It was announced today that my favorite NBA player for several years now, Tayshaun Prince will be inducted into the 2010 class of the UK Athletics Hall Of Fame. While Prince failed to win a title in his time at UK, he has won the two most prestigious championships in the world in basketball, including an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in 2008. Prince did win some individual honors in his time at UK achieving second team All-American in 2001 and third team in 2002. He was also a three time All-SEC selection (2000, 2001, 2002). He ranks eighth all-time in scoring at UK and is third all-time in 3-pointers made with 204. Prince was a player that some thought would leave after his junior year at UK, but stuck it out for his senior year, all the better for UK as he now famously dropped about 37 threes against UNC his senior year
In 2005 Prince was drafted 23rd overall by the Detroit Pistons, where he has become the most consistent player in the NBA averaging almost the exact same numbers for the past six seasons putting up 12.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists over his career. At UK Prince averaged 13.2 points and 5.7 rebounds.
Well that’s a lot of numbers. Let’s talk character. Tayshaun Prince is from Compton, California (Southeast L.A.), known throughout the 90’s as one of the most infamous and most dangerous cities in America. The very good film “Boyz in the Hood” probably didn’t help that image. When asked why he came across the country to attend UK he said it was because he wanted to go somewhere that was completely different from where he grew up so that he could find out who Tayshaun was. I don’t get that. Having been to L.A. many times and now living in Lexington, I don’t know what he’s talking about. The two cities are virtually identical. But anyway, the point is, Tayshaun has always been a model citizen through his high school years and into the NBA. In a time when famous folks of every stripe take advantage of that status to do and get (away with) what they want when they want, Prince has been the role model that so many parents wish that the athletes their kids idolize would be.
Professionally Prince was given a great compliment by Joe Dumars when Dumars famously passed on Carmelo Anthony in the 2003 draft . Dumars took Darko Milicic with the second pick to fill the Pistons center position instead of Melo he was confident in Tayshaun’s ability to develop as a quality NBA small forward, Carmelo’s position. We could discuss the idiocy of that pick, passing on Carmelo, but sticking with Prince paid off for the Pistons as he was the deciding factor in the Pistons’ 2004 NBA championship win over the Lakers who were equipped with one of the greatest starting five in NBA history that year with Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton, and Karl Malone among them. Granted Payton and Malone were in their waning years, but that’s still a heck of a line-up. And the Pistons won that series in five games off of Tayshaun’s defense against Kobe. They Lakers had no answer for Prince’s defense. The next year Prince was honored (rectroactively really) with an All-NBA defensive second team selection, not totally making-up for the snub they gave him the prior year.
So Prince goes into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame. Well deserved.
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