UCLA's Top 10 Athletes

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Jul 5, 2007

UCLA's Top 10 Athletes

Florence Griffith-Joyner

Flo-Jo, who trained with legendary track coach Bob Kersee while at UCLA, won NCAA individual titles in the 200-meter and 400-meter in 1982 and 1983, respectively, earning her a spot on Team USA for the 1984 Olympics.

Arthur Ashe

Before he ruled the professional tennis tour, Ashe won the NCAA men's singles championship as a senior and led the Bruins to the team championship. He graduated in 1966 with a degree in business administration.

Lisa Fernandez

Fernandez led the NCAA in ERA during her final two seasons in 1992 and 1993 and added the batting crown during her senior year. She led the Bruins to the College World Series finals four times, winning in 1990 and 1992, and left the UCLA with a career 93-7 record.

Reggie Miller

Miller shot at a remarkable 43.9 percent clip from three-point range during his college career (to go along with his 54.7 percent shooting from the field), propelling him to finish his UCLA career second on the school's scoring list (2,095 points) behind Lew Alcindor.

Troy Aikman

Aikman led the Bruins to 20 wins over the course of his two seasons at UCLA, throwing 42 touchdowns during that span. He was recognized as the nation's top quarterback during his senior year before the Cowboys took him with the top pick in the 1989 NFL Draft.

Ann Meyers

The first female to be awarded a four-year athletic scholarship, Meyers led UCLA to the national championship in 1978 and was recognized as the top female athlete in the country that same year.

Jackie Robinson

Although Robinson did not complete his senior year at UCLA due to financial reasons, he was the school's first athlete to letter in four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Joyner Kersee was UCLA's athlete of the year three straight times from 1983 to 1985, during which time she won the NCAA heptathalon twice and placed second in the event in the 1984 Olympics. She also started for four years for the women's basketball team.

Bill Walton

Walton led UCLA to undefeated seasons in 1971-72 and 1972-73 on its way to winning 88 straight contests. In the 1973 national championship game, Walton scored 44 points on 21-for-22 shooting--arguably the best title game performance of all time in any sport.

Lew Alcindor

Alcindor (who had not yet changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) was a three-time All-American while leading the Bruins to an 88-2 record and three national championships during his three years on varsity. After 1967, the dunk was banned in college basketball, in large part due to Alcindor's dominance.