22:02At 6'5", David Thompson lived above the rim where the air is rare.
22:06And he took his North Carolina State teammates up there with him.
22:09He averaged 27 points and 8 boards, was a 3-time All-American, and in 1974, helped win the national
22:16championship, toppling the UCLA dynasty in the Final Four.
22:20Winning the NCAA title, I got more enjoyment out of that than anything.
22:25Setting a goal at the beginning of the year.
22:27Working hard to accomplish that goal and just being the best at something was something that really I'm very proud
22:34of.
22:37Number 7, that's good.
22:45Larry Bird was one of the most fascinating college basketball players I ever saw play.
22:50Carl Nix from Chicago played with Larry Bird on that team.
22:53Carl Nix would come back in the summer and say, you would not believe this guy I'm playing ball with.
23:00All that's aggressive!
23:02He knew what I was going to happen before it happened.
23:04But our game plan was to get the ball in his hands as much as possible, and he made good
23:08things happen.
23:09Oh, what a shot!
23:12Does he ever miss?
23:13I thought he had the best hands of any kid.
23:15You bet he was an all-around player like he was an all-around player.
23:19In the NBA, he was an all-around player back in college, too.
23:23He could do everything.
23:25Score, rebound, pass.
23:28Play a little defense.
23:29Be efficient with the ball.
23:33He could do everything I'd ever seen.
23:34Oh, what a kick!
23:35What a kick!
23:36And he had a mind that I thought was like...
23:40And he carried those guys.
23:42I could not name you a single Indiana State player besides him without looking it up.
23:47A camera clicking a picture and passing on what to do.
23:54He could create the play on the move, coming off the board.
23:58He could make the shot.
23:59He could play inside.
24:01He could play outside very effectively.
24:04And he had that competitive confidence that he was the one that was going to determine the outcome of the
24:11game.
24:12He was called the Hick from French Lick.
24:15Then when they saw him play with an all-around brilliance and a snarling intensity, they said it with respect.
24:21Larry Bird was a folk hero at Indiana State, averaging 30 points and 13 boards,
24:25and taking the Sycamores to the brink of the 1979 National Championship.
24:30I think that we were linked from then on, Larry Bird and myself.
24:36I got a chance to watch a guy who played just like myself.
24:40I wanted to win.
24:41I wanted to do whatever it took, whether it was diving on a loose ball or whatever.
24:45I just played the game the way I feel everyone should play.
24:47I played hard.
24:53Six.
24:56Four.
24:57Four.
24:59Four.
25:01Excitement.
25:03Well, why does he not hire us?
25:04The all-time scoring leader.
25:06Single season.
25:08Career.
25:10I think they won some games.
25:13I don't know if they won a championship, but he should be top five.
25:19Enthusiasm.
25:22Greatness.
25:23That was Pete Maravich.
25:25He did things on the court that nobody had ever done before.
25:28But he didn't do them to really show off.
25:31He did them because he gave them an advantage over the opposition.
25:35Pete Maravich was a did-you-see-that entertainer.
25:38Conjuring passes that logic and gravity said were impossible,
25:42and taking and making shots that geometry said you just couldn't do.
25:46I went to the Georgia LSU game in Athens, and he was incredible.
25:52I mean, it was like watching the Globetrotters.
25:55This guy could handle the ball and had such charisma that I think the Georgia fans were clapping more and
26:03excited about him than they were their own basketball team.
26:05On a three-on-two break, he would take the ball and act like he was going to pass to
26:09this guy over here,
26:10and actually he would bring the ball and wrap it around his back and flip his wrist and hit the
26:14guy over here.
26:16Pistol Pete, the perfect nickname for Pete Maravich, was a quick-draw genius who could rat-tat-tat you for
26:2144 points,
26:22which just happened to be his career average at LSU.
26:25He was doing stuff with the ball that guys still haven't caught up to.
26:34That's an NCAA record, one of many he still holds at a time when there was no three-point line,
26:40by the way.
26:41Pete Maravich was probably, pound for pound, the greatest college basketball player ever.
26:51Number five.
27:01Will Chamberlain's reputation school was so big and so overwhelming that nobody could ever deal with him on a basketball
27:07court.
27:08The top four got to be, you could say Oscar Robertson, but it's definitely Bill Russell, Bill Walton, and Lou
27:17Alcindor.
27:20There wasn't anybody else that big.
27:22He just couldn't figure out what to do.
27:24He was just caught, you know, waiting for the game to be over.
27:28Will Chamberlain was the redwood in the forest, as strong as the oak, as supple as the willow.
27:33Playing only two seasons at Kansas before joining the Harlem Globetrotters, he was an all-American...
27:40...
27:40...
28:14In 1957, Chamberlain and Kansas.
28:17Kansas lost the national championship game to North Carolina, in triple overtime.
28:22But he wanted to be known as more than Goliath.
28:25He wanted you to know that he was a basketball player because he worked at the game.
28:29There was something to him other than a guy that could jump out of the building, that was a guy
28:33stronger than Earth,
28:34and a guy that was as quick and as fast as he was of his time and his era.
28:41Luke being fifth on this list and he only played two years and he didn't play his freshman year or
28:48his senior year because he was out with the Globetrotters.
28:55Sounds a lot.
29:07Here's the six-foot-five-inch sensation who's causing opposing coaches to have nightmares.
29:11When you talk about great all-around college basketball players in the history of the NCAA, you have to mention
29:20Oscar Robertson.
29:22He had no weakness.
29:24He could pass, he could shoot, he could defend, he could rebound.
29:27Oscar was the first really big guard who had all the attributes of the little man.
29:31He was a top scorer in the nation four years in a row.
29:41Quick.
29:49Friday that ever played the game.
29:53Watch number 12 assist.
29:54I didn't know left hand was that good.
30:06He's pulling up stuff I never saw him doing in the NBA because they were too tight wide to let
30:16the rules, let that happen.
30:20Double double as a pro, he rehearsed it during his three seasons at Cincinnati.
30:2534 points, 15 boards, and 7 assists per game.
30:28He was the first sophomore named player of the year.
30:31When you play basketball, if you're a player, you know, a real true player, you don't worry about things like
30:36that.
30:37The game comes to you, you take advantage of the situation when you're in the game.
30:40I never was conscious of anything I did at the university.
30:43The scoring, or the assists, or the rebounds.
30:46He was the epitome of the basketball player that flowed into what was the objective of the game,
30:53which was to get the easiest shot, the closest to the basket, as often as possible.
30:58And he had the uncanny ability to make an average player on his team good.
31:02The Big O scored 56 in a regional game in 58, and the next two seasons led Cincinnati to the
31:08Final Four.
31:09The least surprise at his brilliance were those who played with him.
31:13He was a standout from the time we practiced as a freshman, played freshman basketball, to the time we graduated
31:20in college.
31:21He amazed me every time he stepped on the court.
31:23But no one was going to stop Oscar, and no one ever did.
31:30Yeah, well, people seemed to stop him when it counted.
31:36Bouncing the first round.
31:40Bouncing, what, the semi-regional or something?
31:43Bouncing the semi-regional again.
31:45Never made the national final.
31:47And then, when he leaves, they go and win two national championships in a row.
31:53So you have to wonder about the ability as a winner.
32:01Two weeks.
32:02Two weeks.
32:08There's Bill Russell, San Francisco's sensational All-American Center.
32:11When I was working for Time at Sports Illustrated, we constantly sent memos back to New York saying,
32:17you should think of putting this guy from San Francisco, you, Bill Russell, on the cover.
32:21They'd come back and say, yeah, but we got the box score last night.
32:24He got six points.
32:26And he'd say, yeah, but did you notice the other team only got 42?
32:29Russell blocks his shot.
32:33Oh, man.
32:34He, in six points, he averaged 20 in college.
32:38If he had six points, that's an off game.
32:41That's an outlier.
32:44With Bill Russell patrolling the pivot,
32:46opponent's shots were swallowed up and turned into breakaways.
32:50He was so adept at shot blocking that the NCAA widened the lane.
32:54Bill Russell is basketball's all-time most valuable player.
32:59I think he elevated the defensive end of the floor beyond anybody's imagination.
33:04When he first started blocking shots, he'd knock it out of bounds.
33:07But he got it to such an art, his block would be the first pass.
33:11He blocked it to himself, did an outlet pass, or he blocked it to a teammate,
33:16which is what makes him the greatest or second-grade NBA defender as well.
33:23Pass break.
33:24He had such incredible timing.
33:26He was a great jumper.
33:28He had very long arms.
33:29He always said that it wasn't blocking shots.
33:32It was a threat of it.
33:33He didn't block every shot that he could.
33:36He picked his spots, and he made him think about it.
33:41It became Bill's team when he was blocking everything,
33:44and his conversation with us.
33:45Don't worry about it.
33:46Take care of it.
33:47You just keep playing hard enough, and you back me up,
33:50and I'll take care of your guy.
33:51One of five players to post a career average of 20 points and 20 boards,
33:56Russell led the Dons to 55 straight wins and back-to-back national title championships in 55 and 56.
34:02His intuitiveness was what impressed others.
34:05His intelligence was not only related to angles on the court and knowledge of the game
34:11and understanding of the techniques of rebounding and shot blocking and team dynamics,
34:17but also because he had an incredible mental understanding of the game.
34:22The West Coast was kind of behind the curve in college basketball after World War II.
34:27Bill Russell kind of changed it to where the sport just really kind of flourished after that,
34:32and I think, in essence, he really kind of set the table for UCLA.
34:37If I went back over all of the years of the NCAA,
34:40the guy that I would choose to pick as standing alone in NCAA tournament competition,
34:46without any reservation, would be Bill Russell.
35:00As a college player, he was incomparable.
35:03He had a presence on the court that was so intimidating and engulfing.
35:07This cloud hung over the gym wherever he was.
35:10Bill was a leader.
35:12He was a vocal leader on the team as a freshman,
35:15and that's what you really don't see.
35:17The greatness came from Bill being that dominant leader.
35:22Walton.
35:23Goes up.
35:25Walton hit me.
35:26He was wild Bill Walton,
35:28the red-headed rebel in an era of the flower child,
35:31and his energy and passion fueled the UCLA juggernaut.
35:35He was both defender and choreographer in the pivot,
35:38leading the Bruins to the national titles in 72 and 73,
35:41and was instrumental in extending their winning streak to an NCAA record 88.
35:47Bill Walton changed everything inside.
35:49The whole complexity of the game because he was so defensive-minded.
35:54You knew Bill was back there to save you on your defense.
35:57I could put so much pressure on people that they would get by me,
36:01and they would run into Bill Walton.
36:05He did it at both ends.
36:07He rebounded, he passed, he scored.
36:08He would take rebounds off the rim so fast on this shot
36:12that I couldn't tell even watching the film later
36:15whether the ball was still over the rim or not.
36:17He had the sense, even though he was following Lou, Kareem,
36:21that he was 8 feet tall.
36:23I mean, his ability to catapult himself straight up,
36:25he didn't lean, he jumped straight.
36:27And he had himself built at 6'11", he was actually like 7'1", 7'2".
36:33He's up to Kareem's height.
36:35And was able to deliver the ball on a break better than anyone I've ever seen.
36:40In the 1973 title game, Walton made 21 of 22 shots
36:44en route to a 44-point performance that awed almost everyone but the man himself.
36:50I get a lot of special credit and recognition for the night in 1973
36:55when I set a number of records in the championship game.
36:59But that was far from my best game.
37:02It was just a game where it all came together.
37:06Memphis State had begun to crumble.
37:08If that's not his best game, how good was his best game?
37:12It's real.
37:19One, one.
37:26Growing up as a youngster in San Diego, California,
37:29Lou Alcindor then playing for the UCLA Bruins was everybody's title.
37:34The way he carried himself with such pride and such dignity
37:38and the joy that he showed, the enthusiasm that he played with
37:42on the basketball court, the level of exercise.
37:45Milwaukee must have really been depressing.
37:48Where was his exuberance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin?
37:52He never emoted.
37:55Except for when they won the finals.
38:03He became known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
38:05but in 1965 he was Lou Alcindor
38:08and he was leading the UCLA freshman team
38:11to an intra-squad victory over the mighty Bruins varsity.
38:14The losers were slack-jawed.
38:17It was a very humbling experience, to say the least.
38:21It was one of the few times,
38:24and maybe the only time that I can think of,
38:27when I saw Wooden speechless for a moment.
38:33He really didn't know what to say to us.
38:36We got them into the habit of losing.
38:38They had a real tough season that next season,
38:40and it was a funny experience.
38:43They were number one in the nation, but number two on campus.
38:45After losing, all I could think of is,
38:48the season's going to be a long season,
38:51but we get a chance to play with him the following year.
38:58When the teenager from New York was eligible at last
39:00to play with the varsity in December of 1966,
39:03he debuted with 56 points.
39:06That's a school record.
39:08Averaging 26 points in...
39:09What a way to debut.
39:11...16 boards,
39:12he led UCLA to three national championships
39:15and a record of 88-2.
39:17He was so dominating that the NCAA banned dunking
39:20after his sophomore season.
39:21I told him,
39:23you're going to improve your hook shot,
39:24you're going to improve your little short jump shots
39:28off the board,
39:29and I'd like you to turn it on.
39:30You're going to be better at all these
39:32because you're going to have to work hard on them,
39:34and you will.
39:34He wanted to learn and to be the best,
39:36and I think the dunk rule was the best thing
39:38that ever happened to him
39:40because if you think about it,
39:41if he'd have just been able to dunk it every time,
39:43he probably never would have developed
39:45those areas of his game.
39:47The greatest winner in college basketball history.
39:49The greatest winner in college basketball history,
39:52and Bill Russell played in college.
39:54He has more national championships
39:57than games lost.
39:59Lou Alcindor lost two games
40:01in his three years.
40:03UCLA was already good when he got there.
40:05They had won the two national titles
40:06prior to his freshman year,
40:08but after he got there,
40:09they became the most dominant program
40:11in college basketball history.
40:14No other explanation.
40:16Time now for our...
40:19...
40:21...
40:22...
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