The Big O
I’ve always loved this picture of Oscar Robertson. I knew it had to be front and center for our little slice of Bracketology.
And not just because he was an unbelievable athlete (Rusty is the only guy I can think of who might have a vertical leap like this), but because I’m fairly certain that Dave and Frank both met him at UC. And the guy doing that freaky jump never dunked the ball in a game. He thought that was playground stuff, not real basketball.
He was he first player ever (and one of only two) to average a triple double for an entire season in the NBA. Not Michael. Not LeBron. The Big O.
Here are a couple of the highlights of Robertson’s three years playing varsity ball at UC:
- Three time UPI college player of the year
- Three time Sporting News college player of the year
- Three time consensus All American
- Three time NCAA Scoring Champion
- Two time Helms college player of the year
Oddly enough, it was the teams that came immediately after Robertson that won back-to-back National Championships for the Bearcats.