Ranking the top 10 UConn men’s basketball players of all time

1. Richard “Rip” Hamilton (1996-99)

Hamilton was the star on UConn’s first national title team and averaged 21.5 points in each of his final two seasons in Storrs. The two-time Big East Player of the Year was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player during the 1999 championship run which ended in spectacular fashion. Facing a loaded Duke squad (four Blue Devils were taken in the top 14 of the 1999 NBA Draft) in the final as nine-point underdogs, Hamilton dropped 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the title game to give the Huskies their first national championship. If Hamilton stayed for his final year at UConn, he would’ve surpassed Smith as the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer as his 2,036 career points are the second most in program history. After helping change UConn men’s basketball and the Detroit Pistons (who have retired his No. 32 jersey) for the better, Hamilton will one day join Allen as the only players in program history to have their jersey retired.

Rip Hamilton and UConn take down Washington. March 1998. pic.twitter.com/n3uBlINSRc

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 13, 2017