Centers of Attention: Wide Range of Debut Games for Premier Pivotmen
November 9th, 2012 - 22:13
Regal recruit Nerlens Noel hit his first shot in Kentucky's initial possession of the season vs. Maryland in their season opener at Brooklyn. But Noel (4 points/9 rebounds) clearly is limited offensively and was dominated by Maryland's Alex Len as the Wildcats squandered a 15-point, second-half lead before prevailing. Will Noel's first-season impact be more like Anthony Davis, the national player of the year last season when he sparked UK to an NCAA title, or Andre Drummond, who averaged a modest 10 ppg and 7.6 rpg for Connecticut as the disappointing Huskies finished out of the 2011-12 final Top 25 polls?
Actually, textbook centers are becoming a rare breed. Time will tell if Davis or Noel eventually deserve to be included among the premier pivotmen in college basketball history. By almost any measure, centers in the last 40 years don't seem to be anywhere close to duplicating what luminaries Lew Alcindor, Artis Gilmore, Bob Lanier, Jerry Lucas, Bill Russell and Bill Walton achieved in their initial varsity campaigns.
Similar to Navy's David Robinson in 1983-84, Drummond was scoreless in his season debut last year against Columbia. In a forgettable debut, Wake Forest's Tim Duncan was also scoreless in a season-opening loss to NCAA Division II Alaska-Anchorage in 1993-94 before rebounding with a 12-point, 12-rebound performance in his next outing against Hawaii.
Alcindor (77: 56 points/21 rebounds) and Chamberlain (83: 52 points/31 rebounds) each totaled more points and rebounds in their college game debut than Drummond, Duncan, Patrick Ewing, Noel, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Robinson and Ralph Sampson managed collectively. Following is a look at how many of the premier centers in history fared in their varsity debut against a major college and a summary of their first season of NCAA Division I competition:
| Celebrated Center | School | Freshman Season | First Game | PPG | RPG | W-L Mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Davis | Kentucky | 2011-12 | 23 points/10 rebounds | 14.2 | 10.4 | 38-2 |
| Greg Oden | Ohio State | 2006-07 | 14 points/10 rebounds | 15.7 | 9.6 | 35-4 |
| Tim Duncan | Wake Forest | 1993-94 | 12 points/12 rebounds | 9.8 | 9.6 | 21-12 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | Louisiana State | 1989-90 | 10 points/5 rebounds | 13.9 | 12.0 | 23-9 |
| Alonzo Mourning | Georgetown | 1988-89 | 10 points/10 rebounds | 13.1 | 7.3 | 29-5 |
| David Robinson | Navy | 1983-84 | scoreless/1 rebound | 7.6 | 4.0 | 24-8 |
| Hakeem Olajuwon | Houston | 1981-82 | 2 points/0 rebounds | 8.3 | 6.5 | 25-8 |
| Patrick Ewing | Georgetown | 1981-82 | 7 points/4 rebounds | 12.7 | 8.5 | 30-7 |
| Ralph Sampson | Virginia | 1979-80 | 4 points/6 rebounds | 14.9 | 11.2 | 24-10 |
| *Bill Walton | UCLA | 1971-72 | 19 points/14 rebounds | 21.1 | 15.5 | 29-1 |
| **Artis Gilmore | Jacksonville | 1969-70 | 35 points/18 rebounds | 26.5 | 22.2 | 17-7 |
| *Bob Lanier | St. Bonaventure | 1967-68 | 23 points/17 rebounds | 26.2 | 15.6 | 23-2 |
| *Lew Alcindor | UCLA | 1966-67 | 56 points/21 rebounds | 29.0 | 15.5 | 30-0 |
| *Jerry Lucas | Ohio State | 1959-60 | 16 points/28 rebounds | 26.3 | 16.3 | 25-3 |
| *Wilt Chamberlain | Kansas | 1956-57 | 52 points/31 rebounds | 29.6 | 18.9 | 24-3 |
| *Bill Russell | San Francisco | 1953-54 | 16 points/17 rebounds | 19.9 | 19.2 | 14-7 |
*Sophomore classification.
**Junior classification after attending junior college.