Kentucky Greats: #19, Tayshaun Prince

When I was talking about the new Kentucky Greats feature in the last Blog Update I did not mention that how they did in their professional career had a little affect on where players were placed, it is more to break ties more than anything else. Tayshaun Prince might be the most successful NBA player to ever come out of Kentucky, starting for one of the most successful teams in NBA history, the Detroit Pistons. Prince has won an NBA Championship over the Lakers in 2003-2004 and became a popular player after that series because he was credited with shutting down Kobe Bryant, which led to the Pistons’ 5 game series win. Prince has also made another NBA Finals appearance, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs in 2004-2005. Prince has started the last 82 playoff games in which the Pistons have been in after shutting Kobe down in his first NBA Finals appearance, joining elite players in the Pistons starting lineup.

Prince was not too bad in college either, ranking in the top 30 in school history in just about every major category including: Career points, career rebounds, career assists, career steals, career blocks, career free throws made and free throws attempted, career three pointers made and three pointers attempted, & points in a NCAA Tournament game. Prince was also one of only a few players (About 10) to make the All-American team in multiple years; Here are some of Prince’s exact accomplishments:

•  McDonald’s All-American and Parade All-American as a senior in high school
•  Second Team All-SEC as a sophmore at UK
•  Second Team All-American as a junior and senior
•  All-NCAA Regional Team and First Team All-SEC as a senior
•  Ranks 8th all-time at UK in career points with 1,775
•  Ranks 18th all-time at Kentucky in career rebounds with 759
•  Prince is 29th all-time with 255 career assists at Kentucky
•  Ranks 27th all-time at Kentucky with 111 steals
•  Prince is 6th on the all-time list at Kentucky with 142 career steals
•  Tied for 2nd all-time with 41 points vs. Tulsa in a NCAA Tournament game

Those are just a few of Prince’s accomplishments at Kentucky. Another reason I rated Tayshaun Prince as a Kentucky Great is because of some of his memorable plays. Prince hit a game-winning fade away at Rupp Arena against Florida as a junior (I was there!) and buried 5 CONSECUTIVE THREE POINTERS against North Carolina as a senior, a moment no Kentucky Wildcats fan can ever forget. I will post a video of that display at the bottom of the page but this has been why Tayshaun Prince is a Kentucky Great.

Video

Tayshaun Prince hits 5 consecutive three pointers vs. North Carolina