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.