Kentucky's mysteriously missing hardware

Kentucky's mysteriously missing hardware
By Eric Lindsey on March 9, 2010 7:36 PM | No TrackBacks


Seven national championships, 2,017 all-time wins and one college basketball tradition like no other. Surely, in all of that, Kentucky has won a few National Player of the Year awards, right?

No? How about two? No?! One? Try nada.

As unbelievable as it may seem, the UK men's basketball program has never had a player named a National Player of the Year winner by any of the major awards (Associated Press, Wooden Oscar Robertson, Naismith, Rupp and NABC).

Not Dan Issel, not Kenny Walker, not Jamal Mashburn or Tony Delk has ever taken home hardware for Player of the Year. Again, it's a bit jaw-dropping but true.

Kentucky fan Timothy Hull pointed out the anomaly to UK on Tuesday, and, after checking with our records, UK confirmed the note.

Hull did some extensive research to discover the news. According to Hull's statistical analysis, there have been 241 past Players of the Year awards given to 38 different teams over the last 50 years.

Maybe even more shocking, as Hull pointed out to UK, is that only six awards have ever been given to the Southeastern Conference. Coincidentally, all six went to LSU with SEC legends Pete Maravich and Shaquille O'Neal.

That means that Duke's J.J. Redick alone won more Player of the Year awards (seven) than the SEC has ever won. Crazy? How about the fact that the Atlantic Coast Conference has only three less NPOYs than the other five power conferences combined?

As Hull pointed out several times in his e-mail to UK, the stats aren't meant to suggest some sort of anti-UK/SEC conspiracy. They're only meant to show just how shocking it is that college basketball's greatest tradition has never won one of the prestigious awards and to add the potential significance it will carry if freshman point guard John Wall wins some National Player of the Year awards for this season.

The anomaly certainly isn't any precedent. Football powerhouse Alabama had never had a Heisman Trophy winner until Mark Ingram won this year. The Crimson Tide went on to win this year's BCS national title. Sounds like a good omen for UK.

Please check out Hull's statistical analysis below after the jump. I guarantee you'll find it interesting.

38 Teams/ 241 NPOY winners total (notables)
36 winners - Duke
26 winners - UCLA
20 winners - North Carolina
10 winners - Indiana
5 winners - Kansas
5 winners - Ohio State
1 winner - Louisville
0 winners - Kentucky

Multi Oscar Robertson NPOY (from 1959)
9 - UCLA
7 - Duke
4 - North Carolina
3- Cincinnati
Virginia
2 - Ohio State
LSU
St John's

Multi AP NPOY (from 1961)
6 - Duke
5 - UCLA
3 - Ohio State
North Carolina
Virginia
2 - Indiana
NC State

Multi Naismith NPOY (from 1969)
7 - Duke
5 - UCLA
3 - Virginia
2 - Indiana
North Carolina
Texas

Multi Rupp NPOY (from 1972)
6 - Duke
4 - UCLA
3 - North Carolina
Virginia
2 - Indiana

Multi NABC NPOY (from 1975)
5 - Duke
4 - North Carolina
3 - Kansas
2 - Indiana
Virginia
Lasalle

Multi Wooden NPOY (from 1977)
5 - Duke
4 - North Carolina
2 - UCLA
St John's
Virginia
Texas

Remaining 24 schools with at least one NPOY winner:
Arizona, Bradley, BYU, DePaul, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Houston, Indiana State, Marquette, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Navy, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Princeton, Purdue, St Joseph's, UConn, UMass, UNLV, Utah, Wake Forest, Xavier

Notes:
- Duke has won more NPOY awards than UCLA in the AP voting, which began in 1961 (before even the first of UCLA's 11 NCAA Championships).
- Duke has won almost twice as many NPOY awards (36) as third-place North Carolina (20).
- Kansas won three awards from the NABC voting but zero from the AP, Rupp and Oscar Robertson.
- Virginia's awards were all won by Ralph Sampson

Various notable players who never won a NPOY award:
Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, Jason Kidd, Karl Malone, John Stockton

Combined All-Time NPOY winners
88 - ACC
30 - Pac-10
24 - Big 10
19 - Big 12
12 - Big East
6 - SEC

Naismith (No. of players/No. of times named)
14/16 - ACC
3/3 - Big 10
4/4 - Big 12
3/5 - Pac-10
1/1 - Big East
1/1 - SEC

Wooden
11/12 - ACC
2/2 - Big 10
4/4 - Big 12
3/3 - Pac-10
2/2 - Big East
0/0 - SEC

Oscar Robertson
14/16 - ACC
4/5 - Big 10
2/2 - Big 12
7/9 - Pac-10
2/2 - Big East
2/2- SEC

Rupp
13/15 - ACC
3/3 - Big 10
2/2 - Big 12
3/5 - Pac-10
2/2 - Big East
1/1 - SEC

NABC
11/13 - ACC
4/4 - Big 10
5/5 - Big 12
2/2 - Pac-10
3/3 - Big East
0/0 - SEC

AP
13/16 - ACC
6/7 - Big 10
2/2 - Big 12
4/6 - Pac-10
2/2 - Big East
2/2 - SEC

Such SEC stars as Charles Barkley, Chris Jackson, Dan Issel, Dominique Wilkins, Bernard King, Corliss Williamson, Clyde Lee, Neal Walk, Louie Dampier, Johnny Neumann, Leon Douglas, Dale Ellis, Jamal Mashburn and Allan Houston never won a NPOY award.

This would definitely support the theory that the NCAA hates UK.

and that they love Duke.

I dont think the NCAA has a vote.

I hope this year we break that record.

I look at it like Alabama football. We had great players on great teams. They got their Heisman, we get POY.