Rupp's Rafters: Making a case for Tony Delk

He should be the type of player that gets 100% of the vote. Every person who has ever rooted for UK loves Tony. He worked hard every minute he was on the floor and one of the few players who you want to shoot no matter where he is on the floor. Some players take a shot and you think what is he doing? When Tony touched the ball everyone was screaming “Shoot!!”. A very special player who stayed four years and brought us a title.
He led the team in scoring on what many believe to be the most talented teams in the history of the NCAA. Imagine what type of numbers he might have put up on a team like last years squad where there were few options. He could have easily averaged 30 points a game on a team that was not stacked with talent.
I graduated in 96 so Delk is definitely one of my all time favorites.

What I remember most about Tony Delk is one of those little moments that are burned in your memory for no discernable reason. I remember being in middle school and someone in class looking at the sports page and saying “Look at those arms!” Delk was probably a sophomore that year so really he was still somewhat of an unknown to our 8th grade minds. His forearms in that picture of him diving for a ball against an opposing player were humongous!!!!! Delk had no neck… but arms like some sort of genetic freak. I never have heard his wingspan, but I would say that from a proportional standpoint he had to rival Tayshaun Prince.

This article raises a great question. I agree 100% that Delk belongs up there. You mention that all the other teams have at least two… who else from that team would you consider? Walker and Mercer weren’t at school long enough IMO. Ditto to Pope. Was Epps good enough to have his jersey retired? Maybe. McCarty? Maybe. I’d say without a doubt that Delk needs to hang.

Similar questions about the ‘98 team. Sheppard maybe? Padgett? Saul Smith? wink wink (I’m now anxiously awaiting Forty providing me with stats that show Saul as the best point guard in UK history!!!)

Great piece Ken. Glad to have you back from vacation.

my bias has shown through, Tayshaun makes my all-time favorites list. He has made me a diehard Pistons fan and I guess I am translating his success in the NBA into a need to put him in the rafters but I guess a pro career should not be a standard.
I will settle for them marking the floor in some way where he hit that 5th three in the 2001 UNC game. That was one of the most amazing moments in RUPP arena history. Put a small Tayshaun or his # in that spot and I will be satisfied.

I think the movement to out Delk in the rafters has been around for some time now and I am quite sure UK is actually aware of it. I remember Barnhart saying something about it but there is some kind of rule about when they can do it and I am not sure what it is. I do know Barnhart definitley has made a statement addressing it and that it will be gotten to.

As for Prince I have also seen a number of people wanting him up there. His team may not have had as much success but I am pretty sure he garnered more personal awards than Bogan despite their scoring averages. I tend to think the players with great pro careers should be honored by their college beause it helps the school out just as much by drawing attention to great players they have produced.

Had there been no Delk in ‘96 that team would still have won it all and Walker would have gotten more PT earlier and more often. There was plenty to back up Delk if he had went down. Also, Delk came in amid a flurry of talented recruits.

Mashburn was different, totally different. The Monster Mash represented the reemergence of Kentucky… that we were back. He also was, at least in the minds of our opponents, our entire team. Don’t believe me? Then watch Grant Hill talk about that ‘92 Kentucky team and what their instructions were from Coach K prior to the game. “Mashburn, Mashburn, Mashburn….” is a close paraphrase.

So not only was Mashburn far more important on the court and to his team, he was infinitely more important in the message his recruitment sent to the rest of the college basketball world: KENTUCKY IS BACK!

Mashburn nearly single handidly ended the probation era and ushered in a new era of Kentucky Basketball. Delk, while a fantastic player and one of my personal favorites, was no Jamal Mashburn and I think that is something that most Kentucky fans will feel instinctively that lived through that whole process. No numbers necessary on this one.

I think he’s done more for UK since he left school than when he was here.

I know he came and played at Billy’s Elite Camp last summer and he was here on senior day and presented Joe and Ramel with their jerseys.

He speaks well of UK as well.

who played in 3 final fours and was an eyelash away from a fourth. not that i think he should be in the rafters, but not much is said about him. he came to uk as a mcdonald’s all-american and aguably had the best four years (based on team sucess) that any player has ever had.

although i do think the argument can be made. the unforgetables are there because of the impact that they had on the program not for statistics that they had. i think that you could make that argument for turner as well. i am not saying that he had the same kind of impact as the unforgettables, but what other player has had the career in blue and white that he did.

Tony Delk shouldn’t be punished for having 15 NBA caliber players around him. If anything he should be rewarded for still putting up such impressive numbers.

There are two main criterions (and one lesser so…) in my book for the honor of Rafterization…

(1) Unmistakable status in leading Kentucky to a title or multiple titles, combined with appropriately standout numbers. This includes the Delk and Turner arguments, as well as Macy and others already there.

(2) Lacking a title or Final Four, posting numbers that befit status as one of the all-time greats. This would include Kenny Walker, Bowie, Mashburn and Issel, etc. This would also encompass the Prince and Bogans arguments.

(3) Call it the “intangible” argument. It’s the reason four scrubby nobodies (used to) hang among the immortals—Pelphrey, Farmer, Feldhaus and Woods. I think Sean got yanked for never finishing his degree, but the effect is the same. Maybe not the numbers argument, maybe not the title argument. But there has to be room in sports for the third option … these guys definitely qualify.

ON BOGANS: I have long made an argument that after Delk, Bogans has more of an argument than any other modern player. I researched it back in 04, but IIRC Keith finished has career as the only UK player EVER with 1700+ points, 500+ rebounds, 300+ assists and 150+ steals. His all-around brilliance was less pronounced than a single ability that might have made a stronger case…

Sure, there is the argument that (a) he never made a Final Four and (b) his junior year was a disappointment and© his longevity inflated his overall scoring total, but to me, the 2003 SuffoCats were among the greatest UK teams in history. They did staggering things, and are underappreciated to this day because of lingering frustration with Tubby’s legacy.

There is a case against Bogans, and that may prove to be the caseultimately. But he certainly falls in the same camp as Bowie or Walker to me, guys who played in one more game (Final Four) than Bogans, but whose contributions shoujld be stacked up against the best all-time to wear the blue and white.

Delk 100%.

Welcome back from your vacation.

My #1 favorite all time UK player. Gotta love a guy who pulls up to shoot a 3 on the fast break – and you get excited rather than wince in pain!

One of my favorite things about Jodie Meeks is that the way he moves his feet somehow reminds me of Tony Delk. Meeks is much faster and they look nothing alike, but somehow his motion reminds me of Delk. And it doesn’t hurt that he can drain the 3.

Obligatory anecdote: the girl I was dating at the time at UK, came within an inch of hitting Tony Delk with her car. She wasn’t paying attention and almost hit him. It was low speed, on campus, so he probably would have been okay. But we still had all kinds of talks about how she’d never be able to show her face again on UK campus and would have to transfer if she had hit him. And of course I would have dumped her immediately upon hearing.