President's Day Edition - Mount Rushmore of UConn Basketball

Wikipedia

With all this talk about the Mount Rushmore of certain teams, I will going to tell you my own personal Mount Rushmore for both UConn basketball teams.  Today we will start with the men's basketball team.

NCAA

The first person is Jim Calhoun.  The former head coach led Connecticut from the basement of the Big East to a three-time NCAA National Champion.  He was the architect.  Calhoun believed it was doable and it was done.  He created the Beast of the East and helped make Storrs, Conn. the capital of College Basketball.

The Daily Hand Off

The person who helped put Connecticut Basketball on the map is Walter Ray Allen.  Before becoming the NBA career leader in third point makes and winner of two NBA titles, Allen was a dominate force for the Huskies in the mid-1990s.  His teams won three Big East Regular Season Titles and made three Sweet 16s. He helped lead UConn to their first No. 1 ranking in 1995.  He helped lead the state of Connecticut into Huskymania.  Allen is a future Hall of Famer.

Hartford Courant

Emeka Okafor was the man in the early 2000s.  His low post presence on defense made offenses wary of his shot block ability.  Okafor's teams went to three Big East Championship games, winning two of them.  They advanced to the Sweet 16 three times, the Elite Eight twice and won the 2004 National Championship.  Perhaps the smartest UConn basketball, Okafor was also the highest draft pick that came out of Connecticut.

AP

The fourth person is a real toss up.  There are three guys that can be placed here.  I honestly think it is a toss-up between Richard Hamilton, Kemba Walker, and Khalid El-Amin.  All three played key roles in privotal moments for UConn basketball.  Hamilton and El-Amin starred in the UConn backcourt for the 1999 National Title.  However, it was Walker who carried his team on his back for the most improbable national championship in 2011.  I am leaning towards Walker only because he played in two Final Fours and helped guide his team to 11 straight wins in the postseason.

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Speaking of President's Day - here is a throwback - Allen vs Allen - UConn vs. Georgetown 1996.  The Hoyas dominated the Huskies during that game with their full court pressure defense.  But it made the Big East final a few weeks later even more special with the Ray Allen off-balance game winner.

SBNation.com

In the above picture, it was freshmen vs freshmen - Iverson vs. Ricky Moore.  Iverson said the only person to every shut him down in college was Moore.

Here is Ray Allen's game-winner in 1996-