Louisville has quite the basketball legacy. Legendary coaches “Peck” Hickman, Denny Crum, and, for better or worse, Rick Pitino. Memorable teams, and of course some of the greatest players college basketball has ever produced.
Here’s our take on the 20 best players in the history of Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball. Listed in chronological order.
Tyra, a native of Louisville and a local icon, was the first All-American (1956, ’57) and, in fact, the program’s first star. With 1,617 rebounds, which is still a school record and is among the top 15 in NCAA history, Tyra is still the leader in these categories. She also has career highs in rebounding average (17.0), made field goals (640), points (1,728), and scoring average (18.2). When he averaged school records of 23.8 points and 22.2 rebounds in 1956, he contributed to the Cardinals winning their first NIT championship. The team has retired five jerseys, Tyra’s No. 8 being one of them.
It was Turner’s chance to shine at Louisville, a few years after Charlie Tyra’s reign of terror ended. By averaging 14.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game in 1958–59, he contributed to the Cardinals’ historic run to the Final Four. Two seasons later, Turner averaged 11.4 rebounds and 23.1 points, which is still second-highest in school history. He was named an All-American for the 1960–61 season. With 919 career rebounds, Taylor is ninth in school history. He also scored over 1,400 points at Louisville, where he is among the top 10 scorers with 16.9 points per game.
One could argue that Unseld is the best basketball player to have ever worn a Louisville uniform. The school retires his No. 31 in honour of him and Charlie Tyra. Unseld leads the Cardinals in average scoring all-time with 20.6 points, and he is a member of the College Basketball and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fames. With 1,686 points, he is ranked 11th overall. His 1967–68 season average of 23.0 points per game ranks third in school history for a season. With 1,551 rebounds, the native of Louisville has the second-highest career rebounding average of any Louisville player (18.9 per game).
Beard, who shared a room with Wes Unseld while attending Louisville, amassed nearly 1,600 points in his three seasons as a Cardinal. His career average of 19.0 points per game is second only to Unseld’s. In his career debut, Beard scored the most points of any Louisville player against Georgetown College with 27. In his first collegiate season (1966–67), Beard averaged 20.5 points; two years later, in his last season with the Cardinals, he scored 20.6. During that 1968–69 season, Beard was named an All-American. Furthermore, Beard received two selections as an All-Missouri Valley Conference performer.
Jim Price, Guard (1970-72
Price’s collegiate career ended with just 1,500 points, barely. But in the 1971–72 season, he did average 21.0 points on 49.5 percent shooting, leading the Cardinals to their second-ever Final Four appearance. In addition to being named an All-American that season, the Indianapolis product has the fifth-most field goals made by a Cardinal with 244 during that campaign. Price is sixth among Louisville’s career scorers with a 17.1 average. Furthermore. Price has a career shooting percentage of 46.4 percent and 378 assists.
East Chicago, Indiana, native Bridgeman excelled at every level of basketball play. During his three seasons at Louisville, Bridgeman averaged 15.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and an amazing 51.7 percent shooting from the field. In 1974 and 1975, he was recognised as the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. In the latter case, Louisville advanced to the Final Four and was named an All-American. Bridgeman went on to have an incredible NBA career, scoring over 11,000 points and having the Milwaukee Bucks retire his No. 2.
One more player from the Cardinals’ 1980 national championship team. Smith had a breakthrough sophomore year in 1979–80, averaging 14.8 points, shooting 57.3 percent, and grabbing 8.3 rebounds. Still, Smith deserves to be honoured for his whole collegiate career. He is ranked 10th in terms of rebounds (884) and seventh in terms of points (1,826) in school history. In 1980–81, he averaged 15.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, earning him the title of Metro Conference Player of the Year. Smith spent his four years at Louisville playing 131 games.
McCray is one of four basketball players from Louisville with records over 1,000 rebounds (1,029 and 1,000 points (1,247). On the Cardinals’ 1980 national championship team, he started as a freshman and averaged a meagre 7.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists while shooting 54.3 percent. While McCray never finished his career with a double-digit scoring average, he did win the Metro Conference Player of the Year award as a senior in 1982–83, averaging 11 points per game in addition to grabbing 8.4 rebounds and handing out 3.4 assists. In addition to starting 132 straight college games, McCray assisted Louisville in making it to the Final Four in 1982 and 1983.
Wagner’s performance at Louisville felt as though it went on forever. Wagner did play for the Cardinals for five seasons, albeit a fractured foot kept him from playing in all but two games during his senior year in 1984–85. Wagner, one of the greatest scorers in Louisville history, with 1,836 points, good for sixth place in programme history. Over his career, which included 144 games (the second-most of any Cardinal), he shot exactly 50 percent. After recovering from an injury, Wagner led Louisville to the 1986 national championship game with an average of 14.8 points and 4.2 assists. The two-time All-Metro Conference first-team selection’s career assist total of 432 and free-throw percentage of 81.4 place him fourth and eighth in school history, respectively.
The list of noteworthy players from the Cardinals’ 1986 national championship team continues here. Indeed, one season after averaging career-highs in points (15.1), rebounds (8.4), and assists (4.2), Thompson led that squad with 14.9 points per game. Thompson is the only player from Louisville who is ranked in the top 11 in terms of career scoring (1,685 points), rebounding (928), and assists (459) going into the 2022–2023 season. With 185 blocks, he ranks fifth among all Cardinals. During his four seasons of college, he played in 143 games and shot 52.8 percent. He was selected twice for the first team of the Metro Conference.
Crook, a product of Louisville’s Eastern High School, is maybe the most underappreciated player in Cardinals history. As a sophomore, he led Louisville to a 72-69 victory over Duke in the ’86 championship game, finishing with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. After that, he only became better; the following season, he averaged 15.5 points and a career-high 8.0 rebounds, earning him the title of Metro Conference Player of the Year. Then, as a senior in 1987–1988, he achieved a personal best with an average of 16.1 points. In school history, Crook is ranked 10th with 1,723 points, seventh with 656 made field goals, and 11th with 877 rebounds.
