The college basketball world recently lost a legendary former player in Junior Bridgeman. Before going on to have a strong 12-year career in the NBA, he made himself known as one of the best players in the history of the Louisville program.
Junio Bridgeman’s College Career at Louisville
Simply put, few would end up matching the type of career that the Indiana native had in Louisville.
A two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Bridgeman led the Cardinals to the Final Four back in 1975. The 6’5″, 210-pound forward played with great intensity and was known as somebody who could impact the game on multiple levels.
In terms of scoring, he averaged over 16.0 points per game in the final two seasons of his college career (1973-1974, 1974-1975).
He also averaged over seven rebounds per game in these two seasons despite not being the tallest man on the floor. His free-throw percentage improved every year, as did his total assist numbers.
He would go on to have his No. 2 jersey retired by the Milwaukee Bucks after his NBA career was over.
Other Great Louisville Cardinals
Now, were there any other players who matched what Bridgeman brought to the Louisville program?
Well, before Bridgeman came along, center Wes Unseld earned All-American and All-MVC honors multiple times over on his way to getting his No. 31 jersey retired by the Cardinals program.
Shooting guard Darrell Griffith was another big-time player for this university.
A future NBA Rookie of the Year and Utah Jazz legend, Griffith would go on to win a national championship (1980), earn All-American honors, be named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and earn the Wooden Award.
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His No. 35 jersey would go on to be retired by the school.
More recently, former All-Big East point guard Peyton Siva, now back as an assistant coach at Louisville, guided the team to a national title in 2013 (later vacated). At one point, he was the school’s all-time steals leader, too.
Guard Russ Smith, who was teammates with Siva, has his No. 2 jersey retired by the school after becoming an All-American player for head coach Rick Pitino. He is the school’s all-time leader in steals as things stand right now (257).
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