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(02-02-2023 06:38 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 06:01 PM)chatcat Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 05:22 PM)fnz Wrote:  This is about a post from a few months ago, but can someone explain the Lew Alcindor/Cincinnati recruiting thing?

This is the only place I've ever seen it mentioned and Google is no help.

Rumor had it, back in the day, that Alcindor had narrowed his college choices to UC and UCLA and then Ed Jucker left for the Cincinnati Royals, and that iced it for UCLA.

I don't think that's right, because Jabbar would have already chosen his college by the time Jucker left UC.

The story I always heard was that Jabbar stopped looking at UC after they blew what would have been a 3rd straight title in '63. But I think that's BS and he was never seriously considering UC.

I can't speak to the specifics of either reason here but I suspect it's highly likely Alcindor could have been considering UC.

I'll throw another log on the fire of 1960's college basketball lore and see if anyone can corroborate it. I've heard that John Wooden said if Cincy had won in '63, there wouldn't have been a UCLA dynasty. Implication being UC might have acquired enough talent (Alcindor included perhaps) to have rolled on for several more years. It's fun to think about what might have been.

(02-03-2023 08:45 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 06:38 PM)levydl Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 06:01 PM)chatcat Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 05:22 PM)fnz Wrote:  This is about a post from a few months ago, but can someone explain the Lew Alcindor/Cincinnati recruiting thing?

This is the only place I've ever seen it mentioned and Google is no help.

Rumor had it, back in the day, that Alcindor had narrowed his college choices to UC and UCLA and then Ed Jucker left for the Cincinnati Royals, and that iced it for UCLA.

I don't think that's right, because Jabbar would have already chosen his college by the time Jucker left UC.

The story I always heard was that Jabbar stopped looking at UC after they blew what would have been a 3rd straight title in '63. But I think that's BS and he was never seriously considering UC.

I can't speak to the specifics of either reason here but I suspect it's highly likely Alcindor could have been considering UC.

I'll throw another log on the fire of 1960's college basketball lore and see if anyone can corroborate it. I've heard that John Wooden said if Cincy had won in '63, there wouldn't have been a UCLA dynasty. Implication being UC might have acquired enough talent (Alcindor included perhaps) to have rolled on for several more years. It's fun to think about what might have been.

Wooden's UCLA team lost to UC in the 1962 Final 4. Walt Hazzard was a sophomore, Gale Goodrich was an ineligible freshman. They made it back to the tournament the next year when it was only 25 teams, and then in 1964 they went undefeated and won Wooden's first title. All the players were already there when UC lost in 1963.

This is why I tend to think it's all legend. It doesn't add up when you look into it. I gather Kareem probably looked at UC because they were the best team in the country when he was the best player in high school, but I don't think there's any truth to the story that he was actually going to come here until whatever happened.

Anyway, people seem happy with this JUCO pickup. I guess the staff thinks he's better than anyone they could get in the portal. Interesting calculation coaches now have to make with recruits.