Several University of Kentucky basketball players, teams or moments were considered among the best in rankings released by the NCAA on Tuesday as it prepares to celebrate the 75th anniversary of March Madness.
Fans will be able to get in on the voting starting in early January, with their input trimming the list of 75 best players to 15. The NCAA's 25 top teams and 35 top moments will be cut to one each. Voting will take place at NCAA.com/MarchMadness.
The lists were compiled and researched by the NCAA's basketball and statistics staffs, which consulted with the NCAA's media partners and selected members of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Here are the Wildcat-related milestones that made the NCAA lists:
■ Players: Anthony Davis, Dan Issel, Jack Givens and Tony Delk.
■ Teams: Kentucky's national championship teams of 2011-12 (38-2) and 1995-96 (34-2) made the list.
■ Moments: Christian Laettner's last-second shot against Kentucky in 1992; Texas Western's 72-65 victory in 1966 against Kentucky.
Kentucky also got a mention in the so-called 2005 "Regional finals for the ages" that included UK's 94-88 double-overtime loss to Michigan State.
The NCAA's list of top players also included Lexington native Shelvin Mack of Butler, and Louisville's Darrell Griffith and Pervis Ellison.
The list of teams included Louisville's 1979-80 champions (33-3).
Like UK, Louisville made the moments list for the 2005 regional finals. The Cardinals earned a trip to the Final Four by rallying from a 19-point deficit to beat West Virginia.
ESPNU to air Bowie doc
ESPNU plans to air a documentary on former Kentucky star Sam Bowie.
The documentary, titled Going Big, will air at 9 p.m. on Dec. 20.
It chronicles the ups and downs of Bowie's career. The arc began with him being one of the most-heralded high school prospects. Of course, he sat out two seasons at UK because of stress fractures.
Injuries cut short his NBA career.
In promotional material released Tuesday, Bowie recalled being examined by doctors for the Portland Trail Blazers prior to the 1984 NBA Draft.
"I can still remember them taking a little mallet, and when they would hit me on my left tibia, and 'I don't feel anything' I would tell 'em," Bowie said in the release. "But deep down inside, it was hurting. If what I did was lying and what I did was wrong, at the end of the day, when you have loved ones that have some needs, I did what any of us would have done."
