IN an era where one-and-done (only one year in college then onto the pros) is the norm, basically influenced by the current collective bargaining agreement struck by the U.S. National Basketball Association and its players union which states that a player must be at least 19 years old and one year out of high school to qualify for the NBA draft, many prominent roundball athletes rarely complete their four-year varsity eligibility.
Consequently, no NCAA Division I men’s basketball player has ever won four national championships. Add to the fact that freshmen were not allowed to suit up for the varsity prior to the 1972-73 season.
If not for the rule, it could have easily been four-for-four in title victories for Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr., a gangling but dominant center from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Alcindor, an aloof 7-foot-2 man-mountain out of New York City, powered the UCLA Bruins to three consecutive NCAA tournament championships in 1967, 1968 and 1969. He is one of only four players to have started on three NCAA championship teams – the others being co-UCLA alumni Henry Bibby, Curtis Rowe and Lynn Shackelford.
On all three title finishes, Alcindor was named the NCAA Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. It’s a feat that has not been duplicated by any other player in Division I annals until now.
Had Alcindor been eligible to suit up as a frosh in 1966, he most likely would have secured a fourth ring. Until 1972-73, first-year collegians were barred from competing in the NCAA tournament.
The 1965-66 UCLA squad also claimed the NCAA diadem when Alcindor apprenticed with the Bruins’ junior varsity squad (freshmen who only played exhibition games).
In late November 1965, the Alcindor-led freshmen team blasted the school’s varsity contingent, 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 became a dominant figure with his slam-dunking moves. That spurred the NCAA to ban the dunk after the 1967 collegiate wars. It was not allowed again until the 1976-77 season.
For Alcindor, the ban was a blessing in disguise as he started to develop another potent offensive weapon that later patently became known as the “skyhook.” He was adept at shooting 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 in my face,” meaning it was hard for his defender to block the shot without being called for goaltending.
In three seasons at Westwood, Alcindor was victorious in 86 of his 88 appearances. He missed a pair of games – both UCLA wins – due to an eye injury.
During Alcindor’s watch, the Bruins registered an 88-2 record overall – 30-0 in 1967, 29-1 in 1968 and 29-1 in 1969. UCLA dropped a 71-69 decision to the Elvin Hayes-bannered Houston Cougars at the spacious Houston Astrodome in January 1968 that halted the Bruins’ 47-game win streak.
Alcindor performed poorly in the loss due to a blurred vision. He had been poked in the eye and suffered a scratched left eyeball in a previous assignment against California and the injury forced him to sit out back-to-back games against Stanford and Portland.
Hayes, the Cougars center who later earned National College Player of the Year honors, netted 39 points and plucked down 15 rebounds while the injured Alcindor was limited to a measly 15 markers in the first-ever nationally televised regular-season college basketball game.
UCLA’s only other loss in the Alcindor era came during a 46-44 reversal at the hands of the University of Southern California in the Big Fellas’s senior campaign.
Alcindor, whose 61 points remain the Bruins’ all-time single-game scoring record until now, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in history from UCLA in 1969.
That same year, he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the first pick in the entire National Basketball Association (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 so far.
Kareem, who would subsequently win five more NBA championships (1980-82-85-87-88) with the Los Angeles Lakers, will turn 68 on April 16.