Favorite UK player that didn't win a title?

[Montana81]

lots of guys during the tubby smith years for me.

Cliff Hawkins probably my favorite of all of them. Best perimeter defender we've had since I've been watching.

 

[UKRuppster]

I'l go with Jamal Mashburn. He was the main guy on those early 90s team that helped right the ship for the program and also played their hearts out in that great Duke game we all wish ended differently. Tayshaun Prince is a very close second for me. He was an excellent player for Kentucky, then a terrific role player in the NBA for many years, including being a big part of a Pistons team that won one title and was very close to winning two in a row.

 

[akaukswoosh]

Chuck Hayes.

 

[bbnkat02]

I’d say Mashburn for my childhood and John Wall for current era.

 

[KentuckyCat420]

Tayshaun Prince. Probably my favorite player in general though.

 

[Montana81]

I'l go with Jamal Mashburn. He was the main guy on those early 90s team that helped right the ship for the program and also played their hearts out in that great Duke game we all wish ended differently. Tayshaun Prince is a very close second for me. He was an excellent player for Kentucky, then a terrific role player in the NBA for many years, including being a big part of a Pistons team that won one title and was very close to winning two in a row.

I was really happy to see tayshaun get a ring in the NBA. He was a great player at UK that played on 4 teams that I thought really underachieved. Not because of him though. He seemed to drag those teams at times.

 

[nealau76]

lots of guys during the tubby smith years for me.

Cliff Hawkins probably my favorite of all of them. Best perimeter defender we've had since I've been watching.

The Big Horse. Dan Issel

 

[ruppcat]

lots of guys during the tubby smith years for me.

Cliff Hawkins probably my favorite of all of them. Best perimeter defender we've had since I've been watching.

Mash
Bowie
Hayes
Patterson

 

[STL_Cat]

Gotta go with Mash.

 

[_ukcat]

The Big Horse. Dan Issel

/\ This!

 

[blubo]

Issel and Dampier.

 

[Drcats2025]

Keith Bogans for me. I was 8-11 when he was at UK, so he was my boy.

 

[DelkBowl]

Mash
Bowie
Rex

 

[coachcombs57]

Chuck
Fitch
Prince
Patterson

 

[Bigblueincincy_rivals50458]

There's so many but my pick is Chuck Hayes. One of my top 5 favorite players.

 

[wkycatfan7]

Sam Bowie.

 

[musrat59]

It would be Issel for me.

 

[John Henry]

Dan Issel
Cotton Nash
Louie Dampier

 

[KyJones64]

Mel Turpin R.I.P.

 

[JonathanW_rivals]

None of my top 3 favorites won a title.

Mashburn, Hayes, K.Walker,

 

[Ky_Bred_Cat]

Dan Issel, Sam Bowie, Jamal Mashburn.

 

[UKcatXXXL]

The Monster Mash

 

[rmattox]

Have not felt a connection with any bball player with the possible exception of Givens since the Issel days. Issel is the greatest college player to ever wear a Ky uniform. It was a shame he got robbed of the opportunity to beat ucla.

 

[KentuckyStout]

Without a doubt, Kenny Walker.

 

[isonator35]

The more and more I think about it, I think my favorite cat might be Darius Miller. Watched him in 8th grade and became a huge fan. But he won a title.
I am going to go with Erik Daniels or Chuck Hayes. That 03 team may have been one of my favorite UK teams.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

Tie: Kenny Walker and Jamal Mashburn

 

[Aike]

Mash and Walker for me too.

Let me throw another one out of left. I loved watching Eric Manuel play and had extremely high hopes for that group of talent in the late 80’s - Rex, Manuel, Kemp, Mills, Ellis.

If you didn’t live through it, hard to explain how crushed we were to watch that go down the drain.

 

[DSmith21]

Win that frustrating 1983 final 4 game against G-town and three of my favorites likely get a ring:

Walker
Bowie
Turpin

 

[Aike]

Win that frustrating 1983 final 4 game against G-town and three of my favorites likely get a ring:

Walker
Bowie
Turpin

1984

 

[DSmith21]

1984

Sorry, you are right 1983-84 season.

 

[CatsPaws270]

Bogans and Hayes were my favorites...but Im not sad they did not win a title.

Patrick Patterson is the saddest case for me for not winning a title.

-A 5-star McDonald's All-American who commits to UK even when Tubby leaves

-Is a workhorse his freshman year on a team that lost to Gardner Webb

-After turning the season around and playing great basketball, he has to miss the NCAA tournament

-Comes back for another year, puts up monster numbers, and only gets to play in the NIT

-Came back to play for Cal, even though he could have been drafted and knew his role would diminish w/ Wall and Boogie.

-Plays on the top team in the country...and gets upset in the Elite 8 in heartbreaking fashion.



A kid recruited by Tubby, committed and suffered through Billy, and stayed on a team and accepted a lesser role with a new coach. He played 3 years when he only needed one and could've committed originally to programs with better teams than we had at the time. Wanted him to get a title...he only got to play in one tournament. He is a very important piece of UK history and I will never forget him.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

I can't pick just one but off the top Hayes, Fitch, Mashburn, Prince, Bogans, Wall, Boogie, Ulis, Fox, Monk.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Easy one. Kenny Walker.

 

[*dezyDECO*]

Bogans and Hayes were my favorites...but Im not sad they did not win a title.

Patrick Patterson is the saddest case for me for not winning a title.

-A 5-star McDonald's All-American who commits to UK even when Tubby leaves

-Is a workhorse his freshman year on a team that lost to Gardner Webb

-After turning the season around and playing great basketball, he has to miss the NCAA tournament

-Comes back for another year, puts up monster numbers, and only gets to play in the NIT

-Came back to play for Cal, even though he could have been drafted and knew his role would diminish w/ Wall and Boogie.

-Plays on the top team in the country...and gets upset in the Elite 8 in heartbreaking fashion.



A kid recruited by Tubby, committed and suffered through Billy, and stayed on a team and accepted a lesser role with a new coach. He played 3 years when he only needed one and could've committed originally to programs with better teams than we had at the time. Wanted him to get a title...he only got to play in one tournament. He is a very important piece of UK history and I will never forget him.

Spot on with the Patterson summary. Reminds me of another favorite of mine who also endured a rough transition period-- Reggie Hanson.

 

[CatsPaws270]

Spot on with the Patterson summary. Reminds me of another favorite of mine who also endured a rough transition period-- Reggie Hanson.

You could even go back to The Unforgettables too...though I really have no memory of those guys...so no emotional attachment for me.

 

[Nubb16]

John Wall

 

[*dezyDECO*]

You could even go back to The Unforgettables too...though I really have no memory of those guys...so no emotional attachment for me.

Hanson is kind of the Unforgettable That Gets Forgotten... a kid from KY that led those other guys as they were developing, but he graduated the year before the 1992 Unforgettables team.

He kept Kentucky's heart beating through the Mills Scandal/NCAA Punishment period and the Sutton-to-Pitino transition, which included a losing season and a 14-14 season... before having a great run in 90-91, but UK didn't appeal the Tourney suspension, unfortunately.

 

[ORCAT]

Dan Issel, absolutely!

 

[UpstateNYCat]

Grevey
Hayes
Unforgettables
Ulis

 

[Tapemaster8]

Jimmy Dan!