Best Ute B-Ballers by decade

[UTEopia]

With the recent uptick in interest in basketball, I thought I would take a look back at the best players I can remember. I was born in 1956, so I have limited memory of the early 60's. Merv Jackson was my first basketball hero as a little boy. Anyway, after looking at the media guide of lettermen, here is my list of candidates by decade.
Because some players careers overlap decades, I decided to use the most number of years as the decade or in case of a tie, the final year as the decade. I obtained the dates from the Media Guide. The interesting thing is that every decade had some very good teams and a couple of off years. The Utes went to the Final Four twice in the 60's. In the 70's the Utes had a strong run to the NIT Championship game and then some very good teams in 78 and 79. The 80's had a great team in 82 and then sort of a lull. Majerus picked it up and the 90's were a lot of fun. It looked like the 00's would be continue to be good, but Majerus got crazier and then things (well - you know).


60’s
Leonard Black
Jerry Chambers
George Fisher
Allen Holmes
Merv Jackson
Lyndon MacKay
Billy McGill
Doug Moon
Jeff Ockel
Walt Simon
Rich Tate


70’s
Karl Bankowsi
Tickey Burden
Tom Chambers
Greg Deane
Ken Gardner
Jeff Jonas
Scot Jones
Jeff Judkins
Earl Peaches Laster
Buster Matheney
Tyrone Medley
Chas Menatti
Mike Newlin
Mike Sojourner
Doug Terry
Eddie Trail
Charlie Whiting
Earl Williams




80’s
Tommy Connor
Gale Gondrezick
Craig Hammer
Manny Hendrix
Jimmy Madison
Pace Mannion
Scott Martin
Kelvin Upshaw
Tim McLaughlin
Angelo Robinson
Mitch Smith
Albert Springs
Jerry Stroman
Danny Vranes
Peter Williams
Chris Winans




90’s
Phil Dixon
Mike Doleac
Josh Grant
Drew Hansen
Alex Jensen
Brandon Jessie
Andre Miller
Hanno Mottola
Craig Rydalch
Mark Rydalch
Jimmy Soto
Keith VanHorn
Walter Watts
Byron Wilson


00’s
Andrew Bogut
Lawrence Borha
Johnnie Bryant
Chris Burgess
Trace Caton
Phil Cullen
Luca Drca
Tim Drisdom
Shaun Green
Marc Jackson
Britton Johnson
Jeff Johnson
Bryant Markson
Cedric Martin
Luke Nevill
Jason Washburn

[LA Ute]

You left Danny Vranes off of the 70s list. Otherwise a good list.

[UBlender]

Did I miss Alex Jensen on the 90s list?

Also, I'd start a list for the '10s and put on Will Clyburn (I know he didn't leave under friendly terms but he is one of the best players we've seen since Bogut), Washburn and DuBois. I don't think I'd put Ced Martin on it but he was a nice role player. I'd also go ahead and add Loveridge to the '10s list.

What about Carlon Brown on the '00s list? Again, left under bad circumstances but was one of the best players on the one good Boylen team. I mean, if Drca's on the list....

[OrangeUte]

Jeff Jonas and judkins were two of my earliest memories watching the utes. Pace mannion, Albert springs, Clyde rivers etc came next. Such good memories from the mid 70s on.

The huntsman center is still my favorite place to watch a basketball game. Upgrade it if you will, but the layout is terrific and intimate and personal. Not that this has anything to do with the thread at all.

[FountainOfUte]

Luca Drca? Really? Nothing personal against the kid, but I can't say I'll ever think of him as one of the better players to come through the U.

[SoCalPat]

Luca Drca? Really? Nothing personal against the kid, but I can't say I'll ever think of him as one of the better players to come through the U.

And no Nick Jacobson? That's criminal.

I'd drop Drca, Cullen, Drisdom, J. Johnsen and Martin from this list. We can acknowledge that the last 10 years have sucked, but we don't need it rubbed in our faces, either.

[UtahsMrSports]

And no Nick Jacobson? That's criminal.

I'd drop Drca, Cullen, Drisdom, J. Johnsen and Martin from this list. We can acknowledge that the last 10 years have sucked, but we don't need it rubbed in our faces, either.

Yeah, its a sad state when role players are being included in all-decade teams.....

[NorthwestUteFan]

Yeah, its a sad state when role players are being included in all-decade teams.....

Speaking of role players, we can't forget to add Ma Jian...

[UTEopia]

Obviously Nick Jacobson should be on that list. I didn't consider Jacobson and then not include him, I just missed him as I went down the list. Luka Drca? Probably not. As for guys like Bernard Tomlin, Carlon Brown and Will Clyburn, I decided not to include guys who transferred to other programs. Otherwise, how can you leave Marshall Henderson off the list?

[SoCalPat]

Obviously Nick Jacobson should be on that list. I didn't consider Jacobson and then not include him, I just missed him as I went down the list. Luka Drca? Probably not. As for guys like Bernard Tomlin, Carlon Brown and Will Clyburn, I decided not to include guys who transferred to other programs. Otherwise, how can you leave Marshall Henderson off the list?

I'm in full agreement there. I would almost include Carlon ahead of Clyburn and Henderson, because he actually played multiple years here. But he had the misfortune (luck?) of transferring a to conference rival and helped beat us three times, so he's definitely off the list.