Who is the GREATEST UK Player of All time .... The Search Begins

It is now the worst time of year in terms of sports.....that time of year when college basketball and football are over, and all that is left is the neverending baseball season, with constant speculation as to who is on steroids. For UK fans, it is the impending doom of football season combined with the latest power forward prospect that will not be coming to Kentucky. Well in that darkness, here comes the KSR Radio blog with some light. It is time for the Tournament to begin to pick the Greatest UK player of all time. We here at KSR Radio (ok, me) have picked 96 Kentucky players to participate in a tournament to decide the best of all time, no questions asked. The bracket is below, but before we begin a couple of words on how the process will work: 1. The 96 competitors were picked by selecting the 75 top scorers in UK history and then adding 21 "Wildcards" that ranged from people who, due to their early entry in the draft should have been there (Antoine Walker) to people who I have a soft spot in my heart for (Gimel Martinez and Scotty Baesler). There are certainly people not on the list who are better than some on the list. But no one left off is of the caliber to make the Final 8 or better....so the tournament should be fair. The seeding may be a bit weighted towards those who stayed all four years (Gerald Fitch is much higher than you would imagine) and biased against those who left early (Ron Mercer for instance). I adjusted a little to remedy that.....but it is fairly solid i think. 2. The winners will be selected by a group of seven Kentucky experts who will be announced early next week. We also want to know what you think, via comments on here, or the posts I put up at Kentucky Sports Report....that will be a major part of the consideration. 3. 32 Players received byes and will not be part of the first round matchup....we should have a pdf file on here next week which will make the bracket clearer, but for now just look below. Ok, without further ado here it goes. Remember, the matchups are to pick the best ALL AROUND player of the group....not just the one who scored the most points. The Rupp Region Richie Farmer v. Anthony Epps---- The winner plays #1 seeded Dan Issel Derrick Hord v. Rodney Dent ---- the winner plays #8 seeded Deron Feldhaus Jim Line v. Gimel Martinez ---- the winner plays #5 seeded Pat Riley Bob Burrow v. Rajon Rondo --- the winner plays #4 seeded Cliff Hagan Fred Cowan v. Nazr Mohammad --- the winner plays # 3 seeded Cotton Nash Wah Wah Jones v. Roger Harden ---- the winner plays # 6 seeded Mike Pratt Vernon Hatton v Tom Payne --- the winner plays # 7 seeded Johnny Cox Kelenna Azubuike v. Allen Edwards ---- the winner plays # 2 seeded Tayshaun Prince ____________________________________________________________ Joe B Hall Bracket Larry Pursifull v Larry Johnson ---- the winner plays # 1 seeded Jamal Mashburn Rodrick Rhodes v Larry Steele ---- the winner plays # 8 seeded Rex Chapman Dirk Minniefield v. Sean Woods --- the winner plays # 5 seeded Winston Bennett Bobby Watson v. Derek Anderson ---- the winner plays # 4 seeded Mike Casey Jared Prickett v. Antoine Walker ---- the winner plays # 3 seeded Keith Bogans John Pelphrey v. Richard Madison ---- the winner plays # 6 seeded Rick Robey Wayne Turner v Tommy Kron ---- the winner plays # 7 seeded Jim Master Walter McCarty v Cliff Hawkins ---- the winner plays # 2 seeded Louie Dampier ____________________________________________________________ Rick Pitino Bracket Marquis Estill v Jack Parkinson --- the winner plays # 1 seeded Jack Givens Chuck Hayes v Dale Brown ---- the winner plays # 8 seeded Scott Padgett Jamal Magloire v Charles Hurt ---- the winner plays # 5 seeded Ed Davender Jimmy Dan Connor v. Heshimu Evans ---- the winner plays # 4 seeded Kyle Macy James Lee v Mike Flynn ---- the winner plays #3 seeded Ralph Beard Bill Lickert v Scotty Baesler --- the winner plays # 6 seeded Sam Bowie Reggie Hanson v Andre Riddick ---- the winner plays # 7 seeded Gerald Fitch Jack Tingle v Jeff Brassow ---- the winner plays # 2 seeded Tony Delk ____________________________________________________________ Tubby Smith Bracket Larry Conley v James Blackmon --- the winner plays # 1 seeded Kenny Walker Bill Spivey v Chris Mills --- the winner plays # 8 seeded Tom Parker Erik Daniels v Dickie Beal --- the winner plays # 5 seeded Melvin Turpin Ron Mercer v Patrick Sparks --- the winner plays # 4 seeded Frank Ramsey Thad Jacarz v Jules Camara ---- the winner plays # 3 seeded Alex Groza Jeff Sheppard v Mark Pope --- the winner plays # 6 seeded Mike Phillips Derrick Miller v Bret Bearup --- the winner plays # 7 seeded Jim Andrews Travis Ford v Truman Claytor ---- the winner plays # 2 seeded Kevin Grevey There it is....the matches begin on Monday....have a good weekend folks!