When did college basketball hit its peak for you?

[TTaylor2135]

non-Texas, I grew up in the northeast so the big east tournament in the early 2000s was always peek hoops for me. My family didn’t grow up with a lot of $$ but my dad would always take me and my two brothers to a full day/night session and it was always the best. Was never a big NBA guy so really how I started to fall in love with college hoops. 

Texas wise - the elite 8 team after KD with Augustin, Abram’s, Damion James. What a fun team, Memphis was just too good

 

[Jeff Howe]

3 hours ago, Dread-headed Texan said:

When I watched Grant Hill catch that insane unhuman like alley hoop. I've been a Duke game ever since.

Duke has had too many great players to mention.

Grant Hill, for a lot of different reasons, is the GOAT.

[LonghornFan4Ever]

Rick Barnes' run from 2001-02 to 2007-08 for me.  Fun era of basketball to watch.  So many great wins and heartbreaking losses, but was fun watching all that talent on the hardwood during that time.

[Jeff Howe]

4 minutes ago, LonghornFan4Ever said:

Rick Barnes' run from 2001-02 to 2007-08 for me.  Fun era of basketball to watch.  So many great wins and heartbreaking losses, but was fun watching all that talent on the hardwood during that time.

A what-if moment that doesn’t get talked about enough:

How much deeper does Texas go in the 2002 NCAA Tournament with a healthy Chris Owens?

[LonghornFan4Ever]

7 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

A what-if moment that doesn’t get talked about enough:

How much deeper does Texas go in the 2002 NCAA Tournament with a healthy Chris Owens?

Yeah, that was Dylan Disu injury before Dylan Disu.  Would've definitely beaten Oregon (should've beaten Oregon anyway imo) and gave Kansas a much tougher game than Oregon did in the Elite Eight for sure.

[Fan of the Game]

The Phi Slamma Jamma dominance was #1 as must-see basketball during that period. Recent Cinderella run by 15-seed St. Peter’s in 2022 to reach Elite Eight. In the current era we may never see a Cinderella run like St. Peter’s again. It was exciting to watch.

[genevalonghorn]

Great thread.  In my mind, it is hard to argue with the 1980's/1990's, not only in terms of quality, but theatre.  The John Thompsons, Jerry Tarkanians, Rollie Massiminos, Lou Carneseccas, and so on, down the line.  

As a young kid, one of my first competitive games was March 1990, Syracuse-Georgetown in the Dome, wall to wall coverage in the local and national press leading up to it.  Alonzo/Dikembe on one side, and Stevie Thompson/Billy Owens/Derrick Coleman/Mike Hopkins on the other.  Big John draws three techs in the first half and waives the towel etc. on the way out and up the tunnel.  Gosh, and as I look at the box score, Jim Burr officiated.  

Hard to argue with it, and I've rushed the court before against JJ Reddick's Duke.

Edited 2 hours ago by genevalonghorn

[Rocky P]

I would say the whole 2000s is when it really peaked.  I remember not being able to miss a DUKE/UNC game during that time, it was as cant miss tv as you could get for CBB.

[genevalonghorn]

1 minute ago, Rocky P said:

I would say the whole 2000s is when it really peaked.  I remember not being able to miss a DUKE/UNC game during that time, it was as cant miss tv as you could get for CBB.

Apart from Duke/UNC, are there any competitive, must-see rivalries any more?  (And even the air has come out of Duke/UNC in my opinion.)

[Rocky P]

5 minutes ago, genevalonghorn said:

Apart from Duke/UNC, are there any competitive, must-see rivalries any more?  (And even the air has come out of Duke/UNC in my opinion.)

Not on a national scale.  But there weren't many before either on a national level.  Duke/UNC is what got me into college bb big time.  Before that it was all NBA and Texas games.  

[Jc Dobbs]

It began with the teams coached by Leon Black, and a buddy of mine had a dog he named Leon.

My favorite was the Abe Lemons era. 

I also enjoyed the years the team was coached by Tom "Sweet Tom" Penders during the "BMW" years when the Horns battled Nolan Richardson's Razorbacks.

The Rick Barnes years were also enjoyable at times, like the few years when the team excelled.

But my favorite era was Abe Lemons... especially when he called a late timeout with the Longhorns leading and asked Johnny Moore to sit beside him and Abe asked, "Johnny, can you believe this?! We're about to win this damn thing!"

Hook 'Em!

PS... Where are they now? Larry Robinson, B G Brosterhouse, Sonny what's his name, the Center from Roseburg Oregon who famously rode the Greyhound back to Oregon after the Spring semester (can't remember his name), Brandy Perryman, and several others, like "Easy" Ed the lefty Forward from Ft Worth, Ron Baxter and more. Best wishes and/or RIP to them all.

 

[Sundancekid]

Phi Slamma Jamma era. Texas with TJ.