The All-Kendall Teams

For the last few weeks, I've been wrestling with ideas on how to properly honor Mike Scott's outstanding senior season, and the five years of hard work he put into Virginia Basketball.  It was a labor of love for him, and the effort cemented his place among my all-time favorite UVA basketball players.

So just now, it suddenly hit me --- the All-Kendall teams!  A quick, easy, fun way to take a stroll down memory lane and to illustrate where I think Mike Scott ranks on my lists of all-time favorites during my UVA basketball fandom.

[Please keep in mind that I didn't become a die-hard Virginia basketball fan until the early '90s with John Crotty (the first UVA player I ever loved), Bryant Stith (the best UVA player I've ever seen), Kenny Turner, and Ted Jeffries.  Sadly, I missed the Richard Morgan era, so you won't find him - or Ralph Sampson, Wally Walker, Othell Wilson, Barry Parkhill, Buzzy Wilkinson, Lee Raker, Marc Iavaroni, Tom Sheehey, Olden Polynice, Andrew Kennedy, etc., etc. - on my lists.  These lists only include players I was lucky enough to see play in my cognitive basketball-watching years.  So go ahead and understand that my UVA basketball fandom was born in 1991, and that's where the All-Kendall teams begin.]

Anyway, time to unleash the All-Kendall teams...

ALL-KENDALL FIRST TEAM
PG) Harold Deane -- Toughness, drive, and effort; he provided the true model for what a Virginia player should be.  All grit, no bullshit.
SG) Curtis Staples -- Quickest delivery on a perimeter jumper I've ever seen in all of my years watching college basketball.  Staples was the best 3-point shooter in school history, and probably always will be.
SF) Bryant Stith -- Still the best player I've ever seen in a UVA uniform, regardless of sport.  BOOM.  Bold claim, I know.  I stand by it.
PF) Mike Scott -- First team honors might be a little high, but I haven't seen a senior season like the one he just put together in a long, long time.  He sort of provided the blueprint for the modern 4, with his mid-range game.  I also think he just set the tone for an era of sustained success under Tony Bennett.
C) Ted Jeffries -- The gold standard for interior bangers at UVA.  His stats were never flashy, but his impact was always huge.  A real battler that was easy to love.

ALL-KENDALL SECOND TEAM
PG) John Crotty -- Slick with the handle, a great passer, a great playmaker, and just a really easy guy to root for.  I think a lot of people still think of Crotty when they think about UVA hoops.
SG) Roger Mason Jr. -- If only he hadn't left school early, the 2002-03 team would have been a top-10 type of unit.  Mase was a really, really good player.  Very multi-dimensional.
SF) Jason Williford -- The ultimate glue guy.
PF) Junior Burrough -- He was our version of Corliss Williamson.  Great rebounder and low post scorer, and the one guy you could count on to generate offense when we needed it the most.
C) Chris Alexander -- We don't have a good history of big men over the last two decades, but Alexander was a really good one.  He didn't score, but he did everything else, and was probably the best defensive big man I've ever seen at UVA.

ALL-KENDALL THIRD TEAM
PG) Sean Singletary -- He should be on the 2nd team in terms of how much I loved him, but Deano and Crotty simply out-rank him at point guard, so he's dumped to the third team.  Sorry Sean.
SG) Cory Alexander -- He was a point guard, but it's my list so I'm breaking the rules.  Cory was more of a scorer than a facilitator, anyway.
SF) Chris Williams -- Big Smooth left Charlottesville with a good amount of unrealized potential still in tow, but he was a really fun player to watch through the years.  Did you know Smooth is in 8th place on the career scoring list?
PF) Norman Nolan -- Probably deserves a spot on the 1st or 2nd team, but never carried the program into the NCAA tournament, which is a big part of these rankings for me.  That's why Mike Scott gets the nod over Norm, actually.
C) Travis Watson -- One of the best pure rebounders in school history, he also brought a devastating offensive game with his lefty-hooks and post-ups.  If his effort level hadn't dropped late in his career, he'd be a 1st or 2nd-teamer.

ALL-KENDALL HATE TEAM
PG) Keith enifer -- No "J."  Punk-ass attitude, crappy player.
SG) Sylven Landesberg -- If he had bought into Bennettball, we'd be celebrating back-to-back trips to the Sweet Sixteen right now.
SF) Mamadi Diane -- I appreciated his hustle and how hard he worked for the team, but he made so many boneheaded plays that I'd be remiss to not include him here.
PF) J.C. Mathis -- a walking turnover with the worst low-post hands (and feet!) I've ever seen.
C) Elton Brown -- So much unrealized potential, and a stupid alligator chomp.

ALL-KENDALL INSTANT OFFENSE TEAM
Put this team on the floor when you need to score...
PG) Donald Hand -- I just loved this guy's hard-nosed, fearless approach to scoring.
SG) Curtis Staples -- Again, he was simply the best 3-point shooter I've ever seen.
SF) Keith Friel -- A career 40+% 3-point shooter who got up near 50% for long [multi-game] stretches during his career.  1.5 points per shot is dazzling efficiency.  At 6-5, he can handle the small forward role.  Honorable mention: Devin Smith.
PF) Mike Scott -- Best shooting big I've ever seen at UVA.  By a damn spot.
C) Junior Burrough -- Had all the moves you need to own the low post.

ALL-KENDALL TENACIOUS D TEAM
Put this team on the floor when you need a stop...
PG) Jontel Evans -- The most tenacious on-ball defender I've seen play for Virginia.
SG) Harold Deane -- Led the team in steals all four of his seasons in Charlottesville.
SF) Bryant Stith -- Could guard 1-5, and do it well.
PF) Jason Williford -- A little small to guard the post, but a terrible pest for back-to-basket bigs.
C) Chris Alexander -- Blocked 148 shots in his UVA career.

ALL-KENDALL MEDIOCRE PLAYERS I LOVED TEAM
PG) Todd Billet -- He just had a flair for the dramatic, didn't he?
SG) J.R. Reynolds -- He was overrated, but still a very good player.
SF) Willie Dersch -- Never as good as his recruiting profile, he still fought hard and embraced his role.
PF) Jason Cain -- Fought through a world of disadvantages to give us a decent low post presence during the Singletary/Reynolds years.
C) Colin Ducharme -- "Vanilla Gorilla" was a really tough player, played really hard all the time, and played at a time when the team was mostly devoid of talent.  Plus,he was a super-nice guy in real life (yes, I knew him.)