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 primary issue right here, it’s all about their contribution to the sport’s cultural cloth.
For the subsequent 30 days—Monday by Friday— we’ll be unveiling the full checklist right here. We’ve additionally acquired 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 had been the crew that struck an ideal stability 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. And so they did so with ferocity, leaving opponents quaking of their kicks. Nevertheless 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 crew. From the towering presence of Naismith Participant of the Yr Kenyon Martin to the sharpshooting finesse of DerMarr Johnson, the Bearcats boasted a roster brimming with expertise and persona.
Martin and Johnson would ultimately 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 crew donned white and purple jerseys that drooped under their knees, repping the style developments of the instances with gusto. Stamped with the Bearcats’ iconic bear claw brand, headbands and ankle socks accompanied the crew’s ensemble on the flip of the century. Nevertheless it was the reserved attract of the Jumpman brand and the litany of Air Jordans that catapulted Cincinnati to cultural prominence. The Bearcats had been one among simply 4 applications 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 means by the competitors, leaving a path of defeated foes of their wake. The crew’s hardest problem would come close to the top of the season when Martin broke his leg within the C-USA Match quarterfinal sport in opposition to 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 crew has what it takes to provide any crew a run for its cash. They marched into the NCAA Match because the second seed, nonetheless decided to achieve the promised land.
The Bearcats stomped into the primary spherical of the event, blowing out UNC Wilmington. Their championship hopes, nevertheless, could be minimize brief in heartbreaking style by Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes upset the Bearcats in a detailed sport within the event’s second spherical.
It was a bitter capsule to swallow, however the crew’s legacy of resilience and willpower would endure for generations to come back. Over 20 years later, individuals are nonetheless left questioning how a lot higher this crew might have been if it weren’t for Martin’s ugly leg damage.
As the ultimate buzzer sounded on the ‘99-2000 season, the Bearcats might not have ended the season the place they wished to, however they’d received the hearts of followers nationwide. Theirs was a season full of triumph and adversity, highs and lows, however by 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 crew etched its identify into the hearts of followers and the historical past e-book of hooping legends.
Photographs through Getty Photographs.
