THE University of North Carolina and University of Villanova University will clash today (Manila time) in the 78th U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball championship at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
During the national semifinals last Sunday (MT), the UNC Tar Heels eliminated upset-conscious Syracuse, 83-66, while the Wildcats ousted Oklahoma, 95-51, to establish an all-time tournament record for the largest winning margin in a Final Four game.
North Carolina is seeking a sixth NCAA title – the first since 2009 – while Villanova is looking to secure its second national championship after winning it all in 1985 against Patrick Ewing and heavily-favored Georgetown in the finals as a No. 8 seed.
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Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. could have easily secured four U.S. NCAA title rings during his storied collegiate basketball career in the late sixties if not for a league ruling that disallowed freshmen from suiting up for the varsity team before the 1972-73 season.
If it’s any consolation, Alcindor, who would later acquire the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and dominate the professional National Basketball Association (NBA) circuit with a record six regular-season Most Valuable Players awards and an equal number of championships, is the only athlete ever to win three national titles in U.S. NCAA Division I men’s basketball history.
That distinction probably won’t be duplicated for a long time considering that many collegians do not complete their four-year varsity eligibility and some prominent top-tier players opt for a one-and-done career and hook up with the NBA right away (only because the NBA owns an age limit and requires a prospect to see collegiate action for at least one season).
A gangling 7-foot-2 man mountain out of New York City, Alcindor steered the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins to three consecutive championships in 1967, 1968 and 1969. (Note: Filipino Kobe Paras is one of the Bruins’ prized recruits for the 2016-17 campaign.)
On all three occasions, Alcindor was voted the NCAA Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. It’s also a feat that is unlikely to be equaled by any other Division I men’s basketball athlete in the future.
Had Alcindor been eligible to see action as a frosh in 1966, he would have most likely claimed a fourth ring. Until 1972-73, first-year collegians were barred from competing in the NCAA tournament.
The 1965-66 UCLA squad also copped the NCAA diadem when Alcindor apprenticed with the Bruins’ junior varsity squad (freshmen who only played exhibition games). In November 1965, the Alcindor-powered freshman unit blasted the varsity team, 75-60, in the first game at the Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins’ home arena. Alcindor chalked up 31 points and 21 rebounds in that exhibition contest.
As a sophomore in 1966-67, the tree-like Alcindor metamorphosed into a dominant figure with his slam-dunking moves. That spurred the NCAA bigwigs to ban the dunk after the 1967 collegiate wars. It was not allowed again until 1976.
For Alcindor, the ban was a blessing in disguise as he started to develop another offensive weapon that later patently became known as the “skyhook.” He was adept at making the skyhook with either hand, which made him even more difficult to defend against.
Alcindor said he learned the move in fifth-grade after practicing with the Mikan Drill and soon learned to value it, as it was “the only shot I could use that didn’t get smashed back in my face,” meaning it was hard for his defender to block the shot without goaltending. (Was it possible also that Alcindor learned the “skyhook” from legendary Filipino cager Kurt Bachmann Jr. of De La Salle during the 1950s?)
In three seasons at Westwood, Alcindor won 86 of 88 games that he was involved in. He missed a pair of games – both UCLA victories – due to an eye injury.
During the Alcindor era, the Bruins registered an 88-2 record overall – 30-0 in 1967, 29-1 in 1968 and 29-1 in 1969.
Lew earned a degree in history from UCLA in 1969. That same year, he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the first overall choice in the NBA draft.
A former Catholic, Alcindor officially changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the summer of 1971 after leading the Bucks to their only NBA title thus far.
Abdul-Jabbar would later win five more NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988.
Battling a blood disorder (leukemia) in recent years, Kareem will turn 69 on April 16.
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