Don Owen: The greatest player in NKU hoops history? Be careful — everyone has an opinion


Unless some technological wizard invents a time machine, comparing college basketball players from different eras — and NCAA divisions — will remain nothing more than conversational fodder. Such comparisons are strictly opinion, never an absolute fact.

Sure, there are always statistical justifications for most viewpoints, but even numbers can sometimes be deceptive when it comes to choosing the best player in a basketball program’s history. How do you possibly compare players from the 1970s — when there wasn’t a shot clock or 3-point field goal — to the current standouts by statistics alone?

The answer? You can’t. But the subject always triggers some interesting debates.

NKU’s Drew McDonald (right) is averaging 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game this season. (Photo by Jeff McCurry)
At Northern Kentucky University, though, the overwhelming statistics — not to mention numerous individual accolades and the Norse’s unprecedented success — are pointing toward a member of this season’s squad. That would be Drew McDonald, the former Newport Central Catholic High School star who’s rewriting the NKU record books in many categories. He’s already NKU’s all-time career leader in rebounds. By the time this season ends, McDonald will likely be No. 1 all-time in scoring as well.

Don’t forget that NKU has also won at least 20 games the last three seasons with McDonald leading the way. And this is against NCAA Division I competition, which makes the Cold Spring native’s accomplishments even more impressive. NKU has won the Horizon League Tournament championship. The Norse have also captured the Horizon League’s regular-season title. They’ve played in the NCAA Tournament, not to mention the NIT.

NKU (20-7 overall) is currently tied for first place in the Horizon League standings with Wright State at 10-4. McDonald — who will play his final two regular-season home games this week — is averaging 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. He also has the seventh-most career double-doubles (46) among all active Division I players.

McDonald has been the focal point of the program’s success. He has amassed more than 1,000 rebounds and nearly 2,000 points as evidence to reinforce that fact. This season alone, McDonald has earned Horizon League Player of the Week five times. And we won’t even mention all the other individual accomplishments from the past four years since it would take another five or six paragraphs.

In other words, if we were starting an all-time NKU men’s basketball team, I think it’s safe to assume McDonald would be the top pick.

That’s where the fun begins, though. Who would be your second choice? Or is my assumption incorrect, despite McDonald’s overwhelming stats and honors playing at the Division I level?

Here are several other all-time NKU greats who might be brought up in such a conversation. These are the players I would choose along with McDonald on an all-time NKU starting five, plus a sixth man. Keep in mind that each of these standouts competed at the NCAA Division II level while playing at NKU.

Derek Fields
•Derek Fields (1985-89) — The ultimate point guard who could score, handle the ball and dish out assists. Fields became the first NKU men’s basketball performer to be voted Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year, taking that honor after his record-breaking senior season in 1988-89.

The 6-foot-1 guard was named to the NCAA Division II All-America third team in 1989 after averaging a school-record 23.7 points per game. During his senior season, Fields scored 39 points and dished out 11 assists to lead NKU to a 121-111 win at Kentucky State. His 664 points in 1988-89 are still an NKU single-season record. In his final game at NKU, Fields poured in 35 points, dished out 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds during a 124-118 win over Indianapolis in Regents Hall. Fields, who finished with 1,664 career points, was inducted into the NKU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Steven Wright
•Steven Wright (2006-07) — Wright spent just one season at NKU after playing three years at NCAA Division I Bowling Green. But it’s by far the most impressive one-year stint in NKU basketball history.

Wright averaged 16.8 points per game, collected 54 steals and dished out 106 assists as the Norse posted a 24-9 record, including a win against top-seeded Findlay during the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament. The 6-foot-3 Wright netted 18 points as NKU halted Findlay’s 59-game home winning streak — the nation’s longest at any level at the time. Wright was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year and capped his sensational one-year stay at NKU by being named first team All-American by Division II Bulletin. Wright also became the first NKU player ever selected to participate in the NABC/NCAA Division II All-Star Game in 2007. He finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three steals in that game at Springfield, Mass.

LaRon Moore
•LaRon Moore (1993-97) — Moore led NKU to a pair of NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region championships in 1996 and ’97, and the Norse finished as national runner-up both seasons. The 6-foot-6 Lexington Bryan Station graduate earned All-America honors as a senior after NKU posted a 30-5 record. He scored 35 points against Oakland in the 1997 NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional championship game to earn tournament most outstanding player honors.

As a sophomore, Moore helped NKU win its first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference championship and finish with a 25-4 record. That team also hosted the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament at then-Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, where the Norse defeated Quincy in the quarterfinals. Moore, who set an NKU single-season record with 41 dunks as a junior, finished his career with 1,866 points and a Norse-record 859 rebounds. McDonald surpassed that rebounding mark earlier this season. Moore was inducted into the NKU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.

Dan Doellman
•Dan Doellman (1975-79) — The highest-profile recruit in NKU history during the program’s small-college era, Doellman chose to stay close to home and averaged 18.6 points per game during his career. The Cincinnati scored 1,920 career points and led NKU to the 1978 NCAA Division II Tournament — the first time in school history the Norsemen advanced to that event.

An incredible outside shooter who played before the implementation of the 3-pointer in college basketball, the 6-foot-6 Doellman also helped NKU defeat Xavier in back-to-back seasons. Led by Doellman, NKU jumped to a No. 4 national ranking in the NCAA Division II poll during the 1977-78 campaign and also knocked off Xavier for the first time in history. Along the way that season, the Norsemen posted a 10-game winning streak – the first double-digit string of victories in the program’s history. NKU finished with a 20-8 record that season. Doellman was inducted as a charter member of the NKU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997.

Paul Cluxton
•Paul Cluxton (1993-97) — The greatest shooter in the history of college basketball is arguably Paul Cluxton, and he has the statistics to back up that claim. Cluxton was the NCAA’s all-time career leader in free-throw percentage (.934) at the time of his graduation, and he set an NCAA record during the 1996-97 season by making every free throw he attempted (94-for-94). He became the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in free-throw percentage without missing from the line.

The 6-foot-3 Cluxton scored 1,495 career points, and he led NKU to NCAA Division II national runner-up honors in both 1996 and ’97. In addition, Cluxton earned third team All-America honors in 1997, and he was named the most outstanding player of the 1996 NCAA II Great Lakes Region Tournament. Cluxton was inducted into the NKU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.

How about that NKU lineup? Moore and Doellman at the forwards, McDonald (who is also an effective 3-point shooter) in the post, with Fields, Wright and sixth-man Cluxton in the backcourt.

A very strong honorable mention goes to Lavone Holland II, whose presence in the NKU backcourt ignited much of the success in 2016-17 and last season. And who could ever forget Holland’s highlight-reel dunk against the University of Kentucky during the 2017 NCAA Tournament?

So, since I don’t have access to a time machine, let the debates begin.

Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport


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