It's summer and I need a break from the expansion rumors and threads.

Randomly, what teams have made the Final Four after losing a big star the previous year? I'm not talking so much about the factories that lose a star and keep going like Duke, Kansas, or North Carolina but teams that seemed to sustain a big loss but made it further anyways without him.

Two I can think of is Georgia losing Dominique Wilkins in 1982 and advancing to their first (and only) Final Four in 1983 a year later and Virginia in 1984 after losing Ralph Sampson, arguably the best college player of all-time.

Though I'm breaking the rules a little bit from what I stated, I think although it was to the same round, Butler's run in 2011 after making it the previous year with Gordon Hayward also qualifies.

2002-2003 Georgia Tech had Chris Bosh and they didn't even make the NCAA Tourney. The following year, they made it to the championship game without him.

1996-1997 Utah lost in a regional final with Keith Van Horn. The following year they made it to the championship game without him.

Yeah, Keith Van Horn is the one I use to think of when this subject came up.

The '87 Syracuse runner-up team lost Pearl Washington from the previous year.

Does Dion Waiters count as a "big time star"? He was the #4 overall pick in the NBA draft.

Syracuse's '96 Final Four team also makes your list if you consider Lawrence Moten a "big time star." He wasn't drafted until the second round, but he did end his career as the Big East's all-time leading scorer and held that title for 15 years.

(06-16-2013 01:00 AM)Caltex2 Wrote:  It's summer and I need a break from the expansion rumors and threads.

Randomly, what teams have made the Final Four after losing a big star the previous year? I'm not talking so much about the factories that lose a star and keep going like Duke, Kansas, or North Carolina but teams that seemed to sustain a big loss but made it further anyways without him.

Two I can think of is Georgia losing Dominique Wilkins in 1982 and advancing to their first (and only) Final Four in 1983 a year later and Virginia in 1984 after losing Ralph Sampson, arguably the best college player of all-time.

Though I'm breaking the rules a little bit from what I stated, I think although it was to the same round, Butler's run in 2011 after making it the previous year with Gordon Hayward also qualifies.

I like the thread but I have to stop and pause for a moment to digest this nugget:

"Ralph Sampson, arguably the best college player of all-time."

No argument over this one.

There is an argument, and Lou Alcindor at least is in it.

UConn lost All Big East players Jerome Dyson (leading scorer) and Stanley Robinson (leading rebounder) from their team in 2010 - 2 players who had been part of their Final Four team the previous year. They went on to win the national championship the next year while featuring Kemba Walker and a bunch of underclassmen.

(06-16-2013 08:13 AM)Caltex2 Wrote:  There is an argument, and Lou Alcindor at least is in it.

No argument to be had as far as Ralph Sampson is concerned because he is not in it.

I think Syracuse and Connecticut would count as factory schools.

(06-16-2013 08:28 AM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote:  I think Syracuse and Connecticut would count as factory schools.

Okay.

Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan St, UCLA are also factory schools.

Also, those UConn losses don't appear as large as losing future Hall-of-Famers or would-have-beens if they had stayed healthy (Sampson).