As Boo Buie closes in on the Northwestern all-time scoring record, a benchmark currently held by John Shurna, it’s the perfect time to talk about the program’s Mt. Rushmore. There is a second reason to have the Northwestern basketball G.O.A.T. discussion as well.
Billy McKinney is considered by many to be the best player in Northwestern basketball history, and his 1,900 career points, was a school record that stood for 35 years. His jersey number (30) will be retired during the March 2nd home game against Iowa.
Northwestern Basketball Best of the Best
Since 2019, McKinney has served as the mayor of his hometown, Zion, Ill. and he is the currently the team’s radio color analyst. In Buie, McKinney and Shurna, you have three of your four Mt. Rushmore.
We put this question to current Northwestern basketball coach Chris Collins after the Michigan State win.
“I’m a historian, I love the guys, whether it’s Billy, or Johnnie Shurna or (Evan) Eschmeyer who was a contemporary of mine, or way back when with Jimmy Stack and all those guys like Joe Ruklick, I don’t think you could ever lose sight of the history of the older guys who played here, but I think Buie is right up there in the modern era.”
He’s right about Eschmeyer, and we would put the 1990s era big man on our all-time team, so we have him top five.
But our fourth and final spot goes to Drew Crawford, albeit by a very slim margin.
Look at the Northwestern basketball record book, and you’ll see Crawford deserves the slot.
As for Buie, we looked at why he gets a slot, in-depth, in a previous post. We also asked Collins where Boo ranks in the grand scheme of Northwestern basketball.
“He’s got to be up there, forget about not just the stats but the winning,” Collins answered.
“We’ve only been to two NCAA Tournaments, hopefully we’ll be there more- that’s the goal, and he took one of those teams there, and won a game.
“He led a team to a second place finish in the Big Ten.
“As a point guard, forget about the numbers, it’s about being a winning player- and the cool thing about Boo is that what he wants his legacy to be.”
Just Missed the Top Tier
We covered Eschmeyer already, but about Vic Law and Bryant McIntosh? How about the history making 2016-17 team in general?
“I have a soft spot for all those guys,” Collins said.
“That team was so special for what they did. They changed the narrative of the program.”
Collins then pointed out how at Kentucky, the bluest of the blue blood programs, Pitino retired the numbers of all five starters of the ’92 team.
“I remember Pitino took over that program and it was in rough place, and those guys brought it back to the elite eight,” Collins continued.
“And then they were able to win championships. Those 2017 guys will be fully remembered as trail blazers, to fully get this program over the hump.
McIntosh, or B-Mac was the face of that team, but for my money, Law was their best all-around, overall player.
Northwestern Basketball Next Tier
Now that you’re getting into the Northwestern basketball all-time and second and third teams, you can’t leave off Kevin Rankin, nor the aforementioned Stack and Ruklick.
Juice Thompson is clearly one of the best point guards in Wildcats history while Dererk Pardon and Alex Olah are among the all-time best big men.
There aren’t many stellar bigs, in the annals of Northwestern history, but props must be given to those who deserve it.
Always enjoyed hearing opposing players and coaches refer to Olah as Olaf. No, he is not a cartoon snowman!
But he is among the NU best in rebounds and blocks, just like Rankin.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.