The Final Four's Most Outstanding Players: List and stats

One of the joys of the NCAA Tournament is that you never know who the difference-makers will be -- especially when you get down to the free-for-all that is the Final Four.

Almost anybody can be a hero in a two-game stretch -- from the tall (7-foot-2 Lew Alcindor of UCLA) to the small (5-11 Ken Sailors of Wyoming), from the skywalkers (David Thompson) to the deadeye shooters (Glen Rice).

A glance at the Most Outstanding Players of the Final Four reveals a variety pack of stars. Here's a look at the diversity of difference-makers over the years.

One-man teams

Most championship teams have depth and balance -- the 1988 Kansas Jayhawks had Danny Manning and, well, Danny Manning. Without Manning, the Jayhawks wouldn't even have made the Big Dance -- with him, it was still a close call as late as February, but they got in as an unassuming sixth seed.

But Kansas wasn't an ordinary sixth seed; it had the best player in the land, and it showed. Danny and the Miracles climbed to the title game, where they tussled with a powerful, confident Oklahoma team dotted with pro prospects. The Sooners were no match for Manning, who put up 31 points, 18 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 blocks, 2 assists. He had 25 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks and 4 steals in the semifinal victory over Duke -- a Final Four performance for the ages.

• Also worthy: Bill Bradley. He was an MOP despite not taking his 1965 Princeton team to the title game. He scored 29 in a semifinal loss to Michigan, and then, in the third-place game vs. Wichita State, connected on 22 of 29 shots and 14 of 15 free throws to set a tournament single-game record of 58 points (broken in 1970 by Notre Dame's Austin Carr, who scored 61).

One-hit wonders

Final Four MOPs are almost always built of NBA stock. From 1954 to the present, only three players such honored in the NCAA Tournament failed to step onto the court during an NBA game.

• UNLV guard Anderson Hunt, 1990: He hounded Georgia Tech sparkplug Kenny Anderson in the second half of the national semifinals as the Rebels overcame a halftime deficit to pull away for a 90-81 victory. In the championship, he was part of an effort that de-constructed Duke point guard Bobby Hurley -- Hunt scored 29 points on 12 of 16 shooting in the 103-73 rout.
• North Carolina guard Donald Williams, 1993: Put on an unmatched Final Four shooting show, drilling 10 of 14 3-pointers over two games, setting records for threes made and best percentage. He scored 25 points in the semifinal against Kansas and had 25 more in the final ... and still got upstaged by the tournament's most memorable moment -- Chris Webber's brain-lock phantom timeout.
• Kentucky guard Jeff Sheppard, 1998: A leader and key defensive player, he poured in 27 points in the semifinals to help beat Stanford -- he hit a key 3-pointer and the game-winning free throw -- and then hit the go-ahead jumper among his 16-point effort in the championship-game win over Utah.

Shootists

Glen Rice was bombs away for Michigan during the 1989 tournament, scoring more points than anyone else ever has -- 184. Rice was plenty good during the Final Four to earn MOP honors, and was absolutely unconscious in earlier rounds. Rice had 59 points in the final two games, including 31 in a memorable 80-79 overtime victory against Seton Hall in the championship.

• Also worthy: West Virginia's Jerry West. He made 22 of 33 shots in the 1959 Final Four, winning the MOP award even though his team fell a shot short against Cal in the final, losing 71-70.

Big men

Seven-foot centers should make a high percentage of shots, right? It's hard to miss when you're a few feet from the basket, towering over everybody ... but two big men from UCLA went past excellent right into legendary.

In becoming the only player to win three Final Four MOP trophies, from 1967-69, Lew Alcindor made 64.1 percent of his shots, averaging 25.7 points and 18.8 rebounds a game.

Bill Walton won his first MOP in 1972, then followed up with another a year later, turning in the finest championship game performance of all-time. Against Memphis State, Walton would get the ball in the post and score ... and score ... and score. When it was over, Walton had a championship-game record 44 points. He left the court with the slightest blemish on his record. Of the 22 shots he took, he missed one.

In winning two MOPs, Walton made 76.2 percent of his shots while averaging 28.8 points and 17.8 rebounds.

• Also worthy: Anybody with multiple MOP awards. In addition to Alcindor and Walton, three other players have been multiple winners, all centers: Oklahoma State's Bob Kurland (1945, 1946), Kentucky's Alex Groza (1948, 1949) and Ohio State's Jerry Lucas (1960, 1961).
• Also worthy: Bill Russell. He won the MOP when he lead San Francisco to the 1955 title, and although the Dons repeated as champions in '56, with Russell grabbing a record 50 rebounds in the Final Four, he was aced out for the individual trophy, which went to Temple's Hal Lear, who had 48 points in the third-place game. ... and in the best Russell tradition, Patrick Ewing was the MOP in 1985 even though he totaled only 18 points in the two games -- he also had 15 blocks and 18 rebounds.

Playmakers

Magic and Isiah.

• Earvin Johnson led Michigan State to the 1979 championship (beating Larry Bird's Indiana State team in the championship game) scoring 53 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists in two games.
• Isiah Thomas directed the Indiana Hoosiers in 1981, when he scored 37 points and had 9 assists, and generally controlled the game the way a true playmaker does.

Skywalkers

Whether finishing off alley-oop dunks or driving to the basket or pulling up for a jumper, David Thompson was one of the flashiest players ever in college basketball -- and he made the most of his one trip to the sport's showcase.

Leading a talented and balanced North Carolina State team, Thompson recovered from a scary head injury in the regional final (he suffered a concussion and needed 15 stitches) to dethrone UCLA in the Final Four.

Thompson had 28 points with 10 rebounds as the Wolfpack ended the Bruins' seven-year stranglehold on the title, and then put in 21 more points in a 76-64 victory over Marquette in the final.

• Also worthy: Darrell Griffith. Six years after Thompson, another high flyer -- this one nicknamed Dr. Dunkenstein -- also foiled UCLA. Griffith, who had promised he'd bring a title to Louisville, delivered in his senior season. He hit 23 of 37 shots -- and had a stunning 15 blocks -- over two games as the Cardinals eliminated Iowa and then the Bruins.

Freshmen

Utah wasn't even supposed to be in the 1944 NCAAs, declining an invitation to instead accept an expenses-paid trip to New York for the NIT. But after a quick first-round exit, the Utes were back in the picture as a replacement team for Arkansas, which had some players injured in a car accident.

The Utes made the most of the second chance.

With upperclassmen in short supply because of World War II, Utah often started four freshmen, including forward Arnie Ferrin, who led the Utes against Dartmouth in one of the tightest title tilts of all-time.

Neither team ever led by more than four points in the game, which was tied at 36 at the end of regulation. Utah won 42-40 on a last-second heave, getting more than half of its points from Ferrin, who scored 22. Ferrin would become chairman of the NCAA Selection Committee in the 1980s, which was when another freshman won the MOP award.

• Also worthy: Pervis Ellison. The Louisville center had double-doubles in each game of the 1986 Final Four -- 11 points, 13 boards against LSU; 25 and 11 in the championship game against Duke. Indeed, that's why he was "Never Nervous Pervis."