Top 50 Kentucky Wildcats Prior to John Calipari Era

Oct 24, 2015; Starkville, MS, USA; Kentucky Wildcats fans watch the action during the fourth quarter of the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State won 42-16 Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

41. Cliff Hawkins

Cliff Hawkins probably isn’t a name you hear every day. He played for the Kentucky Wildcats from 2000-2004.

Hawkins was a 6-1 point guard for the Kentucky Wildcats that played defense similar to Tyler Ulis. His constant defense was tough for other teams to handle.

Hawkins ended his career with the Wildcats with 199 total steals, ranking pretty high on the ever changing highest totals list. Hawkins averaged 5.2 assists per game his senior season, also ranking quite high in Kentucky history. He took the point guard role seriously and proved himself quite often.

Hawkins hit the game-winning shot against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Jan. 12, 2002 with 3.4 seconds remaining and then also a career-best 10 assists against Mississippi State, including nine in the first half in 2002.

You don’t see or hear much about Hawkins these days. As of 2011, Hawkins was still playing overseas. Even with the research I’ve done for this slideshow, I haven’t found out too much about Hawkins. Hopefully he will pop back up and we can get to know him all over again.

Next: 2005 Mr. California Basketball