Deonte Burton - future Charles Barkley?

[brandx]

Too young to remember Walton or Thompson, but IMO Aguirre was a better college player than Olajuwon, who didn't develop any offensive game until he got to the NBA. In fact, he was not even the best player on those Houston teams, Drexler was. In fact, I thought Ewing was a better collegiate player than Olajuwon.

I watched a lot of Hakeem while at Houston. There is no doubt that Aguirre was a better player as a freshman than Aguirre. By the end of their soph seasons, it was pretty much of a push. Hakeem was unique and it was fascinating to watch him play. You could literally see his improvement from one game to the next and he had athletic skills that few big men have ever had. Ewing was a great defensive player and averaged 3 blocks a game in college. Hakeem had a couple years where he averaged over 5 blocks a game. Incredible athlete.
 
It's unfortunate you missed David Thompson. A unique player who was MJ's idol. Definitely one of the top 10 players of all time if not for the drug issues. Still the greatest leaper I've ever seen.

[Dawson Rental]

I watched a lot of Hakeem while at Houston. There is no doubt that Aguirre was a better player as a freshman than Aguirre. By the end of their soph seasons, it was pretty much of a push. Hakeem was unique and it was fascinating to watch him play. You could literally see his improvement from one game to the next and he had athletic skills that few big men have ever had. Ewing was a great defensive player and averaged 3 blocks a game in college. Hakeem had a couple years where he averaged over 5 blocks a game. Incredible athlete.
 
It's unfortunate you missed David Thompson. A unique player who was MJ's idol. Definitely one of the top 10 players of all time if not for the drug issues. Still the greatest leaper I've ever seen.

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[brandx]

Aguirre better than Hakeem as freshmen

[keefe]

There is no doubt that Aguirre was a better player as a freshman than Aguirre.

[NYWarrior]

Aguirre better than Hakeem as freshmen

FWIW, Olajuwon went by Akeem until 1991 when he "corrected" the spelling of his given name.

[MU82]

You mean the 78-79 season? I remember it was Spring Break and we had about 12 guys crammed into/around a 1960's vintage Volvo in Ft Lauderdale that night listening to the Marquette-DePaul Sweet Sixteen Round game on whatever Chicago station broadcast DePaul. Maybe it was the Old Style we hauled down from Marquette Liquor or all the herb but we already chalked this up as a win and were looking ahead to finally playing UCLA.

I mean, it was DePaul for Crissakes. A team we routinely trashed. Aguirre single-handedly beat Marquette that night. And instead of going to the Elite 8 to face off against UCLA, finally, we went home and Aguirre took DePaul to the Final Four where they lost to Larry Bird.

We didn't realize it at the time but DePaul had eclipsed Marquette and the dynasty built by Al was now in steep decline. It would be decades before we recovered. The truth is that the bluest Blue Chips came to play for Al. Hank was a great tactician but he lacked Al's charisma. And when Ray Meyer beat out Hank for Aguirre the worm had turned.

I remember that game too well. It was my freshman year.

Marquette was up 8 with less than 10 minutes to go and Toone was ahead of the field for a dunk but Worthen overthrew him. If they connect, we go up 10. Marquette then takes the air out of the ball (no shot clock back then) and probably wins -- and there is no Aguirre-Bird matchup.

As keefe said, that pretty much ended MU's McGuire Era (yes, I know it techically ended 2 years earlier, but Hank/Majerus was an extension, Toone and O.Lee were Al's recruits, etc.) and ushered in a darn good decade for DePaul.