Ranking the Top-Ten Greatest Kentucky Players of All-Time

I watch about as much basketball as a man can possibly watch, spending my time in the doldrums of low-major hoops watching teams who aren't even contenders in their conference going head-to-head in a battle of who can turn the ball over more. If a basketball game pops up on my TV, you best believe that I'm going to be tuning in for the remainder of the contest. That being said, there are only two basketball teams/programs/organizations that I truly love. Those are of course my all-time tragic Utah Jazz, and my all-time prolific Kentucky Wildcats. So, on a Thursday with a little bit of writer's block, I've decided to throw something together that I'm passionate about: ranking all-time greats from one of my beloved teams.

Here's a little disclaimer before I jump into it: I'm going to be starting these rankings in the modern era. This means I'm only going to consider players who spent time at Kentucky after 1960. Of course, this eliminates the first great era of Kentucky basketball, when they won their first four championships. I would simply rather focus on modern era players for the sake of writing a more entertaining blog and finding stats more easily. This means that greats such as Cliff Hagan, Alex Groza, Ralph Beard, and others will be left off this list. Alright, now that that's out of the way, here's the list:

10. Louie Dampier - 1964-1967 - Point Guard

Louie Dampier was one of the first Kentucky greats of the modern era and is one of only nine Kentucky players ever to have two or more All-American selections. Four members of that list came before the modern era, making Dampier one of only five modern era players to hold that honor. He averaged a stellar 19.7 points per game over his three years at Kentucky, including a sophomore season where he put up 21.1 points a night. It was in this sophomore season where Dampier and Pat Riley (first player left off of these rankings) led Kentucky back to the national championship game for the first time in eight years. They would lose that game in memorable fashion to Texas Western, but that year would stand out as the only time the Wildcats would make it that far in the 1960's. He would then play one more year at Kentucky where he became the clear best player on the team and picked up his second All-American nod. Dampier would go on to be one of the greatest ABA players of all-time, spending nine years in the league and making seven all-star games. He would play the final three years of his career in the NBA. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2015.

9. Oscar Tshiebwe - 2021-2023 - Center

Some fans may hate that he made this list, but in only two seasons at Kentucky, Oscar Tshiebwe did some things that the school had never seen before. In his first season at the school, he took home the National Player of the Year award. He's also the most prolific rebounder in Kentucky history. In only two seasons he managed to climb all the way to number six on the all-time rebounding list for the program. He would've topped the list had he played for just one more season. He has the most offensive and defensive rebounds in a season for the Wildcats and has the best rebound percentage of all-time for the program. He's also one of five modern era Kentucky players to have two All-American selections. He put-up solid scoring and block averages during his two years in Lexington. He didn't see much tournament success, but to be fair he was the only standout player on two very mediocre Kentucky teams. Tshiebwe is now in his rookie season in the NBA.

8. Cotton Nash - 1961-1964 - Center

Cotton Nash was the first Kentucky superstar of the modern era. He's still the only Wildcat in the modern era to have three All-American selections under his belt, being named to the team in all three years he played. He averaged 22.7 points and 12.3 rebounds during his career at Kentucky. He ushered in the new era of Kentucky basketball after the 1950s dynasty, as he was really the only standout player for the program before Riley and Dampier arrived in 1964. Admittedly, Nash's numbers were helped by the fact that the teams he played on had no other great players, but he still helped Kentucky over perform in those years. He didn't see much tournament success, but the team was 60-18 over the course of his three-year career. He wasn't a great professional player (probably because he was a 6'5" center,) as he only played one year in the NBA and one year in the ABA. He did play some minor league baseball in between those stints, but that didn't go anywhere for him either.

7. Kenny Walker - 1982-1986 - Forward

Kenny Walker was the best player for the Wildcats in the 1980's, and really the only player during this era to have overwhelming collegiate success. If you remove his freshman year when he wasn't a major impact player, Walker averaged 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game from his sophomore to senior years. He's also a member of the two-time All-American club, making the first-team in his senior season. He was also a two-time SEC player of the year. Walker carried several rather mediocre Kentucky teams on his back during those All-American seasons. These teams overperformed on the season and in the tournament because of Walker, who was an all-tournament region team member both years. He made it to the Final Four in his sophomore year, which was the extent of his tournament success. He went on to be the 5th overall pick in 1986 before playing nine years of professional basketball, seven of which were in the NBA.

6. Kevin Grevey - 1972-1975 - Guard

Kevin Grevey is a Kentucky great who flies under the radar, mostly because he played during an era where the program didn't have much success. However, he had more success at the school than almost anyone in the modern era. He averaged 21.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game during his Kentucky career. He won SEC Player of the Year twice and was a first-team All-American in his senior season. He led the program back to the national championship game, where they hadn't been in nine years, in 1975. They lost this game to a stacked UCLA team, but Grevey put up 34 points in the contest. He was picked 18th in the 1975 NBA draft and went on to play a productive 10 years in the league.

5. Tony Delk - 1992-1996 - Guard

Some fans credit Tony Delk as being the player who truly turned the program around when he led the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats to their first championship in 18 years. This would, of course, set in motion the team winning another championship just two years later after Delk had already left the program. From his sophomore to senior years, when he was a major impact player, Delk averaged 17 points, 4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. In 1996 he took home first-team All-American and SEC Player of the Year honors. He was also named the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player after leading Kentucky to a national championship. He averaged over 18 points per game on this tournament run, including a 24-point performance in that championship contest. He went on to be drafted 16th overall in the 1996 draft and had a solid 11-year career in the NBA.

4. Jack Givens - 1974-1978 - Forward

Jack "Goose" Givens doesn't have the explosive stats that guys like Grevey or Nash had, but he brought one of the most important championships in program history to Kentucky in 1978. That's not to say he didn't have solid stats; he averaged 19 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists from his sophomore to senior years. He was an All-American and SEC Player of the Year in 1978, which was by far his most successful season. It was this season that Givens led Kentucky to their first championship in 20-years, which came in a win over Duke where Givens finished with 41 points. Without this win it would have been a nearly 40-year championship drought for the program, which could have potentially permanently crippled it. Givens would be drafted 16th overall in 1978 but would only play two seasons in the NBA before finishing his professional career overseas.

3. Jamal Mashburn - 1990-1993 - Forward

Some fans would argue that Jamal Mashburn was the most talented player to ever step on the court for the University of Kentucky. A hyper-athletic two-way forward who could shoot the three was unheard of in the early 1990s. He never won a national championship due to playing during an incredibly competitive era and only having two chances to win one, but he did everything else. Mashburn averaged 18.8 points and 7.8 rebounds during his Kentucky career, numbers which would look even better if you only considered his sophomore and junior seasons. In those last two seasons, Mashburn led the Wildcats to back-to-back SEC tournament championships. In 1993 he was named a first-team All-American and the SEC Player of the Year. He was a part of some of the most memorable games in Kentucky history, including the infamous loss to Duke in the Elite-8 in 1992. Mashburn would go on to be selected fourth overall in the 1993 draft and would play 12 years in the NBA, making the All-Star game in 2003.

2. Anthony Davis - 2011-2012 - Forward

It could be argued that no player in college basketball history has had a more dominant freshman collegiate campaign than Anthony Davis. In his single season as a Kentucky Wildcat, Davis accrued almost every single award the NCAA had to offer. He averaged 14.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, and an otherworldly 4.7 blocks per game. Here is the list of all of the accolades Davis won that season: National Player of the Year, the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, the Rupp Trophy, first-team All-American, SEC Player of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, SEC Rookie of the Year, All-SEC Team, SEC All-Freshman Team, SEC All-Defensive Team, SEC All-Tournament Team, NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, NCAA All-Tourney Region Team, NCAA All-Tournament Team, and finally...the NCAA National Championship. He completely dominated in that tournament run, winning every game by at least eight points. He may go down as the greatest defensive player in college basketball history and will likely be a Naismith Hall of Famer someday. After college he was drafted first overall and is currently in his 12th season in the NBA. He has made nine All-Star games and has picked up countless other accolades in his NBA career. He was named as one of the NBA's 75 greatest players of all-time in 2021.

1.Dan Issel - 1967-1970 - Center

No matter how good Anthony Davis was in his singular season at Kentucky, he's no match for the level of play that Dan Issel performed at during his three-year stint as a Wildcat. He averaged 25.8 points and 12.9 rebounds during his Kentucky career, but these numbers are actually deflated due to his average sophomore season. In his junior campaign, Issel put up 26.6 points and 13.6 rebounds per game. Then as if that weren't prolific enough, as a senior, Issel averaged 33.9 points and 13 rebounds per game. He was a two-time All-American, being named to the first-team in his senior season. By the time his career was over at Kentucky he was their all-time leading scorer and rebounder, titles that he still holds to this day. He never found much national title success, losing to Artis Gilmore and Jacksonville in his final season despite being the top-ranked team in the nation going into the tournament. However, Kentucky did win the SEC in all three of Issel's seasons. The only reason he never won SEC Player of the Year was because his career lined up with Pete Maravich at LSU, the greatest collegiate player of all-time. Issel would go on to be one of the greatest ABA players of all-time, as he was an all-star in all six of his ABA seasons and rookie of the year in his first season. He would then play nine years in the NBA, making the all-star game in his debut season. He's still considered one of the greatest Denver Nuggets of all-time.

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There it is, my ranking of the top-ten Kentucky basketball players of all-time. Again, I did not include pre-1960 players; if you have a problem with that go ahead and argue with the wall. This was a very difficult list to make and going into it the only two players who I was positive of their placement were Davis and Issel. Everyone else moved up and down the list several times as I wrote this. These Kentucky articles do well so I may put out more Wildcat content from now on. I may also do these rankings for other blue-blood teams, but I'm not sure yet.

Doron Lamb, you'll always be #1 in my heart.