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UVA Hoops Mount Rushmore: Malcolm Brogdon?

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virginia malcolm brogdonYou got four spots for fatheads on the UVA Hoops Mount Rushmore. Buzzy Wilkinson and Ralph Sampson are locks. The contenders for the other two spots: Barry Parkhill, Wally Walker, Jeff Lamp, Bryant Stith, Sean Singletary … and Malcolm Brogdon.

Does Brogs get on the mountain?

 

The Case for Brogdon

Brogdon will do something none of the others, including Sampson, can say they did, playing in four NCAA Tournaments. (He was on a medical redshirt in 2012-2013 when the Cavs ended up in the NIT.)

The ‘Hoos are 106-29 overall, 53-16 in the ACC and 64-5 at JPJ in his career. Only the Sampson era (112-23 overall, 44-12 in the ACC, 50-2 at University Hall) can boast comparable numbers.

I go team stats on Brogdon because he’s team-first, but his resume isn’t bad: he’s about to become a three-time first-team All-ACC guy, and on a team known for embracing the pace, he’s still put the ball in the hole enough to rank 13th on the all-time scoring list at Virginia, and it’s reasonable to assume that he’ll end up in the top 10 before he’s done.

Brogdon resembles Sampson in this, incidentally. The three-time national player of the year averaged a modest 16.9 points per game at Virginia, including a career-high 19.1 points a game as a senior; Brogdon is currently averaging 13.0 points per game for his career, including a career-high 18.5 points per game this season.

 

The case for the others

Bryant Stith is Virginia’s all-time leading scorer at 2,516 points, with Lamp a close second at 2,317. Stith-era teams won 20 games each season, but were not elite, and his last team failed to get an NCAA bid, though it did win the NIT.

Lamp won an NIT when NITs still meant something (his junior year, Sampson’s freshman year) and was a key contributor to the program’s first Final Four run in 1981.

Barry Parkhill hit a shot against South Carolina that, had it not happened, we’re not thinking about Malcolm Brogdon, Ralph Sampson or any of the rest of it.

Wally Walker helmed the first ACC Tournament championship in 1976.

Sean Singletary is one of five Cavs with more than 2,000 career points, and he hit that shot to beat Duke. (But he also played in the CBI.)

 

Where I come down on this

My Mount Rushmore, and I wish I had graphic design skills to be able to illustrate this, has Wilkinson, Sampson, Brogdon and Lamp.

Somehow the design needs to incorporate Terry Holland and Tony Bennett looking on approvingly, obviously.

– Column by Chris Graham

 

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