To rejoice SLAM’s thirtieth anniversary, we’re spotlighting the 30 most influential males’s school groups from our previous 30 years. Stats, information and chips aren’t the principle issue right here, it’s all about their contribution to the sport’s cultural cloth.
For the subsequent 30 days—Monday by way of Friday— we’ll be unveiling the full checklist right here. We’ve additionally bought an unique retro collegiate assortment, out now, that pays homage to every squad’s threads. Store right here.
On the flip of the century, the Cincinnati Bearcats have been the staff that struck an ideal steadiness of old-school toughness and flash and flare.
Led by the legendary Bob Huggins, a training maestro well-known for his relentless pursuit of excellence, the 1999-2000 Bearcats epitomized hard-nosed basketball. Huggins, a grasp tactician, instilled in his gamers a defensive prowess and a tangible thirst for victory.
Their mantra was easy: outwork, outlast, outplay. They usually did so with ferocity, leaving opponents quaking of their kicks. However it wasn’t simply their on-court prowess that captured the creativeness of followers throughout the nation. It was the colourful solid of characters of this storied staff. From the towering presence of Naismith Participant of the 12 months Kenyon Martin to the sharpshooting finesse of DerMarr Johnson, the Bearcats boasted a roster brimming with expertise and character.
Martin and Johnson would finally declare for the NBA draft. The New Jersey Nets picked Martin with the primary choose, and Atlanta scooped Johnson with the sixth.
On the court docket, the dynamic duo and the remainder of the staff donned white and pink jerseys that drooped beneath their knees, repping the style developments of the occasions with gusto. Stamped with the Bearcats’ iconic bear claw emblem, headbands and ankle socks accompanied the staff’s ensemble on the flip of the century. However it was the reserved attract of the Jumpman emblem and the litany of Air Jordans that catapulted Cincinnati to cultural prominence. The Bearcats have been one in every of simply 4 packages to introduce Model Jordan to the collegiate ecosystem. Of their outsized jerseys, the gamers strutted, oozing confidence, reflecting the swagger and confidence of gamers who appeared destined for greatness.
And greatness they achieved.
With a formidable regular-season file of 29-4, together with a Convention USA regular-season title, the Bearcats bulldozed their method by way of the competitors, leaving a path of defeated foes of their wake. The staff’s hardest problem would come close to the top of the season when Martin broke his leg within the C-USA Event quarterfinal recreation towards Saint Louis.
Regardless of the heartbreak of dropping the nation’s then-biggest school phenomenon, the Bearcats rallied collectively, sending out a transparent message: even with out their prime performer, the staff has what it takes to present any staff a run for its cash. They marched into the NCAA Event because the second seed, nonetheless decided to achieve the promised land.
The Bearcats stomped into the primary spherical of the match, blowing out UNC Wilmington. Their championship hopes, nevertheless, could be minimize brief in heartbreaking vogue by Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes upset the Bearcats in an in depth recreation within the match’s second spherical.
It was a bitter tablet to swallow, however the staff’s legacy of resilience and dedication would endure for generations to return. Over 20 years later, individuals are nonetheless left questioning how a lot larger this staff might have been if it weren’t for Martin’s ugly leg harm.
As the ultimate buzzer sounded on the ‘99-2000 season, the Bearcats could not have ended the season the place they wished to, however they’d gained the hearts of followers nationwide. Theirs was a season crammed with triumph and adversity, highs and lows, however by way of all of it, they nonetheless loved a 29-4 season, going undefeated in Convention USA. And when Martin was wholesome, they boasted the No. 1 rating within the AP ballot for 12 weeks in the course of the season.
Steeped in a wealthy custom of tenacity and ferocity on the court docket, this staff etched its title into the hearts of followers and the historical past e book of hooping legends.
Pictures through Getty Pictures.