Classic Photos of UConn Men's Basketball

SI Staff | Sep 13, 2012

Classic Photos of UConn Men's Basketball /

Classic Photos of UConn Men's Basketball

Hugh Greer

Hugh Greer coached the Huskies from 1947 to 1963, winning 12 Yankee Conference Championships. His most famous victory occurred in 1954, when he led UConn to a one-point victory over Holy Cross, ending the Crusaders' 47-game home-winning streak. He left Storrs with a 286-112 career record.

Corny Thompson

During Thompson's first three years with UConn, the program experienced unprecedented success: three consecutive 20-win seasons. He also helped the Huskies adjust to the Big East, which was founded during Thompson's sophomore season. Thompson's 1,810 career points rank fifth in school history.

Jim Calhoun

In 1986, UConn hired Northeastern coach Jim Calhoun, who has led the Huskies to three national championships (1999, 2004) and four Final Fours. He is one of eight coaches with 800 career wins. But the 2005 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee sat out the first three games of the 2011-12 season because of recruiting violations by the program.

Tate George

In one of the most famous shots in school history, Tate George coverts a jumper with one second left to beat Clemson in the Sweet 16. The shot gave UConn a 71-70 victory, moving it to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1964.

Donyell Marshall

The first All-America in school history, Donyell Marshall helped Calhoun continue to push the program forward. He averaged 18.1 points per game in his three years and led the Huskies to the first of three straight Big East titles. The 1994 squad also reached the Sweet 16.

Ray Allen

Before he became the NBA's all-time three-point shooting king, Ray Allen honed his stroke in Storrs. A two-time All-America, Allen averaged 19 points per game and led the Huskies to the 1995 Elite Eight. He also made a school-record 44.8 percent of his three-point attempts.

Jim Calhoun and Bobby Knight

Calhoun currently ranks sixth all time among men's Division I coaches with 873 career coaching victories while Bobby Knight is second with 902.

Khalid El- Amin

During the best three-year span in UConn history, Khalid El-Amin was at the helm. The clutch point guard scored the final four points in the 1999 championship game against Duke, giving UConn a 77-74 victory and its first national championship. He was All-Big East as a junior and spent a year in the NBA before heading overseas to continue his professional career.

Richard Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin

Richard Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin pose after leading the Huskies to their first national championship.

Caron Butler

Caron Butler played two season for UConn. As a sophomore, he averaged 20 points and eight rebounds per game and led the Huskies to both regular season and tournament Big East titles.

Ben Gordon

Ben Gordon was one of the most dynamic scorers in school history, averaging nearly 17 points per game in his career. He scored 36 in the regional finals to push UConn to the Final Four, where he added 20 more in the Huskies' 82-73 victory over Georgia Tech in the championship game. In the 2004 NBA draft, Gordon went third to the Chicago Bulls.

Caron Butler and Jim Calhoun

Big East Tournament MVP Caron Butler with Jim Calhoun after the Huskies won the tournament.

Emeka Okafor

During his three years at UConn, Emeka Okafor was one of the top defensive players in the nation. He also won All-America honors, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player award and a national championship. Okafor, the NCAA Defensive Player of the Year during his junior season, blocked a school-record 4.3 shots per game in his UConn career.

Hilton Armstrong and Ben Gordon

Hilton Armstrong (left) and Ben Gordon celebrate with the trophy and newspaper headline after the Huskies won the national championship with an 82-73 win over Georgia Tech.

Rudy Gay

Rudy Gay burst onto the scene in 2004-05, winning Big East Freshman of the year (with Jeff Green) and earning an invitation to play for the USA's Men's Under-21 World Championship Team. In his sophomore year, Gay was a finalist for Naismith College Player of the Year. He was selected eighth overall in the 2006 draft by Memphis.

Tony Hanson

Tony Hanson was the New England Player of the Year in 1977. He led the Huskies to a Sweet 16 appearance in 1976 and closed out his UConn career by averaging a double-double (26 points, 10.6 rebounds per game) as a senior. In this photo, Hanson is honored by UConn Director of Athletics Jeff Hathaway.

Hasheem Thabeet and Maya Moore

Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3-inch native of Tanzania, brought shot-blocking abilities to the UConn frontline. His 4.2 blocks per game are a hair behind Okafor's numbers for the best in school history, and he earned the 2009 NCAA Defensive Player of the Year award. In his junior season, Thabeet also led the Huskies to the Big East championship and the Final Four.

Kemba Walker

Kemba Walker's solid college career ventured into the spectacular in his junior season, and he earned All-America honors. Behind Walker, the Huskies won five games in five days to take the Big East tournament title and fought their way to the Final Four. The point guard has played his best when the Huskies needed it most, including a game-winner against No. 1 seed Pittsburgh in the Big East tournament.

Published Sep 13, 2012

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