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Sports

The Glide leads list of great forwards

Sports Guy 

Eli Jabbe 

In the history of the NCAA, and basketball in general, guards are usually in the spotlight. But occasionally, players of other positions have stolen the attention. Here is a look at several stellar small forwards. These swingmen have all made major impacts.

Clyde Drexler of UH: A "great forwards" list would not be complete without mentioning Clyde "The Glide." Way before his Hall of Fame NBA career, the 6-7 Drexler was a star as a Cougar and a member of the Phi Slamma Jamma. Drexler put on a high-flying show at Hofheinz Pavillion night after night. 

The Houston native played for the Cougars from 1980 until 1983, averaging 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists per games while shooting .536 his senior season. More importantly, Drexler was a pivotal part of a very talented team. He was one of the main reasons Houston went to two consecutive Final Fours, one of which ended infamously with a heartbreaking last second championship-winning alleyoop by underdog North Carolina State. 

"The Glide" was also the first Cougar to score 1,000 points, grab 100 boards and dish out 300 assists in a season. He finished as UH's career steals leader with 268. Drexler's attempt at coaching the Cougars several years ago wasn't as memorable (let's just say it was a debacle), but his playing career was legendary.

Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse: Before his days as a Denver Nuggets swingman, ‘Melo had a storybook season at Syracuse University. A high school All-American at storied basketball academy Oak Hill Academy, Anthony had high expectations coming into his freshman year at Syracuse. It's safe to say he more than lived up to them. 

Anthony averaged a double-double in his freshman regular season: 22 points and 10 rebounds per game, while shooting 45 percent from the field. But more importantly, he showed up when the games mattered: the Final Four. First, Anthony lit up Texas for 33 points in the semi-final and then followed that up with 20 points and 10 boards in the championship game victory over Kansas. And just like that, ‘Melo's college career was done: he declared for the NBA draft after his first year.

The obvious player who has the biggest chance of replicating the success of the aforementioned forwards is Memphis senior wingman Rodney Carney. He should be familiar to Cougar fans, as he scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, a key performance in win over Houston. The 6-7 Carney could lead Memphis to the NCAA. 

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