Toggle sidebar

the series continues. Just how good was he?

Morgousky859

Morgousky859

Junior
Apr 19, 2025
170
323
43
began this on the old forum before sht went south. So far topic of discussion has been Dan Issel and Rex.

Some of these you've seen play, some not. Offer opinions anyway but especially if you saw them play.

This week, The man, the myth, the legend......Tony Delk, just how good was he?

This guy ranks as my favorite UK player of all time depending on the day. Knew of him before his UK days when he lived a few counties over in TN, Brownsville. He still remembers torching my local high school to the tune of 56 points, as he's told me since several times. Tony was the real deal, and the truth is we nearly lost him to Arkasnas. At one point he might have actually been headed there and is he forever glad it didn't. Tony is also a fantastic person and great Ambassador for UK. Tony is one of the guys that made me expect UK to be the best.

Just how good was he?

1751825603100.png
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: Anon1751594998, Runt#1969, JasonRDunn and 4 others
D

dlh331

Heisman
Jan 4, 2003
27,919
18,968
113
Morgousky859 said:
began this on the old forum before sht went south. So far topic of discussion has been Dan Issel and Rex.

Some of these you've seen play, some not. Offer opinions anyway but especially if you saw them play.

This week, The man, the myth, the legend......Tony Delk, just how good was he?

This guy ranks as my favorite UK player of all time depending on the day. Knew of him before his UK days when he lived a few counties over in TN, Brownsville. He still remembers torching my local high school to the tune of 56 points, as he's told me since several times. Tony was the real deal, and the truth is we nearly lost him to Arkasnas. At one point he might have actually been headed there and is he forever glad it didn't. Tony is also a fantastic person and great Ambassador for UK. Tony is one of the guys that made me expect UK to be the best.

Just how good was he?

View attachment 836520
Click to expand...
IMO, all time shooting/off guards at UK:

1. Louie Dampier
2. Tony Delk

So...I rank him danged high!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: KFuqua, Runt#1969, storm1507 and 4 others
K

kybassfan

Heisman
Jul 1, 2005
19,656
15,995
113
Delk was an extremely competent college guard. First and foremost, he was an excellent defender. I think we have learned very painful lessons over the last few years that defense is job 1. Delk knew this and he was exceptional at it. Delk was also a very good passer. Shooting does not make an offense go. Passing is the soul of a good college offense. Delk could definitely pass. He could also shoot the rock so that was a plus. Last but not least he understood the concept of taking his 5 and thrashing your 5. He knew his path forward required taking the other 4 with him
 
  • Like
Reactions: bfawnswef, Runt#1969, JasonRDunn and 5 others
Morgousky859

Morgousky859

Junior
Apr 19, 2025
170
323
43
cdbearde_rivals384606 said:
Tony Delk was also a great young man, wonderful person, then he was an awesome UK basketball player. You have seen him play, but to meet him back then was the real deal!!!!;)(y)(y)
Click to expand...
Completely agree. He’s as good of a person as he is a player. He sat with my and my father at the Oxford Inn during a UK game against ole miss some years back and watched the Georgetown UL game with us in the lobby. We sat and talked nearly the entire game and just got to pick his brain. My father asked him if he was glad looking back he didn’t pick Arkansas and he said it’s something that he’s so glad he didn’t do. According to him it got scary close.

those 90’s cats have a unique and special love for the program many after them don’t have. Pitino really drove that in, and Pope is doing it again.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: JasonRDunn, paulcalhoun_rivals397471, JHannibalSmith and 3 others
Morgousky859

Morgousky859

Junior
Apr 19, 2025
170
323
43
Another issue I had was Otega. I was very skeptical about him wearing 00. I still think that jersey and number should be retired for good and left to Tony. I’ll never see 00 and not think of Delk. I spoke to Otega about it and he already knew it was a special number, told me he was going to represent it with pride and hard work. So I felt better about it. At least if someone is gonna wear it, it’s a guy that seems to love UK like today and work just as hard.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KFuqua, Runt#1969, Catsfanjim and 2 others
flacat22

flacat22

Heisman
Mar 12, 2011
8,395
12,055
113
Morgousky859 said:
I always get a chuckle out of Cal era fans who’d put Lamb above him. Lamb was really good but definitely not on level with Delk.
I’d probably take Delk before any guard in UK history. Might be a bit high for some but in the words of Will Farrell, I would do it. And so would Ashley.
Click to expand...
Lamb couldn’t carry Tony’s jock. Lamb was good, had a great championship game but Delk was great for 4 years. FF MOP, 96 consensus 1st team AA, SEC POY, 1st round draft pick…2nd in career steals, Pitino consistently praised him as a great 2 way player and defender (SEC DEF POY not awarded until 06, DEF team not until 08). Lamb was hidden in Cal’s defensive scheme, usually guarding the weakest opponent and averaged 1/2 a steal pg.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: KFuqua, paulcalhoun_rivals397471, JHannibalSmith and 1 other person
Morgousky859

Morgousky859

Junior
Apr 19, 2025
170
323
43
flacat22 said:
Lamb couldn’t carry Tony’s jock. Lamb was good, had a great championship game but Delk was great. FF MOP, 96 consensus 1st team AA, SEC POY, 1st round draft pick…
Click to expand...
And IIRC, to be clear I probably stated that position wrong. I think it was closer to a better shooter than Delk, not overall. But to me that's still nowhere near accurate. I wouln't even compare the two players.
 
BlueWorldOrder74

BlueWorldOrder74

Heisman
Oct 9, 2015
12,860
33,544
78
Tony Delk is the best 2 guard ever to play at UK. Guy was a killer, an assassin. Legit All American. Dude was stone cold. Never got ruffled. And the guy is as nice off the court as he was a murderer on the court. I love that guy. One of my favorite players of all time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bfawnswef, Runt#1969, Catsfanjim and 2 others
J

JHannibalSmith

All-American
Sep 28, 2006
2,341
7,094
98
One of my favorite things about Delk was his improvisational scoring ability. He could hang in the air, seemingly, forever, & find a way to get his shot off, in the paint. And, more often than not, he found a way to get the ball in the hole. Just one of the smoothest players I’ve seen at UK. I liked Lamb, but, come on (I know that’s not YOUR opinion). He was basically one dimensional & didn’t offer a whole lot outside of shooting.

TD was 6-1, but, played like 6-5 bc of his ridiculous length. It made him a really good rebounder & defensive guard. I, badly, wanted his transition to PG to work, but, I’m even more glad that Pitino ended the experiment when he did.

Idk about him being the best 2G that I’ve seen at UK, but, he’s in the conversation. Total class act who showed up every night & ESPECIALLY in big games. And, he had a great knack for hitting big shots when we really needed it. I’ve been a big fan since he stepped on campus.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Morgousky859
Morgousky859

Morgousky859

Junior
Apr 19, 2025
170
323
43
JHannibalSmith said:
One of my favorite things about Delk was his improvisational scoring ability. He could hang in the air, seemingly, forever, & find a way to get his shot off, in the paint. And, more often than not, he found a way to get the ball in the hole. Just one of the smoothest players I’ve seen at UK. I liked Lamb, but, come on (I know that’s not YOUR opinion). He was basically one dimensional & didn’t offer a whole lot outside of shooting.

TD was 6-1, but, played like 6-5 bc of his ridiculous length. It made him a really good rebounder & defensive guard. I, badly, wanted his transition to PG to work, but, I’m even more glad that Pitino ended the experiment when he did.

Idk about him being the best 2G that I’ve seen at UK, but, he’s in the conversation. Total class act who showed up every night & ESPECIALLY in big games. And, he had a great knack for hitting big shots when we really needed it. I’ve been a big fan since he stepped on campus.
Click to expand...

Imagine Delk at 6'5.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: JHannibalSmith
Vek96

Vek96

Junior
Jul 4, 2025
141
296
63
Morgousky859 said:
began this on the old forum before sht went south. So far topic of discussion has been Dan Issel and Rex.

Some of these you've seen play, some not. Offer opinions anyway but especially if you saw them play.

This week, The man, the myth, the legend......Tony Delk, just how good was he?

This guy ranks as my favorite UK player of all time depending on the day. Knew of him before his UK days when he lived a few counties over in TN, Brownsville. He still remembers torching my local high school to the tune of 56 points, as he's told me since several times. Tony was the real deal, and the truth is we nearly lost him to Arkasnas. At one point he might have actually been headed there and is he forever glad it didn't. Tony is also a fantastic person and great Ambassador for UK. Tony is one of the guys that made me expect UK to be the best.

Just how good was he?

View attachment 836520
Click to expand...
Morg, you’re back! How have you been? This is like old times. I love it.
 
Vek96

Vek96

Junior
Jul 4, 2025
141
296
63
Back in the day, there was a lot of good back and forth with a lot of us. Hopefully, we can bring that back. A lot of the stuff on here I’ve seen the last couple of years, is, kind of boring.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Morgousky859
wcc31

wcc31

Heisman
Mar 18, 2002
504,774
87,089
98
Morgousky859 said:
I always get a chuckle out of Cal era fans who’d put Lamb above him. Lamb was really good but definitely not on level with Delk.
I’d probably take Delk before any guard in UK history. Might be a bit high for some but in the words of Will Farrell, I would do it. And so would Ashley.
Click to expand...

People really rate Lamb higher? Lol Dude was a 1st Team AA and F4 MOP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: paulcalhoun_rivals397471 and Morgousky859
Morgousky859

Morgousky859

Junior
Apr 19, 2025
170
323
43
wcc31 said:
People really rate Lamb higher? Lol Dude was a 1st Team AA and F4 MOP.
Click to expand...
Nah I was off. now that I think about it, I think I saw several say he was '12 version of Delk, and could shoot as good or better. I definitely remember it being said more than once over the years.
 
John Henry

John Henry

Hall of Famer
Aug 18, 2007
35,514
172,437
113
Tony Delk was good enough to start for an NCAA Championship team and excel. It doesn't get much better than that. I would want him on my team and I would put him in the starting lineup and feed him the ball.
 
  • Like
Reactions: paulcalhoun_rivals397471
Runt#1969

Runt#1969

All-American
Dec 13, 2010
20,410
7,369
113
Delk was hands down my fav. Out of so many, I can't think of anyone I would put above him.
 
F

FurdTurgason

All-Conference
Jan 9, 2009
1,773
3,204
113
In my mind I can hear Gus Johnson saying "Delk for three!" In a game against IU at Freedom Hall, followed by 10 seconds of UK fans going crazy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom