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Eye On College Basketball
Top 25 Stories of Past 25 Years, Ep. 3: Zion transcends CBB; Florida + UConn's B2B titles; Carmelo and Cuse
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- [00:01]
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- [01:15]
Gary Parish
Hey there, it's Gary Parish. Welcome back, CBS Sports. I own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. Matt Norlander is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube, you know what to do to the like button shouts to Brandon Davies. And if you haven't yet, subscribe to the CBS Sports college basketball YouTube channel. Please also do that while you're here. Let's get into it. Today we are continuing our series on the top 25 college basketball stories of the past 25 years, which is really just Norlander's top 25 college basketball stories of the Past 25 years, minus Bob Knight's termination at Indiana on September 10, 2000. I was not consulted on this list. I had no input. I'm only here to get us in and out of words from our partners and to see if I can somehow make every single one of these stories about me. Norlander, we've already done numbers 25 through number 16. I've enjoyed this so far. Are you ready to unveil the next five of the top 25 college basketball stories of the past 25 years minus Indiana firing Bob Knight in September 2000?
- [02:22]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I'm ready. Yes, we're. We're doing the next five here. Glad to be here with you and glad to continue this series. We are going to get into on this episode some national title winners, some title games, and I figured right off the top I'd address some of the national champions that did not make the list but at least want to do, you know, you know, some honorable mentions. These are five national championship games slash title winners that felt the biggest and most meaningful, at least to me in retrospect doing this but didn't make the list. In chronological order. Maryland winning in 2002 with Juan Dixon, Gary Williams fairly big deal. Don't think that's One of the 25 biggest stories of the past 25 years though. Kansas beating Memphis in 2008. The way it happened. Dozier at mid court for the championship of course under strong consideration, one of the better championship games of this century but didn't make the list. Kentucky under John Calipari in 2012 with Anthony Davis obviously a dominant team, very, very good team, a very big story. Came close to making the list but that ultimately did not get on there. K's last championship in 2015 with Duke. It's notable certainly for being the last of you know all the championships that Mike Shashefsky won but that didn't make the list. And then BAYLOR Winning in 2021 that didn't make the list. But Baylor in general will be, will be to come on on this series regardless and that you know that championship happening in the COVID bubble and all that kind of stuff. So those were national championship games winners that didn't make the list. We're going to get to some more here today and also have heard from a few folks. There's not going to be a lot like there's been a lot of incredible games over the past 25 years but you know, really amazing games usually speaking don't translate to big picture meaningful stories. So you know Duke beating Maryland in the miracle minute in 01. Yeah, you know that was awesome. Illinois, Arizona, like a lot of tournament games. Illinois, Arizona, elite 8aM coming back against Northern Iowa which is technically the greatest comeback in the history of the NCAA tournament almost a decade ago at this point. Gp, Syracuse and Yukon six over times. You know Kentucky defeating Wichita, undefeated Wichita State in the tournament the second been a lot of amazing ones. Buddy healed going for 40 plus against Kansas at Kansas in triple overtime. That was number one versus number two game. All that stuff's not going to make the list but they were incredible things to look back on. But. But yeah, that's a just a quick bout, a quick round of other honorable mentions that were certainly under consideration but don't make the list proper.
- [04:57]
Gary Parish
So not every national champion is going to be one of the 25 biggest stories in college basketball the past 25 years. But watch what I'm about to do. Back to back champions, those are going to make the list, aren't they?
- [05:10]
Matt Norlander
They are. And that's where we're going to start here.
- [05:14]
Gary Parish
Ed Holland saying no foul. That's going to do it.
- [05:17]
Matt Norlander
They were almost flawless. A season low.
- [05:20]
Gary Parish
Six turnovers by the Gators.
- [05:25]
Matt Norlander
What a performance. The Gators as good as it gets. Florida's the national champion right now. In fact, I'll spoil the next two and we'll talk to. We'll talk one and then the other in the order that I put them on the list here. Back to back national championships are a big deal. I put Florida at 15 and then UConn at 14 on the list overall. You know, if you want to make the case for Florida to be ahead of UConn, I'm certainly here for it. I think you can make the case to me. UConn winning back to back championships, a slightly bigger deal and we'll explain why. But let's dive into Florida. They win back to back championships in 2006 and 2007. They become the first program when they do this since Duke to win back to back championships. It wasn't just that. It's the fact that they did this with almost the entire same roster returning year over year. You know, in 0506 Florida went 33 and 6. It had the third best record in the SEC that season. GP was 10 and 6 in league play. Got a three seed and Jokim Noah, Taurian Green, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, they're all sophomores. They're all in the in the same class. Really. One of the particularly now as we look back on this, there have been some incredible, incredible recruiting classes obviously. But when you want to look at at least four players in one recruiting class that won a national championship, that foursome, that quartet with Florida really does rank among the best ever when you consider what they did and what they accomplished there. They all average between in that season. 05 06, they averaged between 11.3 and 14.2 points. They all would have been drafted in 06 had they decided to leave. I know a Brewer and Horford probably would have gone in the first round, but they decided to come back. And not only do they come back, they come back. They go 35, five, they win as a one seed. I've got a couple more notes here, but I want to throw it back to you. This was right as you were starting at CBS Sports. CBSSports.com is the league college basketball columnist. You know, what do you Remember about the team? 0506 and then 0607 floor is yours.
- [07:28]
Gary Parish
GP okay, so 0506 was my last year as the Memphis beat writer for the Commercial Appeal. Oh six zero seven was first year as a columnist for CBS Sports.com so I was around that team as it was going for its second title as much as I've been around any non Memphis team that I covered as a beat writer. That was also while Florida was awesome at football and also while I had football responsibilities@cbssports.com so I, I don't know how many weeks or weekends I spent in Gainesville in that year.
- [08:07]
Matt Norlander
Right. Tebow as well.
- [08:09]
Gary Parish
Yeah, it was like I, I remember it all being the same time and I was just down there for Florida football games and then I would pop in and see Billy and I was around the team and just, I was just there a lot and I, I don't know that we'll ever see anything like this again.
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Matt Norlander
I agree with you because it was.
- [08:31]
Gary Parish
Such an unusual makeup. They returned all five starters, as you noted, from a national championship team. And I don't think you can. I don't think that'll ever happen again. I mean, you know, never say never, but it was so like, the details matter. And the details were this. It starts here, I think Joe Camp Noah was the son of a tennis player and a model, and Al Horford was a son of a former professional basketball player. So they're having the time of their life. And just like you noted, they, it wasn't like they were headed for this. Joe Noah was just like a, you know, it wasn't a McDonald's all American. He was just a guy.
- [09:05]
Matt Norlander
He's a good top 100 player, won the title. My memory. So this is just when I'm out of college, before I started College Hoops Journal, years before I was at cbs. My memory thinking back on this was until basically Florida made the deep run in the 06 tournament. A lot of it was like you couldn't read a story or see joke of Noah talked about on television without references to Yannick Noah, his father, who was once upon a time like a great tennis. Like that was the joke of Noah story. Winning the championship is when a lot of that stuff started to shut away.
- [09:33]
Gary Parish
Yeah. So you have like, they were, I think they received six votes in the preseason poll, AP poll, before they won that first title. They were 41st in the preseason poll. They go. And as a 3C win the national title. I don't think any of them thought they were really winning a national title. I don't think any of them really saw what was coming. And Then it's just here. And they were just having the time of their lives. Like, if I remember correctly, they lived together. Like, I can still, like, close my eyes and see the apartment that people told me, yeah, that's where they live, in that corner right there. Like, I can still see that. And they were just having a blast. And so often when it comes to basketball prospects or just prospects in general, it's like, well, we gotta go. The money's just so much, and you got to take the money. And coaches make decisions for these reasons. Players make decisions for these reasons. Humans, just outside of sports, make decisions for monetary reasons. But it was like, I'm the son of a tennis player and a model. Like, in other words, I don't. Like, I ain't hurting for money right now. I'm having the time of my life. I'll do this again if you'll do this again. And then Al Horford's like, yeah, you know, I'm not hurting either. If you'll do this again, I'll do this again. I don't. I'm not pretending these conversations actually happen like this, but this is sort of where it. We don't come from backgrounds where we got to take the money at first shot, so let's just keep doing this. And then Corey Brewer, who probably did need to go, he's from, like, rural Tennessee. He was like, well, if everybody else is staying, I guess I'll stay. Because the other two touring Green, Lee, Humphrey, they didn't really have early entry NBA.
- [11:16]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [11:17]
Gary Parish
Things attached to them. So it's like the, the two ones, the two that do say, I'm staying because we don't need to go necessarily. Corey Brewers. Like, if everybody else is staying, I'm staying. And next thing you know, all five starters from a championship team are back. And then I remember I was in Vegas with them. They played Kansas early, like maybe day after Thanksgiving.
- [11:41]
Matt Norlander
We've talked about this on the show a long time. I. I remember that Kansas game. So I was out of college in the house with like five other buds. And I remember that game being so much anticipation building to the Kansas Florida game in Vegas. Think about back then. It's not. You didn't have neutral site games between highly ranked non conference opponents, but they weren't nearly as prevalent then as basically became in the, in the subsequent years after that. So to that point, GP that was, you know, the first really big game. The reigning national champions against, you know, a Kansas team that was obviously loaded. Kansas City continued to be good. So I'M glad you invoked that because yeah, the, the, the sentiment around that if this is, you know, I understand for young people listening and watching this, if you weren't there for it, it's kind of hard to encapsulate really the amount of anticipation and, and semi skepticism over whether Florida was actually going to do this again because they weren't, they weren't the best team in the country the previous season going in. Although ironically enough Florida this past season, the 07 championship Florida team, those teams did not finish number one at Ken Palm. The 06 team finished number one. That's the highest finishing Florida team ever. And it was the, it was the lowest seeded team of three, which is interesting. So it was the most efficient within the context of its season. It only had one game in that oh6 tournament decided by single digits. It got past Georgetown with Jeff Green and our guy Roy Hibbert in the Sweet 16 by four points. But every other game they, they beat the best Nova team GP under, under Jay Wright to that point. Alan Ray, Randy Foy, Mike Nardi, Will Sheridan. That team was a one seed and they beat them. They, they cruised past them. They beat Mason in the Final Four and then they faced two season UCLA in the title game in 06 and they won by 16. Anyway, continue on.
- [13:22]
Gary Parish
But yeah, yeah, so and they, to your point, they weren't even pre unanimous preseason number one after returning all five starters from a national championship. Which it like makes no sense to me but whatever, I know they weren't a unanimous number one. So then they come back, the first big game is that Kansas game in Vegas. They lose it and then they, two games later they lose to Florida State. So they start 7 and 2. Then they go on a 17 game winning streak. And while that's going on, I guess they, they lose to Vandy on February 17th. I remember that because I was also there. I was at Memorial and I folks.
- [14:01]
Matt Norlander
Vandy was good at the time.
- [14:03]
Gary Parish
Yeah. And it was like I, I wrote a column about this. I didn't take the time to go back and find it. But I remember writing about Joe Kim Noah off of that game because I just sort of witnessed this interesting scene. The whole like by this time he's a star and he's got the hair and he's a big personality and like it was a pretty common taunt among college basketball fans and visiting in road games, they just call him ugly. Just like some version of like you're ugly. It was just like you're an ugly person. That's what they would do to him all the time. And so I just remember this happening at Vanderbilt. It was just as he's walking off the court. It's just like pointing fingers and yelling and screaming. And then there was. As he's walking from the locker room to the bus to get back to the airport, there's like some Vanderbilt fans who encounter him, and they're just. It immediately shifts from. He's had 15,000 Vanderbilt fans yelling mean stuff at him for two hours, and now they're just, like, joking, Noah, can we get a picture? And he just went over there and was the nicest and just great to them. And it was just a weird interaction, like you were public enemy number one up until somebody wants a picture with you. I guess it was a sign of where the whole world's going.
- [15:17]
Matt Norlander
Sure.
- [15:18]
Gary Parish
But I just remember that being interesting. Like, I don't know. It's something in my head. At some point in this season, you'll remember this. Do you remember the Dick Vital aspect of this?
- [15:30]
Matt Norlander
I actually.
- [15:31]
Gary Parish
Okay, you'll know. You'll know when I say it me up.
- [15:33]
Matt Norlander
Because what I thought you were going to here was they lose three out of four games down the stretch. And it. Maybe this is what you're talking about. But it went from, okay, this is a dominant team, too. Now they're bored. This is going to cost them in the tournament. They've lost their momentum. They've lost the desire. It became probably the biggest talking point heading into the conference tournament. This Florida team that had lost three and they got rolled. They lost three games out of four by double digits. I remember that being a thing. Continued.
- [16:00]
Gary Parish
So while this is happening, they lose three or four. You're exactly right. And Dick Vital is scheduled to go on, I believe, Knoxville radio. And we've all been on radio shows as guests. We know how this goes. A producer calls you, hey, Matt, it's so and so with the WB, whatever in whatever you. You got 15 minutes for the guys. And you're like, yeah, of course.
- [16:25]
Matt Norlander
Ready to go.
- [16:25]
Gary Parish
And this is the way it works. They're like, all right, we're. We'll be back in 90 seconds. All right, Dick Vital is clearly having breakfast. I think it's called the Broken egg, where he has breakfast all the time. And it's. He answers the phone, producers call. And in that time period between. We've called to get you on the phone, but we're not live yet. We'll get you in a minute. Whatever. He just starts talking to somebody. It appears to be somebody who's walking by the table at the breakfast and they're like, hey, Dicky V. So what's going on with Florida? It's like that. All right. He lives in Florida. It's a. And this is the quote. I went back and found it. Billy is. Dick is talking to somebody. But they are now live on radio. It's like. And now we're joined by ESPN's Dick Vital. Hey, Dick. It's so and so and so and so in Knoxville. He doesn't hear any of this. He's talking to somebody else.
- [17:16]
Matt Norlander
Oh, man.
- [17:17]
Gary Parish
And they're live on the air. And this is what comes out over the air, Billy. It's clearly Dick Vitale talking to somebody at breakfast, not realizing he's live on radio. And he says, Billy Donovan grabbed me all alone and said the pro scouts are making a mistake. He said there's no way I would take Noah over Horford. He said he would never say that publicly, but there's no way he would take no over.
- [17:40]
Matt Norlander
Which by the way, proved to be the right.
- [17:44]
Gary Parish
Right. It was right. It was right. In. In fairness, all these years later, Billy Donovan and Dick Vidal were right.
- [17:51]
Matt Norlander
Noah was a fine pro, but Horford certainly by far the best.
- [17:54]
Gary Parish
I mean, still play. He's still playing. Yes, but that was a thing that they had to deal with like that. That can break your lot, that can mess your locker room up bad if you know your coach is out there saying, there is no way I would take him over him. And that was something they had to navigate. Billy was asked about it publicly and he was just like, I don't have any comment on something I didn't say. And Dick was like, I really put Billy in a bad spot. And it was just, it was a thing that they had to deal with and they dealt with it and they go and they win the national championship. And they were the first back to back champions we had had in a long time.
- [18:30]
Matt Norlander
It will. Yeah, it was 15 years since we saw the previous one with Duke in some way, like in real time. Looking back on it, to me it felt longer than that. But I think a lot of that was just a function of growing up. Like the year seem longer when you're younger versus when you're older and all that. The wait to get to Yukon was even longer between Florida and Yukon than it was Duke to Florida to begin with. Quick refresher on the 07 teams run through the tournament. There they beat an average Purdue team by seven. Then Butler was a five seed in the next round. This is after, you know, beating a low level opponent in round one. Butler was coached by Todd Licklider. Brad Stevens was an assistant on that staff. They beat Butler by 8. A.J. graves was the best player on that team. 6 1. A.J. graves was THE best player on that Butler team. Then they beat three seed Oregon, which had 29 wins. Had Aaron Brooks, Malik Harrison and Tuan Porter. They won by 12 in that game. Then they play UCLA again. It's mostly like Aaron Aflalo, Darren Collison, Luke Richard. Man, oh man. Let's remember some dudes, right?
- [19:28]
Gary Parish
I remember all those guys.
- [19:29]
Matt Norlander
Oh, just they were on the team that was on the. They were on the team before, the year before that lost Florida in the title game. Yeah. You know, so many things just like.
- [19:37]
Gary Parish
Might have cost Ben Howlen 2 National.
- [19:39]
Matt Norlander
So like what could have been if not for Florida, like if UCLA doesn't or if UCLA wins one of those, you know, wins one national championship. Ben Holland isn't, isn't out of ucla. You know, it was some years later. They went to three Final Fours in three consecutive years. This is the 07 is the year before the Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook team and all that stuff. But nevertheless, you know, Florida knocked off UCLA in the Final Force last national championship game two years in a row. It was the Final Four and 07. Then Florida beats the Ohio State team with Greta, Odin, Mike Conley. Odin, you know, was not entirely healthy the entire season, but Florida deserved Odin.
- [20:16]
Gary Parish
Trivia time. Odin Conley and the other heralded freshmen. Name them.
- [20:21]
Matt Norlander
Oh, I know, dude, I know it, I know it. But I'm not gonna.
- [20:25]
Gary Parish
Is it Daquan Cook?
- [20:27]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, there we go. Good call. Good call, Good call. Loaded.
- [20:30]
Gary Parish
Ohio State team self trivia time.
- [20:32]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, there we go. Love it. Love when we pull that out in retrospect, like let me bring up the Ken Palm here. Just like I don't know if those two teams are one, two. I think Carolina was amazing that year in oh, seven. They might be number one in Ken Palm. Let me bring this up here. It was Carolina. So what I was gonna say though was like Florida playing Ohio State in the national championship game. Looking back at that all these years later, those are the two teams that should have played in the national championship game. Now Carolina did rank number one that season. They had Hansborough as a sophomore, Ty Lawson as a freshman, Wayne Ellington as a freshman, Brendan Wright as a freshman, Danny Green as a sophomore. But Florida and Ohio State seemed to make the most sense playing in the national championship game. And Florida winds up Winning it there and they beat Ohio State. It was, it was a big time deal. It should have been a big time deal. It's easily one of the 15 biggest stories of the past 25 years in college basketball.
- [21:19]
Gary Parish
It is a Yukon coronation. The Huskies make history back to back national champions.
- [21:31]
Matt Norlander
But I think it is narrowly usurped by UConn winning back to back championships in 23, 24. So let's transition and talk Huskies right now. This is the most recent story on the list that made the list, if you will. Nothing else that's in the top 25 will have happened as recently or frequently for the most part. There's one interpretation of another story that you could say technically is like 2025. We'll get to that. Down the way I put Yukon ahead of Florida because UConn did it more dominantly. It did it with a very brash, confident, headline grabbing coach who ascended to face of the sport status when by, you know, by nature of winning back to back championships. Billy Donovan solidified his hall of Fame credentials by winning back to back championships. And that's now been proven literally true. Dan Hurley did the same by doing this. But it was the way that UConn did it. To me, that makes it ever so slightly of a bigger story. It's 14:15. There's barely any difference between the two. In 2023, UConn was 31, 8 and a 4 seed. Had all six of its tournament games decided by double digit margins and an average of 20 points. They won every tournament game by at least 13. They were only the fifth team ever to win every tournament game by at least 13 points. But yeah, they, they'd done things like they held every tournament opponent under 35%. No team had ever done that before. 2023, UConn, they trailed for a total of 55 seconds in six second halves in the 2023 tournament. They didn't lose a game outside of Biggie's competition that season in its entirety. And the only other teams that ever did that to win a national championship and not lose the game outside of league play were 66, 67 UCLA and 0809 Carolina. Those were blue bloods. And then let me just take 20, 24 hp and then it's all you. The 24 teams, even better. They're 37 3. They're by far the best team in the sport. They're the number one overall seed. They do so despite losing, you know, they lost Andre Jackson, Adama, Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins. They lost those three key pieces, Caravan Interested Newton come back. Newton ascends to starting point guard status and really dominates all the more. This is what I wrote the night of the title game. I wrote a 12 straight NCAA tournament victory by double digits last 13 plus points. It's a record likely to never be broken. An all time team, one I'd comfortably put among the 10 best since John Wooden retired in 1975. Do not take this dominance for granted. Do not normalize what hadn't ever been achieved heretofore. What the Huskies did this year isn't supposed to happen. The only other team to win consecutive title games by 15 plus points was UC UCLA from 1967-69. Those wins featured Lu Alcindor who was considered the greatest college player ever. Speaking of legends, Hurley puts his name alongside the his name alongside names like Wooden, Iba and Rupp and Krzyevsky as back to back champions. They are all hall of Famers. One day Hurley will join them. This win assures it will happen. Last year was about UConn cementing its cases of blue blood. It was so convincing you never heard it brought up this season or this tournament. It was accepted as fact because it is. I put Yukon slightly ahead. They were even better. They the 24 team won all of his tournament games by more than 23 points. Even better than the outstandingly dominant 23 group. Your thoughts on on Yukon doing it back to back in the not so distant past here, I think the Florida.
- [24:54]
Gary Parish
Back to back is more interesting. Just it's just a more unusual story. It's the same group of starters doing it in consecutive years. It's multiple projected first round picks returning to school at a time where basically no projected first round picks came back to school. But undeniably the UConn team was more dominant. The Florida back to back stuff was I I think the better movie for making movies. It's the better movie. It's the one I think that will have a longer lasting memory. In other words, off the top of my head I can say Torian Green, Lee Humphrey, Corey Brewer, Joe Kim, Noah, Al Horford. I think I'll know that for until memory loss sets in. I think I'll know that forever. Like how many college basketball teams that you weren't necessarily a fan of can you just remember the starting lineup for the rest of your life?
- [25:59]
Matt Norlander
Right there's the list of that is is lesser than.
- [26:02]
Gary Parish
It's like a UNLV team, you know. And some of this is a function.
- [26:06]
Matt Norlander
Of how much the sport means to you when you're younger I get all that, but like the Yukon stuff is so recently like. Yeah, I understand. I don't know, it was a bigger role in 24, you know, Stefan Castle joins in, Alex Caravan, Cam Spencer. I mean, I don't, I don't know, maybe.
- [26:22]
Gary Parish
But yeah, like I, I think it's 20 years, basically.
- [26:26]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [26:27]
Gary Parish
Remove now and I still can like picture that starting lineup and at any minute of any day you could be like, so who were the guys that started for Florida when they went back to back? And I could just go right to it. I don't know that in 20 years people will be able to do that with these UConn back to back teams. But that second Yukon team, I know they weren't unbeatable because they were beaten, but my God, it got to a point where it looked like they were unbeatable. Like, I don't, like we could play this again tomorrow if we want to. I don't. I think they'd probably just win the whole thing again. Like so often we talk about if we started this tournament over and played it again, who would win it. And I think like they would just win it again. I think they would just win it a lot.
- [27:07]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, they were outrageous. They beat their six tournament opponents by 140 points. That's the most combined margin of victory in the history of the NCAA tournament. The previous one was one of the all time great teams as well. 95, 96 Kentucky and yeah, no, it was a understandably huge deal. It was, you know, the first one got UConn to blue blood status. The second one just elevated them to like, I don't want to say near mythical levels, but it's hard for teams to go back to back. I mean, Oklahoma state in the 40s, Kentucky in the 40s, San Francisco in the 50s, Cincinnati in the 60s, UCLA obviously throughout the 60s, Duke in Florida. Those are the only programs that have ever won back to back. It can happen. It's just harder. And who's to say GP Like I'd love to. I'd love if you told me at some point in the next decade, 10 to 20 years that we'll get to cover another program that wins back to back championships. Because it's a really, really cool thing to be able to, to track and follow and cover in person. But we don't know. We don't know.
- [28:08]
Gary Parish
It took me Florida next season.
- [28:10]
Matt Norlander
It could, you know what it could be, which would be outrageous, is that if that actually happened and you had two schools go back to back in that kind of Period. That would. The closest thing we've had to. That would, would have. Had to. That would have been. I mean, geez, it would have been literally Oklahoma State and Kentucky in the 40s. And even then they weren't sandwiched back to back right, right against each other. It just almost never happens there. So UConn is 14 on the list. We're a little squeezed for time, but let's keep it moving here. We're going to get to 13 right after this. In fact. GP I know we're a little squeezed for time. We're going to take some. This is going to be a stroll down memory lane. It's. It ties gp, Memphis, Kentucky. John Calipari and his decision to leave the Tigers and coach The Wildcats in 2009 is number 13 on the list. We'll get to that right after this break. Thanks for selling your car to Carvana. Here's your check.
- [28:57]
Gary Parish
Whoa. When did I get here?
- [28:58]
Matt Norlander
What do you mean?
- [28:59]
Gary Parish
I swear it was just moments ago that I accepted a great offer from Carvana online. I must have time traveled to the future.
- [29:05]
Matt Norlander
It was just moments ago. We do same day pickup. Here's your check for that great offer. It is the future. It's.
- [29:12]
Gary Parish
It's the present.
- [29:13]
Matt Norlander
And just the convenience of Carvana. Sorry to blow your mind.
- [29:16]
Gary Parish
It's all good. Happens all the time.
- [29:18]
Matt Norlander
Sell your car the convenient way to Carvana.
- [29:22]
Gary Parish
Pick up.
- [29:23]
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- [29:56]
Gary Parish
To number 13 of the top 25 college basketball stories of the past 25 years. It's Norlander's list and at number 13, he put John Calipari leaves Memphis for Kentucky.
- [30:05]
Matt Norlander
I'm humbled yet I'm excited about leading this storied program. This is pretty heady stuff for me, but this was a dream I had since we brought our team down here and I believe it was 1992. We had won the Alaska Shootout, came down here to play and I could not believe the environment. And at that point I Said I'd love to coach there someday. I'm a regular guy.
- [30:31]
Gary Parish
Folks, it's the first huge college basketball coaching change dominated by online coverage. Before I talk for 11 straight minutes.
- [30:39]
Matt Norlander
Okay.
- [30:39]
Gary Parish
Yes. What do you remember about that time?
- [30:42]
Matt Norlander
Yes. Okay. So for me, at this point, I. It's 2009. I'm. I'm not at CB. I'm running college Hoops Journal. So I'm. I'm tracking this, blogging it, like, daily. I remember I was also a sports editor of two newspapers in the. In the Fairfield county area in Connecticut. So I was. I remember being in my tiny New Canaan News office, like, tracking this stuff online. Variety of sources like Dead Spin, CBS, Force.com, eSPN, Kentucky Media, Memphis Media, SB Nation, the Big lead. Like when Rob Doster, our buddy, was running a site called Ballin as a habit, there were college basketball blogs storming the floor, rush the court like this. This thing really did have an element to it that I'm sure in like, the. That year, the year before, maybe even the year before that, like 0807, there probably was a coaching search in college football that I just wasn't nearly as invested in or privy to that that matched this kind of level. But I do think that that caliperry leaving Memphis for Kentucky was something of a watershed moment when it came to coaching carousel and college basketball and how online coverage seemed to usurp traditional media coverage, print media, television media, all of that. There was a Memphis television station that said that famously and innocuously really set up a live camera shot of a door exiting one of the Memphis athletic facilities and kept it rolling and was garnering, garnering in thousands and thousands and thousands of live views just to wait and see if and when John Calipari would exit that door. So we would have some sort of indication on if he was indeed leaving Memphis for Kentucky when we would know about all this. Real quick, let me just do the setup and then it's all ugp. Remember, Tubby Smith was the coach of Kentucky, won A championship in 98. The reason why this even happens is he wins a championship in 98, but they never get back to the Final Four. He gets the Elite Eight three times, a couple of Sweet 16s, but he can't get back. So the fan base grows frustrated. He winds up leaving, going to Minnesota. They hire Billy Gillespie in 07 after they could not get Billy Donovan. And I don't know if I don't remember you, and maybe you can speak to this, if the gap was like, Donovan, nobody and then Gillespie, if there are a couple other guys that were involved in that, I can't remember that particular thing. I remember Donovan turned them down when Kentucky thought they would get Donovan in conference. Coincidentally enough, as we just talked about with the Florida teams that won back to back championships. Didn't happen there. Gillespie gets the job. It doesn't go well. He doesn't have the personality, he doesn't have the temperament for it. We don't need to go down this whole road but like he didn't treat the players well whatsoever. And after barely making the tournament near one and getting bounced one and done, they don't even qualify for the tournament. Year two everyone around Lexington knew basically halfway through his second season Gillespie was not going to make it. After year two they again try and get Donovan. I dug up a couple of your old first of all, Paris used to have a column on cbs sports.com or a blog called Parish the Thoughts.
- [33:45]
Gary Parish
How creative.
- [33:46]
Matt Norlander
Which I, which I love.
- [33:49]
Gary Parish
I would cringe at that.
- [33:50]
Matt Norlander
Parish the Thoughts. So good, so good. Here's, here's real quick, one thing you wrote. Dateline Memphis, Tennessee March 27, 2009 with Billy Donovan out of the picture, Kentucky must now turn elsewhere. Tom Izzo that would be excellent. John Caliperi that would be tremendous. But I'm less sure about Travis Ford. And I like Travis Ford. He was great at Oklahoma State this season. That school is lucky to have him. But the reality is that ford has coached nine Division 1 seasons at three different schools and been to two NCAA tournaments. Which doesn't suggest he's guaranteed success anywhere, much less somewhere like Kentucky. He might. Or he could miss the tournament in three straight years like he did at UMass.
- [34:26]
Gary Parish
I don't know why I had to give Travis Ford a stray.
- [34:30]
Matt Norlander
It was, it was a 250 word blog post update in the middle of the afternoon on March 27th.
- [34:34]
Gary Parish
I'm assuming somebody had reported that he.
- [34:36]
Matt Norlander
Candidate but you also react to Pal J. Wright. Those guys. Again this is after Gillespie as he's getting fired. He got chased out of the damn building by Alan Cutler. It was, it was a wild scene like and then I didn't put Cal leaving Kentucky for Arkansas on the list. It was close. That was also like that's an all timer that I will never forget. I will never forget that five hour period on the Sunday before the title game a year ago when he left for Arkansas. It was a huge story. Frankly if I did a top 30 stories of the past 25 years that would have been on the list. But to me, him leaving Memphis for Kentucky is a bigger deal because of where he was at in his career and the after effects. GP I'm trying to give you everything here and then it's all you. You think about what Memphis was after. This I looked at. I'm not going to read it, but I looked up another one of your blog posts. Apparently Tim Floyd was really thought to be in there. It wound up being Passner, but people thought it would be Floyd. Floyd didn't want to follow Phil Jackson in the NBA and then Caliper in college. It didn't wind up happening there. But you think about how Memphis hasn't been the same since what Calipari turned Memphis into dominated cusa. And I could make the case that if Cal had not taken the Kentucky job, Memphis probably isn't in the conference it's in right now. Even if only stays like another two, three years. I think it's truly enough to change the trajectory of that Memphis program. And then you see what Caliperi becomes at Kentucky. The greatest recruiter we've ever seen in the history of college basketball sets records for draft picks one and doners lottery picks. All of this stuff only wins one national championship, but he did. It was a genre redefinition of what could be possible at a blue blood, with the perfect coach at the perfect time, an amazing recruiter, all of it. That's why it's so high on the list. It was a surreal thing to follow in real time. And then although even if you want to say Cal ultimately underachieved big picture with what he did at Kentucky, he did change the dynamic of college basketball for essentially a generation by choosing to do this in 2009.
- [36:33]
Gary Parish
So the truth is Kentucky probably should have hired him when Tubby left. But at that moment there was. The way I remember it, at least the way people talked about it at least was there was a sentiment at Kentucky where we don't hire somebody like John Caliperi. Yeah, that was the.
- [36:52]
Matt Norlander
Because even at that point, Kentucky was too good for alleged cheaters, so to speak.
- [36:55]
Gary Parish
That that is like.
- [36:57]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I hear you. I'm not disagreeing.
- [36:58]
Gary Parish
That was the sentiment.
- [36:59]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [36:59]
Gary Parish
All right. We don't hire. We're Kentucky. We're not hiring somebody like John Caliperi. Well, then they hire Billy Gillespie. That's a disaster. And at that point I think they realize whether it's Mitch specifically or somebody else, we can't miss again. So what is the surefire thing? Yeah, let's. Billy Donovan would be wonderful. Jay Wright would be wonderful. But before we go hire another Billy Gillespie or up and comer or risky thing, we know John Calipre will win here. We might not like everything that's attached to John Caliperi, but we know what will happen. He gonna win big. And so they pulled the trigger on it and he understandably left. But, buddy, it shook the city in a way that you. It is, I think, hard to understand.
- [37:53]
Matt Norlander
Over this, yet.
- [37:55]
Gary Parish
Not completely.
- [37:56]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [37:56]
Gary Parish
I mean, John took him to four sweets, straight Sweet 16s, including three Elite Eights and a national title game in that run. And they have not been back to the sweet 16 since. You know, they have not been at the Sweet sixteen since he left here. The other reason it was so unusual is because it dragged out in ways that it didn't need to drag out, but for understandable reasons, just looking back on it. So they lose to Missouri in the Sweet 16 on that Thursday, which is March 26. On that Saturday, I am literally sitting at Blue City Cafe on Beale street watching Elite eight games with John Roebick, who is like John Caliperi's right hand man. It's me and Robick. I don't think he would mind me telling the story. At some point he has to get up. The story at that point is John's in Chicago going to see Derrick Rose. They're playing the Pacers on that Saturday night. And John's just in Chicago at some point, like, John calls Robick Caldas, and Robick has to get up and walk outside. And he's standing outside on Bill street talking on the phone to John Calipari. And the only. I swear to God, this is truth. The only thing he said to me when he came back in, because I didn't know, he's just like, hey, I got to take this call. The only thing he came, he said when he came. And I just remember this for some reason, here's what he said. My cat, my guy can't make any decisions without talking about it for an hour. Something like that. Like. And I was like, clear, like something was happening subsequently. What I found out he was in Chicago meeting with Kentucky that night. It wasn't just about going to the Bulls to see Derek Rose. He was meeting with Kentucky officials in Chicago at that time. They had letters of intent on some of the best basketball prospects in the country. I don't remember exactly, but, like, I think they. It was like the recruiting class was going to be John, Wall Street, DeMarcus.
- [39:45]
Matt Norlander
Cousins, I think it was. I don't know if he had Bledsoe at that point, but yeah, I don't.
- [39:49]
Gary Parish
Think they had Bledsoe yet. But Xavier Henry, it was like a number one recruiting class in the country. Memphis was probably going to be preseason number one. All right. @ least had a chance to be preseason number one. And the way the rules were written at the time, the second he's not the Memphis coach anymore, he is not allowed to talk to prospects who have signed letters of intent with the University of Memphis. So at least the way the story's told, the way I remember it being told to me at that time, yes, he's taken the Kentucky job, but not yet, maybe not even today because he's still trying to recruit these other guys to Kentucky. And once he resigns at Memphis and accepts the Kentucky job, he can't talk to John Wall anymore or whoever those prospects were. So it was like it's not just about just taking the job. He's got to get these recruits lined up to go to Kentucky and then pull the trigger. And so it dragged out. In the meantime, Memphis was doing everything they can do to try to keep him. It was always going to be a losing battle because John always wanted to be on that side of the rope, if you will. He always felt like an outsider, like, I'm one of the best college coaches who has ever existed. Why am I coaching at UMass in Memphis? I'm one of the best who's ever done this, maybe the best doing it right now. Why AM I at UMass in Memphis? He always felt like he was pushed on that side of the rope, like you don't belong over here with the. And so he like being getting that invitation was something he always wanted and was always going to accept. But Memphis was doing everything. And I was told, I don't know whether it was Fred Smith, specifically Fred Smith who just passed, you know, last month, founder of FedEx, but it was like people like Fred Smith, the people, the money people in Memphis who had relationships with John. I don't know exactly who delivered this message, but I was told those people, that group of people delivered this message to John. You just coached a national championship game. You've got the number one recruiting class in the country. We will give you everything you need to succeed. If you want to be the highest paid coach in the country, we can do that. Whatever Kentucky's offering you, we can match it or exceed it. You have consistently told 17 year old basketball players for nine years that they do not have to go to Kentucky or Duke to reach their dreams. That you can accomplish everything you want to accomplish at Memphis. If you want to be the number one pick of the draft, you can do that from Memphis. Derek did it. If you want to win a national championship, you could do that at Memphis. We were a. Mario Chalmers missed three pointer away from doing it. If you really believe all that stuff, there's no reason for you to leave. And he was like, yeah, that's recruiting. You know, that's. I remember him saying this phrase at one point. When you're selling Coke, you sell Coke. When you're selling Pepsi, you sell Pepsi.
- [42:46]
Matt Norlander
Did you not look up your.
- [42:47]
Gary Parish
I did not look it up. Is that in there somewhere?
- [42:49]
Matt Norlander
I'm going to read it to you right now real quick. Okay, this is. This is the back half of the column. This is April. April 1, 2009. So you're either probably on your way to the Final Four at this point. Man. Okay, here we go. Do you know about the NIT parade? Caliper, second season, Memphis, just like in his first results in a trip to the nit. It was a massive disappointment considering the Tigers of three players, Duan Wagner, Antonio Burks and Earl Baron, who went on to play in the NBA again, Caliperia, three pros, plus Kelly Wise. Chris. We remembering some dudes on this pod right now. Kelly Wise, Chris Massey, Scooter McFadin and Anthony Rice. And all he could manage was an NIT title. And this is the type of thing that would have had a different coach facing serious criticism, but not Caliperi, because he flipped things by scheduling an NIT parade. Seriously, an NIT parade on Beale Street. He called it important and he sold it. People bought it. Fans came and cheered like it was the World Series. And this is Caliper's greatest attribute, his ability to sell. For nine years, he sold Memphis. Now he'll sell Kentucky. And don't expect the messages to be similar, because when you sell Pepsi, you sell Pepsi, and when you sell Coke, you sell Coke. In other words, Caliperi has spent the past nine years telling recruits they didn't need to go to a place like Kentucky because they could accomplish everything they wanted to accomplish at Memphis. But the only reason he said it is because he was at Memphis instead of Kentucky. It's wild that you did not look that up and you just pulled up before. But I wrote more than 16 years.
- [44:11]
Gary Parish
Ago, I remember that analogy specifically. And so to circle back to your initial question, like, is Memphis over this? It's getting better. There is some thought, like it is in the works that Cal's gonna bring Arkansas to FedEx for him to play Memphis to raise money for St. Jude.
- [44:27]
Matt Norlander
That would be awesome.
- [44:29]
Gary Parish
Awesome. Like, Cal and Penny did a podcast together a couple weeks ago. It published literally yesterday. And John said that he would like for all of his former players, literally every former player of his at Memphis to be brought back to Memphis for that game. And like, let's turn it into not just a celebration of John Calipari, but of all the people who were part of the John Caliperi era. I guess there's safety in numbers, you know, But I. I did like, it's softening, it's. It's defrosting, if you will, the relationship between the ends. And John Calipari, there will be a day where he is celebrated in that building. There was always going to be a day just like Nolan Richardson can go back to Bud Walton now. And at a time it didn't feel like that was something that was happening. Time heals all this stuff, or at least lots of this stuff. Bob Knight went back to Assembly Hall. Eventually, John will be back in FedEx forum. And if it is this year, literally in this calendar year, that would be awesome because he deserves it. For as hurt as Memphians were by the. The departure, and really that's all it was. They will talk about it's the way he left, but just him leaving, no matter how he did it, it was always going to hurt and be bad and run counter to the things that he had said out loud over and over again. But, you know, it's. It was always going to. To be bad and tough for some people to get over. But most people are softening on that. At least there was a time as recently as, let's just say, five years ago, where if you tried to bring John Caliperi back to Memphis, it would be bad, he would get booed. But I don't think that's the case anymore. I think if he brings the razorbacks to FedEx forum, it'll be a pleasant experience for everybody. And I don't want to overstate it, but, like, the city needs that, you know, like, those are great memories. I said this the day after he left on radio in Memphis, and people didn't want to hear it, but it's true for most of us who live in the city. The best years that Memphis basketball will ever experience happened under John Calipari. Those four years, his last four years. We will. We've never seen anything like that before, and we will likely never see anything like that again. And we should be able to. And I'm using the word we because I am a Memphian and like that is my alma mater. We should be able to feel great about those years. And for a long time people haven't been comfortable doing that. But I think, I think it's, I think it's changing.
- [46:53]
Matt Norlander
Just a huge story. And you got the image of Billy Gillespie essentially running out of Kentucky's facilities to dodge Alan Cutler. And there might have been another media reporter, a television reporter. Totally surreal. Just, just, just absolutely wild. Had it behind this. Let's get to number 12.
- [47:10]
Gary Parish
That's what I think is so easy to play. Chris, the talent's extraordinary with. Dude.
- [47:19]
Matt Norlander
I remember you in your heyday.
- [47:21]
Gary Parish
Could you bring it with this? Avengers leave the chandeliers, big fella.
- [47:27]
Matt Norlander
Number 12 is Zion Williamson becoming the biggest star this century in college basketball and taking over that 2018, 2019 season. Back during March, I published the list of the biggest stars in college basketball of the past 25 years. And in building this list, I went back and looked at it again and tried to see, okay, were there certain aspects of this list that needed to cross over to this one. And I'm sorry. Zion Williamson was a once in a quarter century at minimum type of player. His stats were outrageous. We're just coming off of the Cooper Flag stuff. And he was, he was. In many ways Cooper flag was the best one and done freshman Duke has ever had. But in many other ways, Zion Williamson actually was the best freshman that Duke has ever had as a one and done player there because his stats were better than flags. He is the record holder for single season player efficiency rating. His win shares were 8.3, which is ridiculous. He shot better than 70 from the field in effective field goal percentage. He was a national player of the year run away. Not even close. And he had another first team all American on his, on, on his roster with, with our, with RJ Barrett. That's ridiculous. I don't know if we will ever see that again that happen. He averaged 22.6 points, 8.91, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals, 1.8 blocks. And his numbers would have been even better had he not missed, you know, essentially five games due to that foot injury. Yet Obama coming to his games in some ways like he was a supernova. And as I was doing this list and building it out, I do feel like, like we're a little more than six years removed from this and it's starting to feel like maybe his impact and what he was in that season is slight. I'm not saying big. I'm saying slightly undervalued in 2025. Maybe that's because he has not been in the NBA. What he was in college. He's missed plenty of games, he's had injuries, but he was when this happened, I mean, he was the biggest star since Tyler Hansbrough in college and he had 10 times the charisma. So that is number 13 on this list. It is, it is the, it is the once in a generation megawatt supernova that was Zion Williamson playing out of all places, playing at Duke with that game, with that name. He looked different. We had never seen someone who played the way that he played. And he was immediately a thing from game one. When you and I were there in Indianapolis at Champions Classic and Duke absolutely decimated Kentucky GP, beat him by 34.
- [49:51]
Gary Parish
By 34. Tyler Hero, PJ Washington, Emmanuel Quickley were on that team. Beat him by 34. What's interesting about the Zion story, and I agree with you, it's got to be on this list somewhere. He was a phenomenon and it's a.
- [50:04]
Matt Norlander
Little.
- [50:07]
Gary Parish
Something'S lost given the way his NBA career has gone. It's almost like people don't. I can circle this back to the first story we talked about today or one of the first stories we talked about today. Florida winning back to back titles, the second one over Greg Oden in Ohio State. Greg Oden is just thought of these days as like the number one pick. The guy picked before Kevin Durant, who injuries robbed him of everything. But like go back and watch that national championship game. He dominated Joachim Noah, Al Horford, he was so clearly the best player on the court. I remember Horford or Noah like talking about him after the game, like they just won back to back titles. They were like, that dude's amazing. Okay, that dude's incredible. And Zion's a little bit like that. Like his NBA career doesn't pick up where his college career left off. But in college, buddy, he was a force. I believe it's the greatest player efficiency rating in college basketball history ever. Yes, kind of.
- [51:06]
Matt Norlander
I like a little bit of like Flag was incredible. Don't get me wrong, what Flag did was amazing. And Flag got to a Final Four Zions on this list in spite of not even making, making the Final Four. They got to the Elite Eight. But statistically Zion was the best. He was. And he didn't even get every game. I, I just started to almost think like if he had gotten the additional four or Five games there, the numbers would be even more inflated. So it speaks to his genuine star power. And he was number. If you didn't read the story, he was number one. He's the biggest star in my estimation of college basketball has had on the men's side over the past 25 years. Yes, he has. For player efficiency rating, he is number one. And it's. By the way, it's not even close. Like, it's. He is by far and away the record holder. We're almost certainly not going to see anyone beat that record. It's 40.8.
- [51:45]
Gary Parish
And so the, the thing that's different between Design Williamson story and the Cooper Flag story is that the Cooper Flag story was like, here comes Cooper flag. He's going to be the greatest thing ever. Let's see if he can be the greatest thing ever. In some recruiting services, Zion was the third best recruit in Duke's class. All right. RJ Barrett was supposed to be the guy on that Duke team, and he was a first team all American. I know you forget him sometimes, but he was. He was also a first team all American. But it became clear very quickly that Zion was more than just a viral sensation with incredible high school dunks. He was a widely regarded as a very good basketball player, but mostly the guy we watched dunk on the Internet. And then it became clear very quickly, oh, no, this is going to be the best basketball player in college. This is going to be the number one pick in the draft. And it just never slowed down. He had the moment where he lost the shoe. The shoe burst on him and he was sidelined for a bit, but he was awesome from start to finish. That's the year we both saw him in the Champions Classic. Then I went to Maui and saw him in those three games there. They lost the Maui Invitational to. I think that was Ruihar tomorrow. Right? But just an awesome basketball team and a generational talent like, I don't know that it's ever going to be in the NBA what we thought it was going to be. In fact, I would bet against it at this point for a variety of reasons. You can google it if you want to, but man, you. You will never. You will. You. You might live the rest of your life and never see a college basketball player dominate college basketball like that again. He was incredible.
- [53:31]
Matt Norlander
He just heat. There's a bit of a. Of an overused phrase, but it's true. He did transcend. Call it. He transcended the sport. I mean, just, he became one of the biggest sports stars in America the year that he was at Duke. A lot of that is a function of playing at Duke, but was also on an incredible team. He had a lot of, a lot of other talent around. That's, that's the thing.
- [53:49]
Gary Parish
Some of us, the name Zion 100.
- [53:52]
Matt Norlander
It's the name, it's the smile. He looked different, super powerful and just. Yeah, you wanted to see him play in every single game. To me, this wasn't debatable. He is definitely one of the 15 biggest things stories to happen to call it men's college basketball in the past 15 years.
- [54:07]
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- [55:40]
Matt Norlander
Let's get to the final story of this episode. And that is number 11. Now Anthony spinning fires and gets a couple eight points for Carmelo Anthony. And this is the reason why I have Carmelo Anthony and Syracuse winning the 2003 National Championship ahead design because they won the title. You win the title, you're going to get a bump up here. He becomes the first one and done freshman to guide his team to an NCAA title. It was a big deal when we talked about the top players, the top stars and that thing I wrote. We talked about it in March on an episode there. Mellow High on the list for sure. Mello certainly a known product when he was going into Syracuse. You know, I remember. You know, I'm also informed by this in part because, you know, I, I was dating a girl who attended Syracuse at the time. I had friends at Syracuse actually just. I wound up seeing Carmelo Anthony play in person multiple times that season. Was on campus amid their Final Four push. I think I mentioned it on the show in March. Like I saw him walking on one of the Syracuse quads and he had like. And he had a cell phone early one. But I, I maintain Carmelo Anthony is the first person I've ever seen done the fake, the fake phone call. Just so he did because he was, you know, understandably if I think this was going into. I think it was going into the sweet 16 or instead of the Final Four. Can't quite remember that. But he was just a star and it was, it was kind of wild to see him in the wild, so to speak, as, as he was in the middle of all this. But 2003 champion, final four mop, second team all American, by the way, that you're not a first team All American. Averages 22, 22.2 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists. One of those stat lines that I'll always remember. You talk about how you'll never forget the, the Florida starting five. It's the 22.2 10 flat, 2.2 assists. I'll just always remember he won the title with this weirdly memorable stat line there. He got Jim Beheim his only national championship. He elevated. So Syracuse's brand, I want to say GP for about almost 20 years before that, really to the start of the Pearl Washington days, was it was a basketball program. It was certainly in the culture, so to speak. And it. But it was almost good enough. It was always almost good enough. They had made national championship games. They had lost multiple ones there. He was the player that changed. It wasn't all him. Like Jerry McNamara was a huge factor as a freshman on that team. Shouts to Craig 4th Kwath Duaney was obviously very good. Hakeem work hits, gets the block. That obviously seals it. In the championship game against Kansas. Billy Eadolin was a freshman on that team. But I, I maintain that Carmelo Anthony's one year at Syracuse still defines the largest part of his basketball legacy. I would say it's the championship at Q's, then it's probably being like a top three focal point on multiple gold medal winning Olympic teams. And then I would go to maybe his time with the Knicks barely over the Nuggets. Although he made way more playoffs with the Nuggets and had more playoff success with the Nuggets than he did with the Knicks. But maybe that's a function of playing in New York. But it is, it's, it's really that year at Q's 0203, they beat four Big 12 teams en route to winning the championship in that tournament. And he was this highly rated player out of Oak Hill that, that Jim Boeheim got to come to Cues and he was, he was it like immediately they from they played Memphis in the Garden and Syracuse was just a team you wanted to watch. They weren't the best team that season. They weren't ranked number one, two or three for the majority of that season. But they were always interesting. He was consistently awesome and he, he made Syracuse a really, really big time deal. So what it meant for Cues and Mello as a one and done freshman to win a national championship, we had not seen this concoction before and really their, their journey through the tournament was also fairly memorable. It's number 11 on the list. What do you remember about it?
- [59:22]
Gary Parish
GP well, me and Mike Waters and maybe not many more people will go down in history as the only people who were in the building for Carmelo Anthony's first game at Syracuse and last game at Syracuse.
- [59:35]
Matt Norlander
There you go. Because the first game was Memphis in the Garden, correct?
- [59:38]
Gary Parish
Yeah, Yep.
- [59:39]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, was on another dick if you reference. GP Sorry to jump you. I just remember again like part of this is a function of being younger and you know, just loving the sport then as I do now. But like there was a ton of hype going into that game like Cal with Memphis and how good is this Carmelo Anthony guy going to be? Syracuse had never really had like it had been a lot, I don't want to say never. It just had been a long time since they had had someone come college accused with the amount of hype is Carmelo Anthony. And I remember like him showing out in the Garden and it being like Syracuse really might have something here. Lo and behold they did.
- [60:10]
Gary Parish
Yeah, they lost that game though.
- [60:12]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [60:12]
Gary Parish
Memphis wins it. Jeremy Hunt, the other freshman Memphis freshman was terrific, I remember, and I knew I was watching a special freshman. Keep in mind this was a time where players like Carmelo Anthony didn't even come to college too often. And he's in college. I mean, I, I can remember doing the week of the game, like a phone interview with Carmelo Anthony. Like, you know, you called somebody at Syracuse and they're like, yeah, they hand the phone to Carmelo and you're just talking to Carmelo Anthony after practice. And I knew I was watching a special freshman. I didn't know that. I was watching an eventual national championship team, by the way, like they were three seed.
- [60:49]
Matt Norlander
Yep.
- [60:50]
Gary Parish
They finished eighth at Ken Palm even after winning the national title.
- [60:54]
Matt Norlander
Yes, indeed.
- [60:55]
Gary Parish
So I don't want to say it came out of nowhere, but it certainly wasn't expected. But he was terrific. And to your point, obviously, he had an incredible USA Basketball career, incredible professional career. When I think of Carmelo Anthony, I think of, I think of the Orange. I think of him in a Syracuse uniform. That is, I don't want to, I'll let Carmelo rank his achievements, but to me, leading Syracuse to Jim Boeheim's only national championship would rank right at the.
- [61:27]
Matt Norlander
Top of the list he would have made if he had never gone to college and was just, you know, someone who jumped right from the, from high school to the NBA and let's just say his career was mostly, he would have easily been in the hall of Fame, but it is because he chose to play a year in college and win a national championship that Carmelo will have a legacy that's just more distinct and long lasting because you could, to speak to the obvious, like, he won. He won a damn ring. Like he got the trophy and did it at a place like Syracuse. You know, we don't know what Syracuse will be over the next 10, 15, 20 years in the post Jim Beheim era. But for all of Bayheim's longevity and all of his cantankerousness and all of everything that's attached to Jim Beheim, I think it's fair to say on balance in the aggregate, if you will, that he was probably deserving of getting, like, getting at least one title. And he doesn't get it if he doesn't get Carmelo Anthony. And it's, yeah, you know, it was cool to be able to see a lot of this just as, you know, an everyday college student in person and just, and to, you know, make the four hour. I must, I must have seen, I must have drove to syracuse that, oh, 2303 season. I must have driven up there four or five times and it. I remember you just. It was. It was a special deal. In fact, I bring it up. Maybe I didn't. I still have. Hold on one second. I think it's on my steps here. I wanted to show it on camera real quick. I'll be back in like nine seconds. Hold on one second.
- [62:49]
Gary Parish
All right, so on Carmelo Anthony, I did not go to Syracuse while he was at Syracuse, but I believe literally the only time I've ever been to a game at Syracuse happened to be Carmelo Anthony's retirement number retirement jersey. Retirement.
- [63:03]
Matt Norlander
Still have. Let's remember Josh Pace used to wear an orange headband and I still. You ever get stuff when you're like 18, 20, 22 and you still have it? I still have this old Syracuse out of the orange headband. Don't ask me why I have this. 22, 23 years later. It's actually.
- [63:20]
Gary Parish
I don't know why you don't wear it every day.
- [63:22]
Matt Norlander
This is. Yeah, that. This was. This was purchased the year Mellow was at. Was at cues and all that good stuff. Awesome team. Really fun to cover. Really fun to watch. Before I started covering college troops and yeah, number 11 on the list, it was a. It was a pretty big deal. And you. This is the kind of. It's the kind of championship just to put a button and we can get out of here. Talked about Maryland. Oh 2. Kansas in 08, Kentucky in 2012. These are. These are really notable moments over the past 25 years in men's college basketball. But they're just certain championship winning teams, stories that just seem to get referenced and brought up more frequently. If you get that with the Florida teams, I think we'll get that plenty over the next 20 years with those UConn teams. And you, you know, Carmelo and Q's in O3 is something that comes up a lot, rightfully so just on the doorstep of top 10 status.
- [64:10]
Gary Parish
I was saying while you were away for nine seconds, I was at his first game in Syracuse, last game of Syracuse. And I believe the only time I've ever actually been to a game at Syracuse was Carmelo Anthony's jersey retirement number. Retirement. I was back for that year.
- [64:23]
Matt Norlander
Was that. Do we think that was.
- [64:24]
Gary Parish
Feels like it was more than 10 years ago now. Like 2012. I don't know. It was. I don't know. It was. It was a long time ago.
- [64:32]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. It's not coming up immediately on a Google search, but regardless, such a funky building too. Yeah. Carrier Dome. It's unlike anything else. That's the show. That's a show.
- [64:43]
Gary Parish
Hey, when we come back for this thing, when we pick this up, we're gonna be in the top 10.
- [64:46]
Matt Norlander
We will.
- [64:47]
Gary Parish
Top 10.
- [64:48]
Matt Norlander
That's right.
- [64:49]
Gary Parish
25 biggest college basketball stories of the past 25 years, minus Bob Knight's termination at Indiana in September of 2000. We're ready to go, buddy. We're ready to go. Shout out to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, S.C. shouts to Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Huck Larnell. Thank you guys for once again watching listening to the I own college basketball podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anywhere you subscribe to podcasts, Apple, Spotify, there's more of us than there are of them. That needs to be reflected in the comments. So do that and we will talk to you after we all enjoy our July 4th weekend. Till then, take care. You can be.
- [66:00]
Unknown
Paramount podcasts. Summer on the south side of Chicago is heating up. You planning revenge on here? The shy's back on Paramount. Plus it's the season of the women. Women, this is our chance. It's time to get to work. But the men aren't giving up without a fight.
- [66:20]
Matt Norlander
Street's always gonna have a villain.
- [66:22]
Unknown
No one is backing down. In the Showtime original series from Emmy award winner Lena Waithe. Why do black women always have to save the day?
- [66:29]
Gary Parish
If we don't do it, who else will?
- [66:31]
Unknown
Don't miss the shy new season now streaming on the Paramount plus premium plan.