We were discussing the “Top Fifty Players in UK History Poll” the other day on the Big Blue Breakdown, mostly how some folks made it onto the list while others didn’t or were positioned fairly low.
You can see the results of the fan balloting up to this point here:
50-41:[URL]http://www.nationofblue.com/uk-s-top-50-players-all-time-poll-positions-50-41-11768/[/URL]
40-31: [URL]http://www.nationofblue.com/top-50-uk-players-all-time-poll-positions-40-31-11829/[/URL]
A lot of the feedback received so far has centered around how some players, namely Cameron Mills and Josh Harrellson, despite being beloved by the fans, had no business on a list of the most prestigious Cats of all time. Others questioned how highly-decorated players like Dirk Minniefield, Alex Groza and Mel Turpin ended up being so low.
Those are all questions for a different day. There’s one thing that really sticks out in my mind when I look at the list…
How in the world could you put Keith Bogans at #31?!?!
[SIZE=1][I]Keith Bogans, shown here being confused by his placement on the list.[/I][/SIZE]
Having a player the caliber of Bogans be that low on a list is a borderline crime. I mean, let’s examine this a bit. Keith Bogans was one of those players who could do dang near everything on the court, night in and night out. Bogans could score, as evidenced by his career 43.7% field goal average and being fourth on the all-time UK scoring list. He could pass the ball and hit the open man, as evidenced by being 14[SUP]th[/SUP] on the Assists list. He could rebound too, considering being 36[SUP]th[/SUP] on the rebounds list. As a guard..
And it’s not just the numbers, it’s the intangibles that make him one of the all-time greats. Were it not for his leadership, would the Cats have gone a perfect 16-0 in SEC play? In a word, no. And think back to the NCAA Tournament that year, when Kentucky was 29-3 and a #1 Seed, and a sure favorite to win it all. And then, Bogans hurt his ankle. He managed to play, but you could tell he was fighting on will at that point. Kentucky ended up losing and ended up making Dwayne Wade a household name. I still say to this day, had Keith been at full strength they wouldn’t have lost that game. And Carmelo Anthony’s Syracuse team wouldn’t have won it all, either.
It wasn’t like UK didn’t have anyone else that year, they were a pretty talented team with Chuck Hayes, Cliff Hawkins, Marquis Estill and Gerald Fitch all playing prominent roles. Keith was just that important.
[I][SIZE=1]To be fair though, this guy had an off night, too[/SIZE].[/I]
Look, I’m not trying to say he’s the best to ever walk the earth or anything. There are so many big names in Kentucky’s history that it’d be hard to justify putting Keith at #1. But surely you could have found it in your hearts to at least put him in the top 10, or at the very least the top 15. But 31? Come on, guys!
As bad as I hate to say it, the voters really got it wrong this time.
