Kentucky basketball: All-time starting 5 – From Anthony Davis to Jamal Mashburn

C – Dan Issel

This spot in the all-time lineup had the most competition. Just in the last decade, the team has had DeMarcus Cousins and Karl-Anthony Towns suit up for Kentucky basketball. There aren’t many schools that can say they ever had two players that talented ever play for them. Yet, neither of them beat out Dan Issel — a champion of bringing professional basketball back to the state — for this spot in the end.

Dan Issel played for Coach Rupp from 1967-1970 and in that time he managed to average a double-double for each season, culminating in a ludicrous 33.9 points and 13 rebounds per game during his final year with the team. He holds two of the three best single-game scoring totals in Kentucky history with 53 and 51 points.

During his freshmen season, Rupp called a timeout when the team continued to ignore Issel in the post and during it, the coach told the team, “This guy is going to be Kentucky’s all-time leading scorer by the time he’s through here. I thought you might like to meet him”. Rupp’s words would ring true as Issel’s 2,138 career points place him as the school’s all-time leading scorer to this day.

For all of the individual skills that Issel had, the team was never able to reach a Final Four. They won the SEC each year but sputtered out during the NCAA Tournament. Nevertheless, Issel was a two-time consensus All-American and three-time All-SEC selection. He might not have had as much success after leaving Lexington as others on this list but now he still holds over 20 Kentucky school records.